Our family loves dumplings! We like them with gravy, we like them fried, and we like them with sour cream. My mom told us our dad showed her how to make them and I have always been grateful for that because they were delicious.

I also appreciated my mother’s dumplings all the more after I first sampled my grandmother’s dumplings. My 90-year-old German grandmother was much loved, but we kids did not consider her a good cook. She had suffered hunger and many other trials during World War II and afterwards, when she was detained in a refugee camp run by the Russians. She was so concerned about not wasting anything that you never knew what all she had put into her soups and other dishes.

So my grandmother’s dumplings didn’t look anything like my mother’s dumplings. They were gray, slippery, and very chewy. I was not expecting that and, by the look on the faces of my brother and sisters, neither were they. When my mom made dumplings, it was hard to make enough for us, but this day there were a lot left over. But the next morning we got them fried for breakfast so we knew we might as well eat them.

Our dear mom explained that grandmother’s dumplings were "special"—that in the old days they were made that way to feed the geese back on my grandfather's farm in East Prussia! I learned why they were shaped like a bullet; slippery, solid, and chewy—in order to force-feed them to the geese to fatten them up! As a little girl, my mom would grab a goose and hold it down while her sister (or brother) opened the bill, inserted the bullets, and poked dumpling after dumpling down its throat! It is no wonder that these geese grew up to be so cross and irritable!

I didn't dare ask grandmother why we were being fed goose food.

Practically everyone has some interesting food stories. And, on the serious side, learning about food, nutrition, and health is very practical and valuable knowledge.

There is much truth in the saying, "You are what you eat.” But in an affluent society, people seem to stray from the wholesome and nourishing foods God intended us to eat. Instead, they usually choose to eat what tastes good or is the present rage. As society allows time constraints and bad eating habits to take control, people often give very little thought about what is put into their bodies. It does seem an odd fact that many people are far more careful about getting the right fuel for their car or right food for their pets than with what is put into their bodies or into the bodies of their family.

What We Eat

Health, or lack of it, in many segments of society is a growing problem. The Bible says that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalms 139:14). Mark 7:18-19 implies that we have a pretty good elimination system that filters out some things, such as dirt. But our bodies can’t filter out all the chemicals and disease organisms that enter the body. And we do not have the kind of digestive system that would allow us to eat "road kill" as the ravens do and we cannot eat trees or grass like a deer.

It is well noted by many nutritionists that we often do not properly care for ourselves and some things we eat are not fit for human consumption. People wolf down foods that are greasier than those goose dumplings ever were. I work out in a gym often and I have seen the result of steroids on muscles and special dietary supplements for shaping and toning. In many cases, people ingest that which God never intended for food with little thought of long term consequences.

Our Designer and Creator tells us what is good for us and what is not good. God tells us that not all meat is good for us. Modern medicine also knows that things we once thought were good can cause much harm in the long run. Plugged arteries and overweight bodies detract from life—they do not enhance our life. For instance, we know that unmodified grains are very healthy. There are many scriptures that God inspired to help us understand what food is and what it is not.

• Proverbs 24:13 and Proverbs 25:16 tell us honey is good, but do not eat too much.

• 1 Timothy 5:23 advises a little wine for the stomach's sake and for certain infirmities.

• Proverbs 23:21 says a drunkard and a glutton will come to poverty. Do not overeat or over-drink.

• Genesis 1:29 states that there are many green plants intended for food, and we have learned that vegetables should be the most important part of our diets.

• Exodus 22:31 tells us we are not to eat the flesh of animals that were killed by predators.

• Leviticus 11:1-8 contains a detailed list of foods we may eat. Four legged animals that chew their cud and have a cloven hoof are edible according to our Maker. Animals such as cows, sheep, and deer are good.

• Leviticus 11:9-19 also tells us we can eat fish that have fins and scales but no other seafood. It also tells us which birds are edible.

• Leviticus 11:43-45 and 1 Peter 1:16, God states, "I am holy," and He expects His people to be holy.

When God gives instructions to mankind in regard to what He designed their bodies to accept and what to reject, we need to respond with obedience.

Eating and Exercise

Science is showing how human interference with that which is natural is in fact setting us up for some severe problems in the future. It is true that many people on earth eat whatever they can due to poverty and circumstance. Because of this, their life expectancy is short because the nutrition they ingest is limited and the body finally can take no more abuse. Diseases erupt and robust health and longevity is no longer the norm. When the body finally rebels, it is often too late for anything to change that.

Along with poor nutrition, we bombard our brains with nicotine from cigarettes, drugs, too much alcohol, and even too much coffee. Then we wonder why we are sick, hyper, and cannot think straight. Even when we know better, we allow ourselves to be willingly led down the trail to poor health and a lesser life than God intended.

A healthy body goes hand-in-hand with a healthy mind. I Timothy 4:8 tells us that exercise is physically profitable, and that should be obvious. Originally and for thousands of years, human beings have been forced to walk, run, and move to get around. They have had to work hard in order to survive. That was about all the exercise that was really needed. Humans had to expend large amounts of energy to survive after having to leave the Garden of Eden. It has only been in the last few decades that we have slipped into an incredibly sedentary lifestyle.

Fortunately, God created us so that the body can regenerate itself to some extent. We are indeed wonderfully and fearfully made. Think about those who came out of concentration camps after WW II. Many were able to regain their health afterwards. Even the lungs can regenerate healthy tissue, but there is a limit to that. People eventually suffer bad consequences when there is continued abuse or neglect.

Our Creator wants us to enjoy a full and healthy life and we must do all we can to make sure of that. On average, our lifespan is still about 70 or 80 years (Psalms 90:10). Regardless of how many years you live—make them healthy years. Keeping yourself well is up to you. But our God has given us the ability and mind to make good choices so that we may live an abundant life.

For more on what foods God says are unhealthy, read the online Bible study aid What Does the Bible Teach About Clean and Unclean Meats?