By Mike Reyes, The Why & The Way
As a Father of three boys my heart is forever reminding me of these three important things; There is no-one but Him, my family are my priority and there is still so much to be done within my own community, through unity!
The taste of blessed is an awesome way to look at the food we consume daily. It’s an even better way to pursue God through the enjoyment and fulfilment of meal-time. One thing on which I want to focus with you throughout this article is this Bible passage Matthew 14:18.
My name is Mike Reyes and I am a professional chef and business owner from the land down under – Australia. More specifically I am based on the sunny Gold Coast, Queensland. I have three beautiful boys. They are a huge motivation and reason why I have made long-term decisions surrounding my health and lifestyle choices.
When it comes to the taste of blessed, you could say that long before I became a Christian I still understood just how blessed I really was to have amazing food and have an upbringing in my home where food brought my family together every day. As the oldest sibling of three boys myself I was always helping my mother in the kitchen from a very young age. From that young age I knew I wanted to cook and pursue a career as a chef. By the age of 17, I was an apprentice chef and I was serving the world’s finest in Auckland, New Zealand where I was born. When I turned 24, I left New Zealand and made my way to Australia.
Once I moved to the Gold Coast, I pursued a career in the fitness industry and became a personal trainer. Through the years, I began to learn a lot about health and nutrition. During this time I was on my own health and fitness journey without realizing that there was one crucial part missing that gave me real purpose – Jesus. My passion for health, nutrition and fitness has matured with Jesus now at the center!
My career in the fitness industry helped me to examine all the bad habits I learned as a professional chef and pursue making healthier meals that could truly be a more physical and spiritual blessing. I used a lot of oils, fats, dairy products and I consumed too much meat and other ingredients. That created, over the years, bad gut health from the wrong foods (even though they taste amazing). This made me think about what it really means to have things in moderation and what a “healthy gut” actually means to me.
I realize eating good greens and whole foods are much better. These foods give me as an active dad of three boys more energy, a better immune system, and more performance at the gym. From a purely worldly sense, just to simply understand better health is exactly what the taste of blessed represents but I see from a Christian faith perspective the taste of blessed can mean so much more and have a much greater impact in our lives.
THE VISION
As the years went on I experienced a divorce and a time when I could not see my children. Even though this was one of the most painful times in my life God was pursuing me and I began to pursue him! In 2018 I gave my heart to the Lord and the rest is history. It was at that time that I also found like-minded Christians who have a passion for health and fitness. From that moment, I eagerly wanted to know other peoples’ stories and their “why”. God was using food as a way for me to enter into conversations with others, fellowship with them and co-create with them meals that truly are a healthy blessing.
In March 2019 Sinead Dumas and her sister Katrina Graves contacted me. They are two sisters-in-Christ who have similar passions for food and health. I began a business with them where I can share my cooking skills and they can share their lifestyle and vegan dishes.
We began to develop a page where we could share recipes, review vegan food options and off-the-shelf health products that are available at three of the biggest food shops in Australia like Walmart. This also includes marketing for other businesses and food products while sharing the Bible all at the same time. This is exactly what the taste of blessed needed to be for us three food lovers! From that moment a joint business venture has grown – The Why and The Way.
THE OUTCOME
My passion is to see others gain a healthier mind and body – a better version in all aspects of this wonderful journey we call LIFE. Together in unity, lets create a culture, let’s make a difference for our future sons and daughters, mothers and fathers and let’s set the standard. Let’s make it happen now. By knowing the why (how to achieve it) and knowing the way (the path)! We really want to help others find simple ways to do life without feeling like it’s a burden to get the balance right. It can also help you find your identity and purpose in life.
As I mentioned earlier, that taste of blessed really started to become more evident to me once I laid down my own life for Jesus and began to do His kingdom work here on earth.
As Matthew 14:18-20 says;
18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
This particular scripture speaks volumes to me as someone who lived a worldly life for so long and then found the richness of making God my Lord just over two years ago. I’ve come to understand that he is the ultimate provider and one true King [of my life] who wants to restore the lost, broken and fatherless. We need to do His work in any way we can. For my life His calling has been through cooking and bringing unity through meaningful meals – breaking bread with others.
God reminds me of three important things:
- There is no one but Him.
- My family is my priority.
- There is still so much to be done within my own community, through unity.
My passion is to see others gain a healthier mind and body, in all areas while on this journey. Through The Why and The Way we really are trying to create a new culture within our community around healthy lifestyle and making an eternally-minded choice to choose Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. I’m pleased to be able to share through Faith & Fitness Magazine a recipe that is a favorite with me here in the Gold Coast.
R E C I P E :
NEAD’S FAMOUS TROPICAL BLUE SMOOTHIE BOWL
As a chef I love to share healthy recipes with others. Anything that is both quick and super healthy for my boys and me always ranks high on my list of must-share recipes. I have been fortunate enough to have only the best, like Sinead Dumas teach me how to make these delicious Tropical Blue Smoothie Bowls which you can find on our Instagram, The Why and The Way.
Ingredients
- 2 cups frozen pineapple
- 1 cup frozen mango
- 1 cup of frozen banana
- ¾ cup coconut milk
- Juice of one lemon
- 2 teaspoons of blue spirulina (e3Live)
Makes
2 smoothie bowls
Steps
- Place all frozen ingredients into a bowl
- Slowly blend together adding in liquids as you blend. The smoothie mixture should be nice and thick like ice cream/ soft serve texture.
- Place your favourite granola into the bottom of two bowls
- Slowly place the thick smoothie bowl mix into the two bowls
- Place on your favourite toppings like coconut flakes, berries and more granola.
All Done! Now enjoy.
Get more healthy eating ideas, recipes and unique nutritional content from the many other articles in our Nutrition Department.
This article appears in the October/November 2020 issue of Faith & Fitness Magazine, which focuses on the theme “consumed”. Post a Facebook comment below AND in your other social media post your own picture and thoughts about what it means to be totally consumed with a passion for God. Be sure to include the hashtag #dailydevotionaddsup
