Bribery! Does it work?

What a Feast,  Ribs, Wings, Fruit Salad, etc.  

Boys love to eat

And EAT.......

       I have been known to bribe the young men that attend the same church I do to do certain things,  like read the scriptures daily, pray, etc.  I have bribed them with cookies most often but have had to do bigger things to make a point.  One of my very favorite evenings that I have ever had was one of these bribe events.  I had told the young men that if they would read their scriptures daily for a month I, Chef Brad, would fix them a feast.

     Now I have to say they were not 100% on, but close enough I kept my word and had the entire group over for a feast..  It was amazing.  The food, which took me all day to prepare was amazing.  Now if you know the island people, they know how to eat and I was worried that my feast would just be a snack to them.  So I worked all day to prepare the feast.

      And I have to say if you can get a group of teenage boys to read their scriptures everyday for a month they deserved a feast.

      I prepared ribs, my favorite way, Mexican style,  that is placed in a deep pan covered with a wonderful red chili spice blend and baked for hours at a low heat.  The best part is the sauce that is served over rice.  And the ribs are so tender you can eat them with a spoon.

      I also prepared chicken wings, BBQ ribs, and of course a huge fruit salad.  For the beverage I did fresh strawberry cream,  I think they drank 4 gallons.  There was so much food and according to island culture they eat until the food is gone.  It took a couple of hours,  eating, laughing, and strengthening relationships.  After the food was gone, they got up and were ready to leave,  what were they thinking,  I didn't invite them to dinner to eat only.....
   

AND EAT SOME MORE.

Is it going to be good.....

Yes, it is good.  Oh my.....

Food was the bait,  but my plan was to feed them, get them comfortable and then, wham.

      So they all got up to leave after cleaning up and I asked them where they thought they were going.  Home of course.  They were happy and content.

      Wrong.

      "Come into the house and get comfortable in the living room" I said with a huge smile.
"I have a couple of things I want to talk about".

     How could they refuse,  I had just fed them a feast of a life time, they could not just leave.  I had them right where I wanted them, in the front  room, comfortable, and perfectly ready to listen.

      What happened next was the most wonderful evening I have had.   These well fed boys and I discussed the scriptures openly and we were not only physically feed that night, but our spirits had a feast also.

      Food is so powerful.  It can bring us together, and open hearts to learn and feel deeper things.

     Yes I have been know to stoop to bribery, but all for the end result.   And I am sure I will stoop again and again, but I don't feel guilty and so far no complaints from the bribed...