Another Revelation

I felt bloated and hungry at the same time, but stuck it out for well over an hour.  Then I ate ice cream with strawberries.  I didn't think to measure the ice cream; I just scooped some into a bowl then sliced 5 or 6 strawberries to mix in with it.  While I was eating it, my brother texted me and we started having a fun conversation.  Before I knew it I had finished the ice cream, even drinking the last bit that had melted.  I now feel not just bloated but FAT.  L  I decided to go rinse the rest down the drain.  This isn’t the first time I’ve rinsed ice cream down the drain.  Or the second.  Or even the third.  I’m seeing a pattern here.  It’s not a good idea for me to keep ice cream in the house.  When I’m out, I don’t feel a need to get ice cream.  In fact, I honestly can’t remember the last time I had ice cream out.  It’s been YEARS.  The only reason this was here is that my daughter and her friend made fried ice cream last week and this was left over. 

When David sinned with Bathsheba, one thing that led to his downfall is that he was not where he was supposed to be.  He should’ve been at war with his troops.  I should’ve been at work.  It’s now 9:30 at night and I have at least another hour of work to do.  I didn't need that ice cream to ensure my continued survival.  I could've had nothing. 

I want to say, “Live and learn.  Learn from this, brush it off, and move on.”  This is starting to be recurrent, though.  It’s not enough to brush it off and move on.  I don’t know what else I could’ve done differently.  Earlier this evening I did wait and the hungry feeling persisted so I thought it was real.  Maybe it was.  I don’t know what I could’ve had instead.  No, I do.  I could’ve put some thought into it and come up with a better snack than ice cream.  I don’t have a grocery store in my house, but I do have enough things that I could’ve made a better choice. 

I just prayed and asked God to forgive me.  I’m starting over right now.  Not tomorrow morning.  Certainly not next Monday.  Obviously I don’t need to eat anything else tonight.  Tomorrow’s breakfast will be my usual steel-cut oats with homemade yogurt and strawberries. 

Led by God

It's raining very heavily right now and I just saw an ad on a website for Wells Fargo bank. The ad showed a mug of frothy hot chocolate. 

For a second I thought how good a mug of hot chocolate would taste. Maybe up north where rain equals cold this ad would make sense. In Florida we rarely have rainy days. We have rainy 20 minutes. Even now, near the end of September, it's still not cold. This rain will just make the air sticky and humid.

As soon as I had that thought I also thought how ridiculous it was. I wasn't desiring hot chocolate or any chocolate at all before that, and I don't need any. I've already had some chocolate today and it was plenty.

As ads go, I suppose it was successful. Well, almost. It almost made me want to get a mug of hot chocolate. But it failed in that if I had, I would've made it from what I already have at home, not gone out and used my Wells Fargo debit card to buy some and pad my savings account by taking an additional $1 from checking and adding it to savings.

See, in just the time it took me to compose this email, the rain has stopped. And I've had no hot chocolate, my own or store bought. 

What's the point of this post? That I've overcome garbage like this? Maybe. Most times. That advertising and images are powerful and suggestive? They definitely are, or at least can be. Sex sells. So does food. Two of our most basic needs/wants.

 

Romans 8:12-14 -Dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. ¹³ If you keep on following it, you will die, but if through the power of the Holy Spirit you turn from it and its evil deeds you will live. ¹⁴ All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

My sinful nature urged me to do something, but through the power of the Holy Spirit [Really, I did nothing. I just let God take care of it.] I turned from it. I was led by the Spirit of God, which is proof that I am a child of God.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!