Pancakes and Chocolate Donuts

"Well," I said.  "It looks as though your diabetes isn't in too bad control.  Your A1C is 6.6 percent which means that your average sugar is around 140."

"That's great," the older lady told me.  "I think to celebrate I'm going to go to the Golden Corral and eat a mess of pancakes!"

"Oh," I said.  "That's really not going to help keep things in line."

"At least I'm not going to Walmart," she said.  "They have donuts there that I love!  They have thick chocolate icing on them that's to die for!"

"Oh," I said, at a loss for words.  Neither pancakes or donuts is on a glucose friendly diet.  I had visions of her next A1C test being 12.

For some reason, human nature seems to lead us to reward ourselves with the very things that we are denying ourselves.  A diabetic who has just gotten her A1C under control rewards herself with chocolate donuts.  A man who has just lost fifty pounds rewards himself with a trip to his favorite buffet.

We allow the enemy we are fighting to set up a camp in an area where we have already won the battle.  The fight begins again.

It is this way with sin as well.  What we need is not control, but a change of our desires and a knowledge that we will not let those desires back in control, even for a single meal.

Otherwise we will end up like a woman with diabetes dreaming of a plate stacked high with pancakes.

With chocolate donuts on the side.

"Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires."  Romans 6:12

Cinnamon Rolls and Chili

"I want a Cinnamon Roll!"  Victoria announced in a very clear, firm voice.  Elaine had just finished baking some of those delicacies and they smelled good enough to have caused even the mouth of a graven image to water.

"I'm afraid you haven't finished your chili from supper," I said.  "If you eat that, then you can have one."

"No!"  Came back the answer.  "Chili is soup and I don't like soup!"

It was interesting, as I'd never heard Victoria express this dislike of soup before.  My guess though, was that compared with Cinnamon Rolls, Chili Soup no longer sounded delectable.

"You just have to eat it first," Elaine said.  "Dessert can't be the first thing you eat at your meal."

(I have often violated this rule and often start a meal with a cookie when no one is watching, but we'll leave that for another day).

I suppose it is a testament to what awesome parents Elaine and I are that we didn't cave to our incredibly stubborn four year old.  While Victoria is very vocal in her wishes, she is just expressing a basic human trait -- the desire to skip over the difficult things in life.

There may be times that we can bypass the unenjoyable things to go to those things we like more, but generally, when we do that the bypassed things continue to sit there, just waiting for us to start on them.

So much better just to do things in the order we face them.  Because Chili Soup must precede Cinnamon Rolls.  Always.  Just ask Victoria.