What I enjoy most about holidays is the eating frenzy.
It gives me opportunity to get away with a lot behind the back of The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage, wife Martha, which is a great challenge. I’m not always successful, but I try, and I have my family to thank for that.
In the last few years, I’ve had some health issues, beginning with a heart attack, which was not that bad because I survived without any problems. Other issues concerning my health have developed over the years, requiring me to be on medications.
Although my diet is very strict in this regard, the holiday season enables me to compromise just a little behind the back of you know who. When we have a family gathering for dinner with that big Turkey in the middle, there are all kinds of sugar-saturated foods there, much to Martha’s chagrin.
As a family holiday gathering, there’s little she can do about it. They all bring their favorite food and much of it has sugar in it.
Throughout the celebration, I keep boasting about the turkey and its vegetable side dishes, and get others to join me to divert attention from my plan. Now, Martha is actively involved in the serving of this meal.
My plan is to sneak a sugarladen cookie or two from the table when she’s distracted. With doughnuts, cookies, and pies all around, I couldn’t be in a better place.
When I want to pick up a cookie, I’ll cause a little distraction and talk about how delicious that turkey was, and whoever made it is a genius. Everybody will laugh and point to the person — Martha — who baked the bird. With all in laughter, I sneak a few cookies and slide them onto my plate.
After the meal when everybody has gone, I usually sit down in my easy chair and relax a bit to reflect on our time around the Thanksgiving table.
It’s not long before Martha will arrive and say, “I know you didn’t eat any cookies during the meal so I thought I’d bring you one in appreciation of your faithful abstinence.”
Nothing feels more wonderful than when a plan comes together. I’m not sure who’s tricking whom here. Did I trick her, or is she tricking me into believing that she didn’t see me take cookies off the table?
I look at her and say very cheerfully, “You know those pies on the table today looked so delicious and I was so tempted when looking at them.”
“Well,” she said, “maybe I’ll let you have a small piece of pumpkin pie tonight for supper.”
As I was thinking of our family celebration I was reminded of a verse in Psalms.
“Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.”
— Psalms 127:3
Thinking about my family at our Thanksgiving gathering caused me to remember how blessed I am. My goal is not to take this blessing for granted but thank God each day for it.
Dr. Snyder is a former pastor who lives with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage, wife Martha, in Ocala, Fla. His email is [email protected].
