My
coffee obsession in known by all who are privileged to be a part of my inner
circle of peeps (Bit of truth, I am thankful to be surrounded by such a great
circle of peeps) but my peanut butter obsession is only known to a select few.
If you’ve been unfortunate enough to be around me during one of my many
emotional binge-eating quests, then you’ve witnessed my ever so perfect Jiff
jar spoon licking skills. I don’t just indulge in the bliss of peanut butter
when I am on an emotional roller coaster…I indulge it in every chance I get. To
me, everything is better with a dollop of gooey delicious fat filled peanut
butter. My personal favorite PB concoctions include: peanut butter and
blueberry sandwiches, chocolate covered peanut butter filled pretzels, peanut
butter Thai sauce, peanut butter waffles with walnuts and cinnamon, and melted
peanut butter on top of vanilla bean ice cream. (If y’all thought I turned
healthy on you during my hiatus, you can put that thought to rest now.) Another
bit of truth, I love all the above mentioned foods without the addition of PB
but the absence of my favorite goo decrease the overall ka-pow taste bud
factor.
I
proudly wear my love for food on my sleeve and when my favorite older sister is
in town, I proudly wear my love for food on the waistline of my yoga pants. To
me a bad day can be instantly transformed with a cup of dark roast full flavor
coffee and any food option containing at least 500 calories and peanut butter.
Great taste in coffee/food and an even greater circle of peeps makes every day
of my life (the good, bad, ugly, and painful) extremely better. But my true
comfort in this life is Jesus. He is the goo that holds me together when my
world is falling apart. He is the goo that makes absolutely everything better.
So much so that I would give up my coffee/peanut butter addiction this moment
(well after I finish my venti iced coffee) because I am convinced He is all I
need. But He doesn’t work that way-He doesn’t require us to sacrifice our
temporary comforts in order to receive His permanent comfort. He does however
take away from our lives in order for us to receive the fullness of the
abundant life He has for us. He doesn’t lead us to a valley to punish us or
destroy us, or in my case force me to increase my coffee intake. He leads us
into the valleys of life in order to grow in Him. To make our faith greater
than our fears. To allow us to truly experience the comfort of Jesus Christ for
perhaps the very first time. From experience, this process can be brutally
painful and extremely difficult, especially when we try to rely on our own
strength. Every morning, my mind and my strength (and my sleepiness) are
renewed when my first sip of coffee hits my lips but nothing renews me like an
overflowing cup of Jesus. He is my ultimate Ka-Pow factor friends. He is the
keeper of my heart and my very best friend. Because I have been a resident of
many valleys and a dweller in many pits, I have a long list of my favorite
Jesus concoctions. My concoctions don’t include any fattening ingredients; they
include a long list of scriptures. Scriptures that I recite daily-scriptures
that I turn to when I need to satisfy my emotional binge eating soul. I
recently had a moment in my life where I told Jesus, “Not only are you all I
need, You are all I have.” And when massive amounts of caffeine, twizzlers, and
peanut butter did nothing for my broken heart, Jesus whispered in my ear and
said, “Give me your heart and I’ll put in back together for you.” In the
darkest valley of my life, I looked beyond my temporary comforts and chose
Jesus. Are you in a valley today? Have you licked every spoon in your kitchen
clean after days of emotional eating? (No judgment, I have eaten ice cream 4
days in a row) Are you wondering why all of your temporary comforts leave you
empty inside? If you are, choose Jesus. He is the overflowing gooey
deliciousness we all need to make everything better. He is the secret
ingredient to our peace and our comfort. His word (the B-I-B-L-E) is the only
way we can ensure that we always satisfy our spiritual taste buds.
I
know many of you won’t be eating peanut butter and blueberry sandwiches for
lunch tomorrow but I pray that you will feast on Jesus. He can do more for you
in a blink of an eye than you ever thought possible. He can do more for you than massive amounts
of vanilla bean ice cream smothered with warm peanut butter.
Verse
to remember:
2 Corinthians 1:3-7
3 Praise
be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and
the God of all comfort, 4 who
comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble
with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of
Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation;
if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient
endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as
you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
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