Author: A Little Faith Lift…Finding Joy Beyond Rejection
www.alittlefaithlift.com
AWSA (Advanced Writers & Speakers Assoc.)
Someone had the nerve to send out an email about all the healthy food choices we might adopt for Christmas…and continue to use in 2026. I get the 2026 part, but I’m sorry, “healthy” and “Christmas” don’t mix. They are opposites. Oxymorons. Black and white. Fun and boring. Delicious and disgusting.
On what planet is this writer living? Everyone knows that we indulge at Christmas so that we can set New Year’s goals to exercise and lose weight. What else is New Year’s for?
I don’t know about you, but every December, I prep for a holiday smorgasbord. Egg nogg. Fudge. More fudge. Decorated cookies. Peppermint sticks. Cranberry bread. Calorie-laden appetizers.
That’s Christmas. None of this “Keto” pies or sugarless sugar cookies or diet dips with 40%-less-salt potato chips, celery sticks or gluten-free, dairy-free, meat-free…well, anything.
On another note. I think there should be a law against people who take teensy portions, like a tablespoon of this and a teaspoon of that, and then leave half of it on their plates. For some reason, I always seem to sit by that individual at family get-togethers. She is the slim, trim, tight-bodied individual who tries really hard not to comment on my mound of mashed potatoes, piled high on top of the 15-course rations I have hiding underneath the gravy. I love her for that.
Still, in her defense, it must be taxing to hang with an undisciplined person. You know the type. She watches you go back for seconds when she has stuck to her 100-calorie limit…basically, two lettuce greens and a sliver of carrot from the carrot cake. And when, after dining, she invites the attendees to go on a hike to burn off that fat and you are still feasting, determined not to waste a crumb from your plate, she says nothing. That’s a good friend. Correction: that’s a great friend.
I worked hard last year to lose 17 pounds. My clothes fit better. I had more energy, and my knees did not throb when I walked downstairs. Unfortunately, while celebrating my weight loss, I ate out of excitement for what I had accomplished. You know what happened. Almost overnight, those 17 (plus a few of their friends) decided to move in with me.
I am blessed to be married to a man who does not harp on how different I look compared to when we first married. Oh, occasionally he questions if I made a mistake when I buy an XL top, but he laughs when I tell him that it was mismarked…which is why it was on sale. Sometimes he questions how the actresses of the ‘50’s had such tiny waists (seriously, like 18”), but I remind him that they never had children, and if they did, their kids were not eight-pounders like ours were.
Someone told me that there will be feasting in Heaven. That gets me excited…until I read Revelation 22:2, describing the food we will be eating: “… On either side of the river stood a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month…” Fruit? Fruit? Where are French fries and cheeseburgers and cheesecake?
Of course, when Jesus returned to earth after his resurrection, he ate with his disciples. This makes me smile. Then again, I’m sure that no matter what we eat, it won’t matter, for we will be in the presence of God. That is enough to satisfy any cravings we could ever have.