I had a plan for the day, and per usual, things did not go according to plan.
I had planned to take the kids to Chick fil a for dinner, and we were meeting friends there to play and it would be a good 'ol time. I did not plan on my almost 22 month old hurting her foot and needing x-rays at the urgent care clinic. I did not plan for the school nurse to call and tell me that my 7-year-old had a sore throat which might possibly develop into strep. I planned to attend a parenting conference at church tonight I was really excited about and had been looking forward to for a while. I like the way my mom put it: You get to be a good mom instead of going to learn how to be a better one. Plans change. They have to, and we have to be flexible and willing to make adjustments. It's what I tell my students, my clients, my children and myself all the time. It's true. But it's not easy.
I let myself be disappointed for a minute, but the thing about living gratefully is that you can't stay that way for long. Thoughts of all the blessings in my life and people and comforts and conveniences I have to be thankful for began to flood my mind. I let myself tear up in frustration momentarily, as I dialed the 5th number on my new insurance card trying to figure out where to take my baby girl to get help that was in network and could meet our needs. Immediately, I was thankful to have insurance, to have proximity to multiple places we could get to in minutes to see a doctor. Thankful for our school nurse and Mollie's teacher and my sweet co-workers and friends…even the grace shown to me by the student I had to cut a session short with to go pick up my kids and quickly change hats: counselor to mom. Thankful for the strength and clarity God provided to guide me through a crazy afternoon that I hadn't planned. Doesn't the bible say something about how God laughs when we make plans? No, that was Woody Allen. Proverbs says that 'Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.'
I think that's why food is hard for a lot of people. There are so many things in life that we cannot control. We can plan all we want, but we can't force, avoid or create circumstances. With eating, we can control how much or how little we eat. We can control when and how and with whom we eat. We can decide what types of things we choose to put into our body. In a world and a life where we have very little control, much of which is an illusion, what we eat is our choice alone. It's why one of the biggest battles with my kids is trying to get them to eat. Eat vegetables. Eat dinner. Eat less sugar. Eat anything. I can bribe them and beg them and give them consequences, but I can't force them to do it. I like this Eisenhower quote better. It helps me see this daily struggle as a battle and it motivates me to work hard to win the battle.
Plans and control go hand in hand. Since I knew we were going to eat at Chick fil a (and I wasn't getting a salad because I was using a receipt from a receipt day and getting our entire dinner FREE), I saved up enough calories to indulge a bit.
Breakfast: Oh yeah, I had Chick fil a for breakfast, too. Have you tried the Egg White Grill? Mmmmm. I refrained from the hash brown bites from heaven, as well as the 'super healthy' vanilla iced coffee. So, it was a grand total of 300 calories.
Lunch: I had a wrap with leftover fajita meat, black beans, tomatoes and green chiles and some banana chips. (When I got home for lunch, Brandon was eating an apple-yay! and a bowl of lucky charms-boo!)
Dinner: We still picked up Chick fil a after the urgent care clinic, and I had the spicy deluxe chicken sandwich, waffle fries and a large sweet tea. I was surprise to discover (after I ate it) that the amount of calories in Chick fil a sauce is 140 calories! Here's what Google says:
If you opt for sauce with your nuggets or chicken tenders, steer clear of the Chick-fil-A sauce—it has 140 calories and 13 grams of fat. Better choices include Buffalo sauce (10 calories, zero fat), barbecue sauce (45 calories, zero fat), and honey-mustard sauce (45 calories, zero fat).Good to know. Anyway, I still was fine on calories, and it was a great meal after the day we had. I'm sure it was also not an accident that the very last verse of my reading today says this: "You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." I'm working on it, Lord help me.
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