Happy Little Trees

I have always loved candy. I had a strong affection for Nerds for a long time (the candy, not the men). My brother and I used to eat tons of Sweet Tarts, Chewy Sweet Tarts, and Laffy Taffy. Oh! Oh! And Fun Dip! (My jaws just started to clinch from the memory.) Later on, I started on harder stuff like Cry Baby gum. Ow. I remember as a kid, I would eat the little sweet tart pops and my tongue would start to bleed, but I would still keep eating it. I know that’s tough to hear, but it was the life of a sugar addict.

In college, I fasted sugar for a month, and lost five pounds. Somehow, I’ve kind of grown out of my tremendous sugar addiction. And I’m very thankful for that. I still have a breakdown from time to time, but my tolerance for sugar isn’t near what it was, and I can’t consume multiple candy packages without getting ill.

I met with a family from home yesterday. The husband was one of my dad’s classmates. The wife has a blood disease. When they found out she might have 3-6 months to live, they were very distressed and read a book called The Cancer Diet or something like that. Basically, she cut out sugar from her diet, which caused her to lose 35 pounds. She said she used to eat up to 3 Snicker bars a day (she liked to keep them in the freezer so the chocolate was crunchy). Anyway, the couple has been in constant prayer since they received the diagnosis, and have really made a lot of changes in their diet. Today I found out that her diagnosis looks much more positive. She was sent back home today with no treatment necessary, and doesn’t have to return for four months.

This couple is a great example to me. They sought the Lord for His help, they searched out the right medical treatment, and they tried to be wise to make change with what was right in front of them. God guided them, and they are so thankful. And I’m thankful He let them cross my path again. It’s really weird that even though my dad has been gone for almost 7 years, and I’m a 1,000 miles from home, I’m still able to get to be blessed by people that were in his life. But I guess it’s not weird to God.