I worship food. Is my verb too strong?  I’m heading home from my vacation and I’m thinking about what makes a get-away great. For me, it means; enjoying new restaurants,  napping in the afternoons, reading a great book, and spending time with my husband— who rarely gets crabby on vacation. This holiday caught me in the middle of a one-month diet to lose 5 pounds. Restraint was added to the itinerary. I’m doing , and believe me… it’s not easy fitting in gluttony and staying under 25 points a day.  

I make sure I have my bag of mini carrots, and my secret weapon for when I’m craving something sweet, . To and from the airport I travel with a baggie of mixed with , and hit up for a kid’s size skim milk and spoon. I’m nothing, if not prepared. I’ve developed a system over the years adapted from my sister-in-law Cass, who became half her size by eating half of her food, smoking a cigarette and using her plate as an ashtray. I’m not a smoker, so my portion control requires simply pushing half aside— it works for me.

I introduce the topic of worship as it relates to food. Maybe now you expect me to segue to worship as it relates to prayer— nope, I’m not going there. Here’s where I’m headed: Count Your Blessings. Prayables Pray Maker tells a story about attending a conference where she and others were given an assignment to write down what they were grateful for. Her fellow attendees jotted down the usual stuff; family, job, house, pet, etc. Pens were laid down after a few minutes. Heidi was on page three or four when she looked up and saw she was the only one still writing. Her list held seemingly inconsequential items that she recognized as being worthy of gratitude. Coffee, soap to wash her face, comfortable shoes, an umbrella, etc.

Heidi’s experience showed me to go beyond the obvious. There’s no shame in counting   food and restaurants as blessings. I bless the ingredients, the preparation, the chef and my taste buds. I bless the most marvelous trout prepared with raisins and capers at . I bless the piano player who sang standards while we dined, including . I bless the butterscotch pineapple muffin from the best breakfast place in the state of Florida: . I bless the reggio cheese sprinkled on top of the melt-in-your mouth spinach from . I bless the pizziola sauce on my veal scallopini from .

Worship, transitive verb: extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem. Yes, this definition of worship applies.  

The needle sticks at a number
too high for my liking.
I just can’t do this without You.
Please, help me today to avoid temptation.
Help me to eat mindfully,
to approach activity with enthusiasm,
to remember what I’m doing is a blessing,
not a punishment.
You, who make all things possible,
make possible the potential
I seek for myself.
May I live up to Your vision.