Being a church minister Sundays are always a day to look forward to, and for the past number of months this excitement has increased for me. You see, I decided last Easter that I would attempt to cut out refined sugar in my diet, which is a big deal knowing what a chocoholic I am. In fact, the first day I had quit sugar ended with a night out at the local ice cream shop with some of the ladies from church, with me watching them all indulge in a variety of sweet treats all the while resisting the urge myself.

I am quite proud of the fact that I avoided sugar for some months, choosing not to have treats with my coffee and saying ‘no’ to desserts as they were offered. I have even stopped having tomato sauce with pies and bbq sausages. Towards the six month mark I was growing weary of always missing out, but I was noticing a difference on the scales and wanted to persevere, and so the concept of ‘Treat Day’ was born. Once a week I allow myself the opportunity to choose to have something sweet, feeling that hopping off the ‘wagon’ temporarily helps me stay on it longer, if that makes sense.

It has become a bit of a tradition that Treat Day is usually Sunday, after our second church service. The family heads off to a local café for supper and I get to indulge my yearning for sweet goodness before getting ready to say ‘no’ for the rest of the week. It does, however, present me with a problem. It seems that what I hope the treat will bring, and what it actually delivers are sometimes two different things.

I want to make sure that the choice I make is going to live up to my expectations, after all, if I’m allowed one indulgence a week I want it to be worth my while. Each week the treat I choose looks tantalisingly delicious, but more often than not it fails to deliver on the promise it portrays. Dessert descriptions sound better than they are, cake slices that look amazing in the display cabinet end up being dry and tasteless and chocolate covered treats taste soapy. So each Treat Day now brings with it a high level of anxiety.

There are lots of things in life that can disappoint us, even things that we anticipate so highly. But there is one on whom we can always rely. In Ephesians chapter 3 verse 20 tells us that God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine”. Whatever we can anticipate, whatever we can dream up, he is able to provide far more. In Him, there is no deception or false advertising.

I am really pleased that I can depend on Him to deliver on His promises. Now if only the same could be said for my hunt for a suitable treat!!

Be blessed.