My dear friend and high school literature teacher sent me the following e-mail soon after my post went up yesterday…
Janelle,
I looked over your recipe, and I feel that you are trying to make them
sound acceptably nutritious by calling them muffins. Let's be honest;
they're cupcakes! : )
Diane Jones
Mrs. Jones,
You caught me. In my defense, the recipe really did say “muffins.” But
after eating a few, I would have to agree that they seem closer to the
cupcake family. You always did call me to a standard of excellence in
my writing. So, in honor of you, I am officially renaming them
“Janelle’s Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cupcakes.” Love ya!
Janelle
Even with the “muffin” label, I’m sure the cream cheese-chocolate chip
combination set off more than a few calorie alarms out there. As women
we can tend to consider such decadent foods as just short of evil. But
the Bible (which actually has a whole lot to say about the topic of
food) has a different perspective that Mom points out in her chapter on
“Self Control” in Feminine Appeal:
“God…wants us to enjoy our food. It is a gift from the one ‘who richly provides us with everything to enjoy’ (1 Tim. 6:17). If you study the earthly life of Jesus in the Gospels, you will observe that our Lord enjoyed His food! We are to receive food with gratitude and enjoyment.”
Cream Cheese Chocolate Muffins, oops, Cupcakes aren’t bad—they are a gift from God for which we should give Him thanks. But of course, that’s not all Scripture has to say. Mom continues:
“…however, we must not be given to overeating. Gluttony (excess in eating) is not a popular term in today’s culture, but it is found in Scripture and thus deserves our attention…Eating to calm our fears, alleviate stress, or overcome feelings of depression…are habits that do not glorify God. Food is not our source of help and comfort…We need to ask ourselves: Am I seeking my own glory or God’s glory with my eating habits.”
Obviously, I’ve jumped into a huge topic with a tiny little post. (Mom, Nic, Kris, I think we may need to give “self-control and eating” a series of its own soon.) But I hope these two complementary thoughts influence how you eat today: Food is a gift from God to be enjoyed. And God is eager to give us grace to exercise self-control and glorify Him when we eat.
