Saturday Waffles

When life's circumstances change, what are you going to do? You have some choices here. You can moan and weep and curse your fate. You can give up and sink into depression, or you can embrace the change as an opportunity to experience life in a new way, one that you may have never thought you would consider. 

My diagnosis has certainly changed things in our household. One of the little things entails Saturday morning breakfast time. Before the diagnosis, Jill had a tradition of meeting daughter Tara for breakfast halfway between our homes which are about an hour apart. After breakfast at a favorite restaurant, the two would do grocery shopping at Walmart. They got so much joy from these times together. 

In the meantime, I would prepare my own breakfast, often choosing to have something that I especially enjoy that Jill, perhaps, does not. Then it was off to men's Bible study at our church. I grew very attached to the men in that group; men who seek the truth and wisdom that God has revealed in His word. I miss them very much. 

Since my diagnosis and the attendant need to quarantine, Jill and I have instituted a new Saturday morning tradition. Saturday is now waffle day. We both love 'em, but we have kind of avoided them, because of the calories they contain. If there is a good thing about leukemia, it is that the medical team has encouraged, nay ordered, me to consume more calories. The processing of the chemotherapy that my body is required to do uses huge amounts of energy. I lost fifteen pounds early on. Jill has made it her mission to see that I don't waste away. And she is doing a splendid job of it. 

We find ourselves getting excited on Friday evening, anticipating Saturday morning waffles. Now, there are ways to make waffles, and there are ways to make waffles. We are especially fond of waffles made from a mix called Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes Flapjack and Waffle Mix. I know, I know, you purists will sniff at such nonsense, preferring instead the traditional recipe with divided eggs and melted butter. I grant you they are primo. But the Kodiak mix makes wonderful, whole grain waffles that are light and airy and high in protein with just a bit of crunch on the outside. We love 'em! Jill prefers Golden Griddle syrup, while I opt for real maple syrup from real maple trees. No matter our differences, we agree that waffles for Saturday breakfast are a tradition that is here to stay.

In our conversations with Jack, our peer counselor for BMT, we have learned that the preparation chemotherapy that precedes the actual transplant would cause me to lose considerable weight. In fact, we told him that I had lost fifteen pounds, but Jill has managed to put it back on me with a little to spare. He said, "Add fifteen more pounds."

Maybe we should add waffles on Wednesday mornings, too!? 

The human body is a marvelous example of our Creator's brilliance and ingenuity. It is self-repairing, runs on a wide variety of fuels, and even with a fair amount of abuse from bad life choices to chemotherapy, it will continue to operate with varying degrees of efficiency for many decades. I praise God frequently for the one He gave me; it's still fighting back after 75 years. 

For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
¹⁴ I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
    the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them. (Psalm 139:13-16, emphasis added)

Next Saturday, why not make yourself some waffles, or better yet, take the family out for waffles at your favorite restaurant! You might just discover a new family tradition.