Truth-Telling about Peppermint Mochas

Truth-Telling about Peppermint Mochas

I have become quite a fan of specialty coffee! Peppermint mochas, in particular. Iced or hot, both are at the very top of my list of “Ways to Pamper Myself.” Massages, manicures, facials, and pedicures are also on that list, too! I’m not sure which would be #1 – they are all favorites!

The Dutch Bros. barista had written “Happy Birthday” backwards with caramel syrup on the under side of the clear dome top!

(As you can see, I’m feeling pretty pampered!)

 

But as I look in the mirror – yes, lovingly and gently, yet honestly – and see my excess weight, my guess is that 20% of it has come from peppermint mochas.

(As an aside, I’d say another 20% has come from “just one more bite”!  …  Another 5% from Thanksgiving dinners. …  Another 3% from cookie dough.  …  Another 10% from “seconds”… and on and on…)

Not every peppermint mocha has been problematic – only ones I imbibed outside of my 0-5 boundaries. But that’s most of them because, for a long time, I somehow (foolishly) thought that, just because they were liquid, they didn’t count!

So the Lord has been speaking to me recently about my relationship with peppermint mochas. OK, He’s been trying to speak to me about this for a long time, but I have not wanted to listen.

Our youngest daughter, Carlianne, and I at Starbucks! (As you can see, I am an equal opportunity peppermint mocha lover!)


When Christina Motley shared in one of her porch chats what the Lord spoke to her about her mother’s Chocolate Chip Bundt cake and all things chocolate chip, I knew it was time to listen to Him on this matter.

In Fresh Wind Fresh Desire, author Heidi Bylsma-Epperson talks about “lies,”  “little-T truths,” and “big-T truths.” We all believe many lies and little-T truths that have completely messed up our thinking. Lies like “I’m doomed to be overweight forever because I simply cannot get control of my eating.”

This lie is actually interlaced with a “little-t truth” because this may very well be your experience thus far. However it’s a LIE that you are doomed to stay this way forever because God’s Big-T Truth is that “In Christ Jesus, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.”  

Because our wrong thinking messes up our minds and keeps us bound to frustration, failure, and hopelessness, these lies and little-t truths must be exposed and recognized as being exactly what they are.

 

They cannot be allowed to stay locked into our belief system; no longer our “bottom line.” They must be replaced with God’s big-T truths! And this is what we call “renewing our mind.” We truly will be transformed by the renewing of our mind!

Heidi and Christina talk about making Truth Lists. In this article called Truth Lists for the Real-Life Journey I compiled several of the Truth Lists they have shared. And Christina’s truth list about chocolate chips is included in that article!

So I thought maybe I should do some serious truth journaling regarding my problematic peppermint mochas. Thinking there probably wasn’t really all that much to say about it, I decided to give it a try anyway. It’d just be a short but sweet exercise at best. But I was surprised at what poured out. (Pardon the pun!)

So let’s get going!

 


 

🤨 Little-t Truth:  Peppermint mochas make me feel special and valuable.

🤩 Big-T Truth:  I am just as special and valuable without one.

 


 

🤨 Little-t Truth:  Peppermint mochas are a tasty way of pampering myself, and I looooove being pampered.

🤩 Big-T Truth:  Yes, but frequent  pampering of myself does not need to be such a main goal of my life! As a follower of Christ, I am called to a life of self-denial. Not a life of continual pampering. I need to allow the Holy Spirit to comfort my spirit and nourish my soul so that I do not have such a great need to be pampered. I need to imbibe more in the Living Water: “The Lord lets me drink from His rivers of delight.”

 


 

🤨 Little-t Truth:  Peppermint mochas make a plain, regular occasion – like driving somewhere – feel fun and special. They “spice it up.”

🤩 Big-T Truth:  They do do this, but not without me paying a high price:  like taking me outside of my 0-5 boundaries, which I believe the Lord has set for me, and which I need to follow whether I feel like it at the moment or not. I also believe that God has “made my boundaries to fall in pleasant places.” So I need to find fun and specialness INside my boundaries and OUTside of a peppermint mocha.

 


 

🤨 Little-t Truth:  Peppermint mochas taste delicious, feel good going down, and are a fluid form of entertainment that lasts a while.

🤩 Big-T Truth:  True, but I pay a high price for this “entertainment”; it is not a form of entertainment that blesses my body if I have one when I am not at a zero, and/or drink too much of it. (beyond 5) Just because they are delicious and feel good going down doesn’t mean I need to indulge myself in that way every time I want to do so. They are part of what has gotten me too close to becoming pre-diabetic. (Which I have actually crossed over into a couple of times, but come back out.)

 


 

🤨 Little-t Truth:  If I am at a coffee shop getting gift cards for people, I feel like I deserve to get one of these to as a reward for myself for buying them for others!

🤩 Big-T Truth:  Unless I have planned to be – and am – at a zero and it’s a good time to have one, I need to just focus on getting a gift for others – not for myself.

 


 

🤨 Little-t Truth:  When it’s hot outside, an iced peppermint mocha is a cool and refreshing way to cool off.

🤩 Big-T Truth:  Other beverages or treats are also cool and refreshing and without such a high caloric content – unless I am truly at a zero and only drink up to a 5 (max).

 


 

🤨 Little-t Truth:  When it’s cold outside, a hot peppermint mocha is warm, soothing, and cozy.   

🤩 Big-T Truth:  There are other drinks and activities that are warm, soothing, and cozy as well. Like spending time with the Lord! HE is the ultimate in warm (Jesus’ warm love), soothing (the Holy Spirit’s soothing presence), and cozy (“giving a feeling of comfort, warmth, relaxation and intimacy” – which is exactly what our Daddy-God longs to give us!

 

 


 

So does all this mean I don’t get to enjoy my favorite beverage anymore? Nope! It just means I need to be going to the Lord more regularly to get what I really need, what I’ve tried too often to get from my froo-froo drinks.

And then when I do have one, it needs to be within the parameters of my 0-5 eating boundaries. I have actually done this a few times now, and I have to tell you I enjoy my beverage sooooooo muuuuuch mooooore! Because it’s not only giving me enjoyment tastebud-wise, but, because I’m actually hungry, it tastes even better than normal.

Plus I’m staying true to myself and to my Lord ~ and nothing tastes better than that!!! As Heidi says:

 

“No food tastes as good as obedience feels!” 

Not even a peppermint mocha!