Food

The logistics of eating are most difficult.

An early blog referred to the bishop who preached the opening sermon and then presided over the opening plenary which followed immediately after. She had not eaten since breakfast and was desperate for something to eat.

I heard several times of delegations from overseas arriving and, having had little or no food during their long flights, were depending on promised meals upon their arrival which did not happen right away.

A friend greeted me tonight with, "I need some cookies. I haven't had time for supper and I can't go out till after I've finished what I'm doing."

I am fortunate to be staying with a pastor and can drive to the grocery store or to a nearby cafeteria/restaurant anytime I am at the parsonage. That way, I can slip snacks into my bag along with my Discipline and conference materials.

But most of the delegates and staff can't get away. They are working from 8 in the morning or earlier until 11 pm or later every day.

The restaurants around the arena are two or more blocks away. Most of the delegates handle that well, walking six or more blocks sometimes to get to some of the more tasty places. Not all of us are that energetic or able.

That leaves two choices, 1) have an outlander like me shop on a regular basis for needed finger foods to have at the table or 2) hit the cookies.

Women and men all over the Central Texas Conference baked thousands of cookies. The baskets holding packages of three cookies are no longer piled high but they still are laid out as a snack for delegates and staff and visitors.

Today, I worked my way through three little bags, one as a mid-morning snack, one as lunch, and one for "pie time."

Ann and I established "pie time" some months ago as a way to reward ourselves for eating smaller meals and as a way to make sure we get all the calories we need.

Eating too few calories causes the body to think it is starving so it changes everything into fat anyway! Eat just enough calories and your body uses them all up and you can lose a little at a time.

My normal diet does not include homemade cookies.

But for General Conference, hey, they are a manifestation of the grace of God!