February 19, 2026
WARNING! This post is not diet-friendly. It’s not carnivore-friendly. It’s not keto-friendly. It might not even be vegan-friendly. But you know what it is friendly for? Anxiety and stress.
Howdy, everyone! Your favorite fat and sassy pastor here, coming to you with a stress-free, anxiety-free entry for Day 81 of our 365 Days of Thanksliving journey.
Let me set the stage for you. My day actually started out fantastic. I was up early for our 8:00 AM men’s Bible study. Good questions, great fellowship, food, and digging into God’s Word. It nourishes the soul.
But then… the telephone company arrived.
We’ve had the same phone system at the church here in Comfrey for about 26 years. It was practically a historical artifact. We finally got brand new broadband fiber optic installed this week, which meant updating the phone lines to save a whole lot of money. The guys got it all hooked up, everything seemed fine, until we decided to test the voicemail.
Ring… ring… ring… Eleven rings later, nothing.
Long story short: they fixed one problem, created another, gave me a list of instructions to set up the new voicemail, and after jumping through all the hoops… it still didn’t work. So, I called tech support. They said they’d get right back to me. That was hours ago.
Combine that with the fact that my fancy new office microphone gave me massive headaches (and horrible audio on yesterday’s video), and my stress levels were creeping up. Is a broken church voicemail a true emergency? Probably not. But it was enough to make my Norwegian blood boil just a little bit.
So, what did I do when I got home? I picked up a Snickers bar.
Connie, Shawn, Pat—I know you’re shaking your heads, but I don’t care. It tasted really good. I don’t know the exact science of it, but chocolate just does something wonderful for the brain. It hits those dopamine receptors and works absolute miracles. I also keep a stash of that 85% cacao super-dark chocolate around. My wife loves dark chocolate, but even she won’t touch this 85% stuff. But just a little bit of it goes a long, long way in bringing the anxiety down.
Honestly, I think it’s biblical. Three thousand years ago, King Solomon wrote about honey, nature’s candy.
My child, eat honey, for it is good, and the honeycomb is sweet to the taste."
If Solomon were alive today, I guarantee you he’d say, “My child, eat chocolate.”
God made the cacao tree. Some brilliant human being a long time ago figured out how to harvest those pods, roast the beans, mix in a little sugar and cream, and give us milk chocolate. When you’re stressed out and tangled up, a little bit of that sweetness is exactly what the doctor—and maybe the Good Lord—ordered.
So today, I am incredibly thankful for chocolate. God provided the tree, and we get to enjoy the sweet relief.
What are you thankful for today? Are you thankful for a sweet treat? The roof over your head? Or maybe, like me, you’re just overwhelmingly thankful for your salvation from God our Father? Let me know in the comments below!
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to kick back and watch the Olympics with my wifey and the mutts. Don’t worry, my lips are sealed on any scores! Until next time…