What would the world be without apple fritters?

Stress is not something new in my life or anyone else’s. The thing about stress is that you never get used to it, or at least I don’t.

I don’t know what I would do if a week didn’t have any stress. When that happens, I’ll let you know.

The past week has not been one of those stress-free weeks. From the first day of the week, stress poked its nose into my business.

On Monday, while sitting in my office to start work for the week, I opened my laptop and couldn’t turn it on. It wouldn’t accept my password. I’ve used that password ever since I’ve had the computer. However, today it would not work.

I tried everything but nothing worked except it raised my stress level.

Finally, I had to take it to a computer store to fix it. It took them a little over an hour, but they finally fixed it. The tech also set it up so I didn’t have to use a password to open my computer. That took a lot of stress away.

I took it home, had lunch, and then went back to the office to start my work for the day. It’s already halfway through the day. When I opened my computer, everything worked except the passwords for all my programs. Even Facebook wouldn’t work; did not recognize my password.

For the rest of the day, I spent changing one password after another. Whoever invented the password phenomenon should be sued.

Finally, I got everything working, and all the passwords were in place, and I was able to spend the rest of the week doing some kind of work.

I had an appointment with my ophthalmologist this week, which had to do with my cataract surgeries. This was supposed to be the last one to make sure everything went smoothly. I was excited to go and do this. So, I could order my glasses and be able to see and read simultaneously.

The appointment was at 9:45 and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t late. I couldn’t drive because of the eye drops I was supposed to put in to prepare for this exam. So, Graciosa Mistress of the Parochial House was going to be my chauffeur for the day.

It was around 9 o’clock, I was dressed and ready to go, so I asked, “Are we ready to go now? My appointment is at 9:45.”

She gave me one of her “looks” and said, “Are you sure it’s 9:45?”

“Of course, I’m sure.”

He looked at me again and said, “What day is your appointment for?”

“It’s for Thursday at 9:45 in the morning.” Then I looked at her and smiled one of my greasy smiles.

“Are you sure it’s for Thursday?”

She always tries to trick me, assuming this was one of her tricks, I just looked at her, smiled and nodded very dramatically.

“So,” he said hesitantly, “what is today?”

I said nothing; I just looked at her and then looked at my watch.

“Oh silly boy, today is Wednesday.”

I hate when he’s right! This only increased my stress level because now I had to wait a day for my hearing appointment.

Part of my stress this week was all the phone calls I received to renew my car warranty, each one being the last call for renewal.

On Friday morning, as I headed to my office, my stress level was the highest it had been in a long time. I’m not very good at dealing with stress, especially when I’m the cause of it.

I usually stop at McDonald’s in the morning for a cup of coffee to take to the office. As I passed the drive-thru, a very pleasant thought occurred to me. They not only sell coffee here, but also Apple Fritters.

Wow, when my brain starts thinking, it’s hard to know where it’s going.

Leaving McDonald’s with my coffee and Apple Fritter, I was very happy. There is no comfort food as comforting as a fresh apple fritter.

Sitting at my desk, I took a sip of coffee and then opened the bag with the delicious Apple Fritter. I put it on my desk and, just for a few moments, I stared at it taking in the delicious aroma of this wonderful comfort food.

I took the first bite and a great weight began to lift from my head. It was a wonderful experience and it helped me get rid of all that stress I had.

Finally, I thought for a few moments about that situation. If it wasn’t for all the stress I experienced this past week, I wouldn’t be having this wonderful experience of eating my comfort food. At least stress has a bright side.

I remembered what Jesus said: “These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but take heart, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Sometimes I let the world stress me out, but when I look at the Lord Jesus, I see that He overcomes all my stress.