Snack Cakes & Stomachaches

“Justin, guess what!” Jessie said as Justin let her in the back door. “My mom said we’re all going to Papa’s Pizza Palace for dinner tonight!”

“I love Papa’s Pizza Palace!” Justin replied. “They have a huge ball pit and a bounce house.”

“Yeah, and a merry-go-round with beautiful ponies on it,” said Jessie as she danced around like a ballerina. “I can’t wait!”

Justin and Jessie jumped around the kitchen chanting, “Pizza Palace, Pizza Palace” until Justin’s mom said, “Shhh. Be quiet. Ellie’s taking her nap.”

“Oh, sorry,” Jessie whispered as she tiptoed toward the back door. “Can Justin come over to my house?”

“Sure. Go ahead,” Justin’s mom replied.

The two kids ran next door to Jessie’s house. They went into the living room, and Jessie’s mom helped them find the right channel for their favorite TV shows. Justin plopped down on the floor with a pillow while Jessie got comfy in her squishy beanbag chair.

“Mom, when are we going to get pizza?” asked Jessie.

“Not for a few hours, Jessie. Daddy said he’s going to be a little late tonight.”

“Aww! I’m ready to go now! I’m getting hungry already,” Jessie whined.

“We’re still planning to go. You’ll just have to wait a little longer, that’s all. You can have a snack if you’re that hungry,” said Jessie’s mom as she left the room.

Just then, the TV show began, and the kids turned to watch. After a while, a commercial for some yummy snack cakes came on.

“Hey! We have some of those in the cupboard. Come on!” Jessie led the way into the kitchen and found the snack cakes. “These are so good,” said Jessie as she passed one to Justin.

“I like them, too,” Justin agreed. “But shouldn’t we ask your mom before we eat them?”

“It’s okay,” Jessie replied. “She said we could have a snack. And I’m super hungry now!” Jessie opened the wrapper of her cake and started licking the frosting.

Justin ate his cake in two bites. “Yum! I like those.”

The kids headed back to the living room to watch some more TV. Jessie brought the box of snack cakes and set them between her and Justin. An hour later, Jessie stood up and stretched. “Ugh. My stomach doesn’t feel too good.”

“Could it be because you ate a whole box of snack cakes?” Jessie’s mom stood behind her, tapping her foot and pointing at the empty box and mound of cake wrappers on the floor. “We’ll talk about this later, young lady. For now, you and Justin need to get ready to go. Daddy will be home soon, and we’ll go get pizza.”

Justin and Jessie frowned at each other. They both had a heavy, sick feeling in their stomachs. They stared at the empty cake box. How could they eat so much and not even know it? And now they had to go eat pizza. Blechh!

Everyone piled in the van and took off to Papa’s Pizza Palace. They got a nice table by the merry-go-round. But Jessie didn’t feel like riding any of the colorful ponies. All she wanted to do was sit and be still until her stomach felt better.

“Why aren’t you jumping around in the bounce house, Justin?” his dad asked.

“Umm. My stomach doesn’t feel like jumping around right now,” Justin replied, holding his stomach.

“What’s the matter with you two? You were so excited to come here. What happened?” asked Justin’s mom.

Justin and Jessie both looked up with sad faces. Jessie explained, “Well, we got hungry and didn’t want to wait so long for pizza, so we ate some snack cakes.”

“And tell them how many you ate,” instructed Jessie’s mom.

“I guess we ate the whole box,” admitted Justin.

“Yeah. We didn’t know we were eating that many,” said Jessie. “And now our stomachs feel icky.”

“That’s how it usually goes when we get impatient and don’t want to wait. Esau did the same thing,” said Jessie’s dad.

“Esau?” Jessie gave her dad a surprised look. “You mean Jacob and Esau? The ones we talked about for Bible time yesterday?”

“He ate a whole box of snack cakes, too?” asked Justin.

Jessie’s dad chuckled. “No, but he was so hungry that he gave up something very important because all he wanted was something to eat.”

“That’s right,” added Jessie’s mom. “Remember, he gave up his birthright because he was impatient and cared more about his growling stomach at that moment.”

“I guess we should’ve been more patient, huh? We thought it would take forever to get pizza,” Justin explained.

“What you did today, and the stomachache you got from it, is a good reminder to be careful about your decisions,” Justin’s mom pointed out.

“Right,” said Justin’s dad. “Someday you will have important decisions to make, and you’ll need to wait and trust God to guide you instead of doing things your own way.”

“I think I’ll remember this. It’s hard to forget a stomachache,” said Jessie. “Next time, I’m going to wait.”

“Good! Ah, but you don’t have to wait for pizza any longer,” said Jessie’s dad. “Here it comes!”

The server brought a giant pepperoni pizza to the table. Justin and Jessie weren’t too sure if they wanted any, but they decided to try eating some. It wasn’t long before Justin was bouncing in the bounce house and Jessie was riding a beautiful pink and purple pony on the merry-go-round.