Temptation

Leave it.

That’s not yours.

That’s not good for you.

You don’t need that.

Annie. Leave it

Our Christmas tree with its ornamental red berries, real pine cones and delicately hand-crafted wood snowflakes (made by Santa Steve in his work shop!) are just more enticing than Annie can bear. She’s a really good puppy but several times a day we retrieve ornaments that she has gathered from the lower branches of our live tree that, of course, smells heavenly. It’s all there and oh so inviting—she must simply ask herself, ‘Why not’?

I completely understand her dilemma. My temptations on any given day are both great and small. Most recently it’s been Sugar-Coated Roasted Pecans. I made them for our neighbors last week and couldn’t stay out of them. Like Annie, I’m a good girl but sometimes fail to heed the urging of that still, but not so small, voice within my soul. That voice that chants the mantra:

Leave it.

That’s not yours.

That’s not good for you.

You don’t need that.

Just . . . leave it.

Darn. Feels kind of Grinch-like, doesn’t it?