the coffee "break"

Three weeks ago, I put myself on a coffee fast for a week. I had a prayer partner. I was a grouch for the first three days, but I was determined. (Jamie wanted me back ON the coffee.) My sister in law Tia said something about me weaning myself off of coffee permanently, and honestly, that thought had never crossed my mind. But after that week, I thought I'd try fasting from it again. By day two, Jamie came around the corner of the kitched and caught me with my nose in the coffee beans. (I wasn't going to drink it...) I gave up - I like coffee, God made it, it's not illegal, and it makes me more productive. And yet, something kept nagging me. I knew that for me, it was a thing I was just not willing to give up, no matter that it was starting to affect my health, no matter that I held it too high a place in my day. I didn't want anything to master me, not even coffee. But try as I may, I just couldn't do it. I would ask for God to help me give it up, but by mid-afternoon, I'd cave and make myself a double shot cappuccino.
Then, I got a cold, and not just any old cold, but a "how much mucus can one person produce?" cold. And I was so dehydrated, I didn't even think of having a cup. I made myself drink tea, and as the cold went on, I kept drinking tea. My skin started clearing up, I stopped crashing in the late afternoon, and my sugar cravings stopped. And now, a good long week after my cold, my coffee craving is gone. Really gone - it has lost its grip! And it may seem like no big deal to someone else, but for me, it's God's perfectly gracious reminder that we fail miserably at mastering our habits in the flesh, but He has this inconspicuous, sometimes funny way of answering our prayers in the form of a cold while we're not even paying attention.