A Pancake Story

This Sunday the junior high students will be raising money for winter camp, by serving pancakes at our annual Crashcake Breakfast! The students will serve people pancakes, juice and coffee. So in honor of this pancake breakfast, I thought I'd share a pancake story with you.

When I was a kid, let's say 3rd grade, I was over at my aunt's house, spending the night with some cousins. In the morning, my uncle decided to make pancakes for breakfast. When my uncle makes pancakes, he doesn't mess around. The pancakes he makes are, no joke, the size of dinner plates (9-in diameter ones). Now, kids, especially boys, do not typically back down from challenges, especially when they involve eating. So, I'm sitting with my brother & 2 cousins, Chris & Patrick and we began betting each other how many of these massive pancakes we could eat; 3, then 5, then 7. Wanting to take things a step up and show how awesome I was, I blurted out, "I could eat 13!" This was a very bad call. After they all laughed at me, they told my uncle to make more and held me to it.

I finished the first 3 no problem. I started to slow down when I finished the 5th. By the time I had completely eaten the 7th pancake, I was full. But as a kid, a bet is a bet and to give up in the middle of a bet means turning in your "cool card". So I kept eating. By about the 10th pancake, I was really regretting what I had said and hated my big mouth. By the 11th one, I was feeling sick and wanted to throw up, but I held it in, not wanting to fail. I stared down at my 2 remaining pancakes, not wanting to finish them, but not wanting to fail. I looked at the clock and noticed that it had been 2 hours since I had started this stupid bet. I slowly nibbled and picked at one, just wanting this whole thing to be over. Then I got an idea. While no one was looking, I decided to spit it out in the trash. I made sure it was buried, so no one could see. Finally, it all came down to this, one pancake left. The end was in sight. I felt invigorated! I called everyone back into the kitchen, wanting to prove that I had held up my end of the bet (even though I was only doing it for bragging rights and never mind that I didn't even finish number 12). With a look of victory, I ate the remaining pancake on my plate. Huzzah!

It was at this time that I made myself another bet... well it was more of a vow. I vowed that I'd never make any bet that had to do with eating pancakes again. That is my pancake story, and yes it really did happen. I hope to see you all here at Desert Springs Church this Sunday morning, either enjoying pancakes, or serving them.