Drink the Juice, Shelby

In my humble opinion, one of the greatest movies ever made is Steel Magnolias. I mean, come on, just the cast alone makes it a classic ... Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Julia Roberts, along with all the other great stars ... it was destined to be one of those movies that is loved and remembered for years to come. I've seen the film so many times that I can almost quote the lines by heart ... lines like, "I'm not crazy, I've just been in a very bad mood for the last 40 years!" or "Miss Truvy, I promise that my personal tragedy will not interfere with my ability to do good hair" or "I would rather have 30 minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special." Geez ... I just love that movie, I really do.

One of the main characters in the film is Shelby, who is played by Julia Roberts, and the movie opens with the scene of preparations in full swing on her wedding day. While her dad and brothers try to devise a way to rid the trees of a flock of birds in the yard where the wedding reception will be held, Shelby and her mother M'Lynn, played by Sally Field, make their way to Truvy's Beauty Shop to get their hair done. Shelby is a diabetic, and while her hair is being styled, she experiences a low blood sugar episode. Clairee, played by Olympia Dukakis, runs to get some juice, and when M'Lynn tries to get her to drink it, Shelby tries to knock the juice from her mom's hand. As M'Lynn patiently lifts the juice to Shelby's mouth, she and Truvy, played by Dolly Parton, say what has become one of the most famous lines in the film ... "Drink the juice, Shelby ... drink the juice." And eventually, Shelby does drink the juice and her blood sugar climbs back into the normal range. 

I didn't fully understand that scene from the movie all the times I saw it before I was diagnosed with diabetes, but I certainly do now. While I don't have a lot of blood sugar issues like I did a couple of years ago, every now and again, my blood sugar will drop into the danger zone. And when it does, I can completely relate to Shelby's reaction in the film ... I don't want to drink the juice either, and sometimes I get rather adamant about it. A couple of months ago, I had one of those lovely low blood sugar episodes at work ... not fun. I felt it coming on and headed to the kitchen to get some juice, but by the time I got there, I was already in what I call "tunnel mode." That's when it feels like I'm in a tunnel ... my vision gets blurry, my hands shake and people's voices sound muffled. Thankfully, a couple of my co-workers were in the kitchen that day ... they opened some cans of orange juice, poured them into a glass and encouraged me to drink the juice and eat some cheese and blueberries until my blood sugar level rose. Many times I can't remember much about what takes place when I'm in tunnel mode, but I remember one of the guys kept saying, "Drink the juice, Shelby ... drink the juice." I just want to say one thing about his commentary ... I totally love that guy, I totally do.

Everyone's blood sugar naturally drops while they're sleeping, but for a person with diabetes, sleep can bring with it frighteningly low levels. I learned quickly to keep glucose tablets and peanut butter on my dresser ... a few nights when I woke up and had to crawl into the kitchen because I was too shaky and out of it to walk taught me that lesson in a big way. I've lost count of how many times my big dog Julie has tugged on me until she wakes me up ... she knows when my blood sugar drops, even when I'm asleep. Julie is getting old, however, and I worry sometimes what will happen to me after she's gone ... Ollie the wiener dog is worthless when it comes to my blood sugar ... either he doesn't know it's dropping, or he doesn't care, or perhaps it's a combination of both. Julie woke me up last night, tugging on my t-shirt until she roused me, and the minute I sat up, I knew I was in trouble. I reached for the spot where I normally have tablets and peanut butter, only to find that neither were there. I slid out of bed, crawled into the kitchen and sat on the floor as I drank juice and scooped peanut butter out of the jar with my fingers. And as I did, I kept hearing my co-worker's voice pounding in my head, "Drink the juice, Shelby ... drink the juice."

Here's the thing ... all day today, those words have been coursing through my mind, "Drink the juice ... drink the juice." And the more they've pounded in my brain, the more I've come to think there's a lesson in them for me. I think maybe God wants me to understand that the words, "Drink the juice," aren't about the low blood sugar episodes I have. I don't think they are about that at all. I think God wants me to see that He's what I need to survive ... it's not about the orange juice ... it's about the symbolism of the juice I drink when I take communion. It's about the blood of His Son ... the blood of Jesus Christ that covers all my sin. 

"Drink the juice, Shelby ... drink the juice."