The Ugliest Cake and a Lesson on Forgiveness

The day before MaryElise turned three I wasn't feeling good. I knew I needed a cake and I was debating whether to make one or pick on up at the grocery store. Tom and Josiah were headed to the store so I enlisted them to find a cute pink cake for MaryElise's birthday.

Sometime later Tom called from the store describing some of the cakes. He told me about a "Diner Cake". I had no idea what he was talking about. I heard the lady in the bakery talking about a "big cupcake cake" or a Cinderella cake and then Tom said, "Okay, I think we got it covered" and then he hung up. I felt secure knowing he would come home with something cute with the help from the bakery lady.

He entered the house carrying a cake box and I took a peek inside to see what kind of a cute cake he chose. The cake he came home with looked more like a jelly doughnut explosion than a birthday cake. The sides were smeared with strawberry jelly and the top had mounds of icing and globs of jelly. It was the ugliest cake I had ever seen. I responded by going into my room and crying. (Really mature I know) Much to Josiah's credit, he came in and apologized and said it was his idea. He thought the cake looked great.

Throughout the day I couldn't get over my disappointment. I rehearsed the situation over again in my mind and the frustration began to grow. "How could he be so clueless? This cake is ugly. It isn't even pink. Maybe I'll get lucky and the cake will accidentally fall on the floor and I'll have to get a new one. There is no way I want to take pictures of my cute little girl with such an ugly cake!"

I didn't realize how far I had let the situation go until dinner. I can't remember exactly what it was that I said, but Tom's reply was, "Oh, that really sounds like forgiveness". I realized from his tone that I had not forgiven him. I was choosing to wallow in the disappointment rather than forgiving and letting go. God convicted my heart. How many times have we as parents spoken to our children about the importance of forgiveness and here I was holding on to something silly!
In Colossians 3:13 it says, "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." I had a choice to make and I chose to forgive. (Needless to say, I did take pictures of MaryElise with the cake that we still fondly refer to as the Jelly Doughnut Explosion!)

Ingredients Matter

In honor of Courtney's 18th birthday, and because she has gone vegan, I decided to make her favorite German Chocolate Cake " vegan style". I found a great recipe online and baked the cake. It smelled delicious baking! The frosting however, was a different story. I mixed the ingredients and put it on the stovetop to heat. After awhile the frosting doubled in size and was foamy. I transferred the frosting to my biggest pan and was a little amazed when it continued growing in size. Finally it bubbled out of my pan and onto the stove. I was mortified. I so wanted to bless Courtney, but I had made a mess of the frosting and the stove.

When she came home I told her what happened. She said, "Mom, you did use corn syrup or cornstarch?" I looked up in the cabinet and saw the cornstarch on the shelf and realized I had never taken it out of the cupboard. I had used Baking Soda instead! Oh my. No wonder it acted more like the boys' volcano science experiment rather than frosting. By the way, Josiah fondly calls my concoction "frothing" rather than frosting! With a quick trip to the store and all the right ingredients, the cake was completed. But I sure learned a lesson. Putting something in that doesn't belong can spell disaster. Ingredients are important!

What is your recipe for life? Is your life bubbling out of control like my "frothing"? What kind of ingredients are you putting inside of you? Are there things in your life that you are compromising or substituting for the ingredients that really belong? I know that listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit are so vital in life. Sometimes I ignore what God might be trying to tell me thinking, "Oh, this is no big thing" but God knows what is best for me. He designed me (and He designed you too) and He knows what is best to make each of our lives perfect in His sight.

Happy Birthday Whitney

Happy 6th Birthday Whitney!

Your life is truly a gift from God. When I look back at your life and the incredibly tough beginning you had as a newborn, I am reminded of the grace of God. Everything seemed so normal after you were born. We held you, prayed over you, and just enjoyed new little you. Many hours later, things took a drastic change... We learned words like "respiratory distress" that soon moved into "respiratory failure". You were transported to Children's Hospital where you were monitored closely for several weeks.

We camped out in the NICU waiting room for a week, and then took turns going to the hospital to be with you, and pray over you. We wanted to hold you but you were too sick. We could touch you and talk to you, but we wanted to bring you home. It was such a joy when you started getting better and stronger. I remember seeing your eyes for the first time in weeks! Several weeks later we finally got to take you home (attached to oxygen of course!) We had to learn how to walk through the house without tripping on your oxygen tube (and how to carry you upstairs without the tube getting tangled or caught on anything. We also kept your oxygen level monitored with your "ET" light.

You were such a happy baby...Even with all the trips back to Children's Hospital to monitor your heart and lungs. What a joy when we finally got the okay to remove the oxygen tube! Looking at you today, no one would ever know the trials you experienced during your first year of life. You are indeed a blessing! We love you!

A Birthday Scavenger Hunt

For Josiah's 10th Birthday I decided to have him hunt for his present. All he wanted for his birthday was a drum set. I found one at a yard sale one Saturday morning several weeks ago and I had all the parts hidden in the storage room. This is how it went...

Clue #1
You are such fun, such a real treat. We thought you'd like to search and find for something real neat...be careful where you look so you don't ruin the surprise...for your first visit you must look outside.

Clue #2
What is this for? What good are these? To find out why you must search in games please.

Clue #3
Whooaah! The surprise is growing, what is next...to find out more please check your floor.

Clue #4
This is where it will be but there is stuff missing...where should you look now? How about a towel?

Clue #5
Put it in the room with the rest of your stuff. Now I am tired, but we're not done yet. Maybe I should go on a ride, but I'll need something first, always wear a helmet, so your head won't burst.

Clue #6

On Saturday mornings someone's a sleepy head...it is such fun to wake the parents instead.

Clue #7
Time is a wasting, tomorrow is the 4th, there will be fireworks and loud clashing of course. We can't set off our own, but we have a great view. Hopefully the trees won't mind bending a few.

Clue #8
We are almost done, but don't give up hope. You'll find the rest with not even a joke. Where would you look for someone so sleepy? If you are the Dwarfs her name is Sleepy.

Clue #9
I hope you've had fun, we've had a great time. Happy Birthday dear Josiah, we'll hear from you in time!

Holding On Instead of Letting Go

First Birthday Celebration

In April we celebrated MaryElise's first birthday. It was a fun celebration of her life. One thing we had for her to wear was a little princess birthday hat. The hat was fuzzy along the bottom and fit on like a hairband. When I put it on her in the high chair she didn't seem to mind. Later in the day however, whenever it was put on her head she cried. In fact, she even started crying when she saw the hat.

As evening approached we had cake and presents. Sometime during the opening of presents I wondered what MaryElise would do if we handed her the birthday hat. So, one of her brothers picked up the hat and I handed it to her. She took it in her hand and looked at me with tears in her eyes as if to say, "What are you doing to me?" She cried, but continued to hold on to the hat. All she had to do was let go and move away from the hat but she didn't let go. She held on tight and cried even harder. Finally I took the hat away and comforted my baby.

I learned a lesson that day about my own life. How much am I like MaryElise? There are things in my own life that I continue to hold on to that I really need to let go of...hurt feelings that cause bitterness to grow, unkind words that need to be stopped before they leave my lips, temptations that I need to flee from rather than embracing. It is so easy to hold onto things that hurt us and others rather than letting go and walking away. God gives us the ability by His Spirit to flee from temptation, to forgive when we have been hurt, and to speak words of kindness and truth.

I am so thankful for my precious daughter and the way God continues to use her life to teach me more about myself and about Him too!