A Blessed Woman....

I was going to call this post, "A Sad Story" but then I got a little Divine perspective.
Let me give you some history concerning this latest adventure. My sweet, dear friend, Renee` and her equally sweet husband Mark, are in the final stages of adopting two siblings from Ethiopia. Their adoption journey has been such a beautiful witness and I am so excited about meeting these precious kiddos! Our women's group at church is hosting a shower for them this Sunday (tomorrow) and of course, I volunteered to make the cake. Now, many of you know that cooking is not really my strength but with baking, I'm not so bad. I pulled out my 11X13 in cake pan, 3 cake mixes and got started. I had never used this cake pan before and if you have a ruler handy, you will see that 11X13 is a good sized cake. I popped the cake in the oven and sat down to watch "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" with the kids. (Good movie BTW) The movie was over, the timer dinged and I went in to trim the cake and let it cool on the cardboard base. You already see where this is going, doncha? I really don't even remember the cake slipping or falling. I just remember staring down at the tile in complete and utter disbelief. The cake was in something of a tri-fold pattern. You know how you fold a piece of paper up to be a brochure? Just like that. Steaming and golden (and delicious, Mike had the kids taste it before he got rid of it) and all of it on the floor. I think I said something like, "Oh Gosh!" and Michael and both babies came running. "Are you burned? Are you burned?" was all Michael could say. He just kept checking me over to make sure I wasn't hurt. "You're okay, then?" They all hugged me and told me everything was fine and another cake could be made- no problem. I held my head in my hands and nodded. Off to Kroger..... Michael cleaned up the kitchen while I was gone so well that you couldn't even tell I had baked Cake Number One. Everything was washed and waiting for me to start again when I came home.

As I was making the Second Cake, I started listening. Listening to thoughts like, "What an honor you have to make this cake", "Wonder what all those kids in that transition home in Ethiopia would have done with that broken cake?", "Wonder if Renee`and Mark's kids in Africa have ever even Had cake?", "How lucky you are that you have a husband like Michael and children like Bailey and Ike", "Isn't great that you had the money to go out and purchase more supplies for this New cake?" Michael came in to check on me. He said, "Think about this, tomorrow you will have a great story to tell!" Typical Michael. By the time I put the Second Cake in the oven, I was smiling. Broken cake- what a great problem to have.........