Serve The Cake Anyway

It was a doozie of a morning.  News about a dear friend who is sick.  Bickering with Jack.  Some emails that were frustrating.  All while getting ready to host Bible study here at my house.

I decided to bake pineapple upside-down cake.  I’ve made the recipe before and I knew that last time it took forever to bake.  I thought I would rely on my sense of smell and knowing that it wouldn’t be done until right before people arrived, so I went into my office to get some work done.

When I came out to take the cakes out of the oven, this is what they looked like:

I thought “well great, one more failure and disappointment for today.”  I contemplated throwing them in the garbage to hide them.  But then I decided to leave them out and be honest and show the ladies what my morning had been like.  I never want to come across like I have it all together. I definitely do not.

When my dear teammates arrived, I showed them and explained my morning.  They were incredibly gracious and even offered to try a piece of this terrible-looking cake!

Guess what?!?  They were not actually burned!  My great baking sniffer hadn’t failed me!  They were just caramelized.  It must be something with the brown sugar or butter I bought here that it got so dark.

If my kids could speak to you right now I’m sure they would say “just watch, mom’s gonna make a devotion out of this.”  You got it!

I could only see my situation through my own eyes. If I had thrown those cakes away and hid my mistake, I never would have had the blessing of looking past what I thought was ruined.  I would have missed out on that literal delicious sweetness but also the sweetness of my sisters in Christ.  I would have missed out on the love I felt when my sisters were willing to be kind to eat what they thought was burned cake.

God did not make us to hide from each other.  He made us for community.  We learn from and encourage each other.
Friends, don’t hide in shame because of your mistakes.  And others be the gracious friend who eats the cake anyway.  Be the hands and feet of Love to show people that they are more than their failures.

Be brave enough to serve the cake anyway.