It all started with a Barbie doll and a pair of big blue eyes...

I should have known that the two people who would see the most potential in me would be the two smallest people in my life.  The smallest ones with the biggest hearts.  My kids.  Yes it's true....it all started with a look from my daughter.  One of those "eyes bigger than saucers, please mommy will you do it" sort of looks.  With a princess Barbie in one hand she begged me to make her a cake that looked like a Barbie's dress.  "I don't bake, sweetheart...and I definitely don't decorate cakes", I told her.  But it's those eyes that you just can't say no to, and that confident spirit that you just can't dissappoint,  So there I was with a Barbie in one hand and a spatula in the other and no plan of attack.  But I had a most precious tiny on the cusp of her 3rd birthday and her one wish was a homemade birthday cake.  And there it was.  The challenge.

Lot's of research on the internet helped me somewhat plan for my endeavor and as the day of the party grew near, so did my nerves, but also so did my determination!  I would make my daughter a homemade cake regardless of how horrible it turned out, and I would pray. A lot.  Pray for no eggshells in the batter, pray for low humidity for the frosting, and ultimately pray for a cake that resembled in some way a Barbie with a beautiful dress made of swirls of pink frosting.  Could I do it?  I had serious doubts, but my daughter's faith in me never waivered and neither did God's.

As I neared completion, I stared in disbelief at what had gloriously turned out to be a magical princess cake that surely I had nothing to do with.  It was beautiful, if I did say so myself and I was so proud!  It sparkled and shimmered and nobody had to know that there was at least a pound of frosting keeping that Barbie from falling right over!  For a minute the world stood still as I realized I had done something I considered impossible.  I had overcome my own unbelief.  I was victorious!  Regardless of the bomb that had exploded in my kitchen, and the fact that I managed to dirty every single dish I owned, I had made a cake!

As I look back on that moment 3 years ago, I see now the monumental role that God has played with that cake and with every cake to follow.  Then came my son's birthday request for a skateboard cake:

and then a baby shower for a friend:

Before I knew it I was being asked to make cakes for people.  Me.  The person who doesn't bake.  Go figure.  I love how God challenges us in the places where we feel the least competent.  That way we are challenged to rely on Him to get through it!

With every cake I have decorated since then I have continued to feel inadequate, inexperienced and intimidated.  In my own strength.  Wow, have I ever realized that even in the little things God shows up in gigantic ways and blows my mind every time!  Things I shouldn't be able to do, I do.  It is merely by the grace of God that I have decorated even one cake, and the awesome thing is He makes it work, every time.

This blog is a window into a small slice of my life....into the cakes that I have made and will make and the spiritual journey that this process is taking me on.  One of my favorite sayings is "God doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called".  I don't know if I am "called" to decorate cakes, but one thing I do know that God is teaching me that He can equip anyone to do anything if it is His will! 

Thanks for reading.  I will keep you posted.