When bad things happen to good cakes....

I have seemed to make a theme here out of the little miracles that God performs each time I make a cake.  He always shows up when I decorate a cake, and up until this point, there has always been a happy ending.  That's the way it's supposed to work.  I take on the challenge, I get nervous, I pray, I get empowered, I freak out a little, I pray some more and then I experience victory! 

You can only imagine my surprise when I was thrown a bit of curve ball recently with a cake I was asked to make for a baby girl's Christening celebration. This was my first order for a cake for somebody that I didn't know, and let me tell you, that's a lot of pressure. I wanted it to not only be scrumptious, but memorable, beautiful and perfect.   I prepared, I researched and I anticipated the week before the event date as I knew the details of the cake would start to unfold. 

Cake day was here. I was SO excited to get started on putting this cake together!  I have found out the hard way that my days require God to be present in every nook and cranny of my life and I knew this day was no different.  So I started out my day the way I always try to...by talking to God (The coffee is icing on the cake...pun intended).

 

This was a pretty big cake.  For me.  Big cakes take a lot of frosting.  It's hard to tell but these are huge bowls!  Buttercream on the right and cream cheese frosting on the left.  YUM.

 

This was a strawberry cake with cream cheese and strawberry filling and then covered in buttercream. I had a specific request for no fondant, so one of my many challenges was to make a cake covered in buttercream that looked as smooth as fondant but of course without the unique texture of fondant! That proved to be my biggest challenge but not for the reasons I thought....keep reading!

My favorite part of this cake was the topper I made out of gum paste.  As I prepared my workstation for fun with "edible playdoh" the anticipation of the final product was building!

Who would have known that layers and layers of sugar wrapped around each other could form one of the most beautiful of God's creations....the rose!

 

I loved the way this turned out....and I actually added another 3 or 4 layers after I took this picture!  I needed it to make a statement!

 

I continued working on the cake but most of it couldn't be completed until Saturday morning.  Things went pretty smoothly and as usual I had worship music encouraging and pushing me along.  I started to get nervous when at least 2 times my husband circled the kitchen, slowly eyed the cake and said, "You're going to like, put more decorations on it, right?" I kept telling him that it was a simple, but elegant cake, but inside I was praying that is how it would appear once I was finished!  There are always unexpected details along the way and as things started figuring themselves out the cake started to take shape which gave me an opportunity to give the glory to God.  I may have even done a cheer or two.  Maybe.  "Yay God!"

 

Because of the weight of the cake topper and the cake and filling itself, I wanted to add some support the the bottom layer.  Who knew straws could be so versatile?

 

Do you see them hiding in there?  They are my support beams for the top layer.  I had no idea how important those would be later that afternoon!  As I neared completion of the cake, time was running out.  Note to self:  Anytime I tell myself I have plenty of time, there's no need to rush, remind self that is a false statement and continue rushing!  The worship music had been turned up, the kids and hubby were now avoiding asking me any direct questions as they new I needed complete focus and attention on the cake.  I was on a mission to finish and I still had to deliver it! 

The cake was done!  I had finished in time and I sang praises to the heavens (literally) that God had yet again met me in what I would consider my weakness to create beauty!

Out the door I went and I was on the road.  Mind you it was 110 degrees that day with about 40% humidity.  Frosting and humidity are not friends.  In fact, their arch rivals.  Enemies you might say.  About 20 minutes into my drive and I realized this first hand.

Here began yet another conversation with God.  "Wait a minute, the cake is finished, I'm done, remember?  You got me through it, You gave me the skill to pull it together just as I pictured it in my head.  That was the hard part, this is the no-brainer part.  Just drive there and drop it off."  What I wasn't prepared for in any way was for my smooth, fondant looking frosting to decide to slide right off of the cake and attempt to take the top layer of my bottom tier with it. 

Definitely NOT in the plan.  When I arrived at the venue and panic officially set in, I called the client and informed her that we had a bit of a "frosting issue" and that I would do my best to fix it once I got the cake out of the sauna otherwise known as Gilbert.  So much for that dry heat everyone keeps talking about.  Mind you I hadn't brought any tools to repair the damage.  Tears are welling up and I am literally having to talk myself out of crawling into the fetal position in the back of my car and staying there until the sun went down.  Can you actually die from pubic humiliation??

I stopped myself and realized there are just some things that are out of my control and at this moment in my life, this was one of them. I had a much more reasonable conversation with God and simply asked Him to be with me, to not leave me, to comfort me and to give me the courage to just get out of the car.  It's no big surprise that He was ready to answer me as soon as I asked Him.  I finally got out of the car and entered the venue, got the cake in it's spot and proceded to "borrow" a cake server to patch the frosting in the spots where it had started to slide.  Remember the straws from earlier?  I truly believe if they hadn't have been in that bottom layer I would have completely lost the cake as it would have slid into the Bermuda Triangle never to be seen again.  The cake ended up being presentable-from a distance-and I found out later that it was delicious so that was comforting.  As I made the drive home there was silence, except for the sound of the biggest sigh of relief that I think I have ever made.  I was officially going into retirement.  Ok, so I may have overreacted a tiny bit, but as always I learned not only something more about myself, but even bigger than that was my newfound revelation about God's love for me.

When I gave my life to God, He didn't promise my life was going to be perfect.  He didn't assure me that I would never experience obstacles or that things would always go exactly as I expected.  What He did promise me was constant companionship, unconditional love, eternal hope and unending peace.  Things that can't be created but things that just are, because God deposited them in me when I said "yes" to Him!  Those gifts are there, but I have to choose to accept them.  John 16:33 says, "I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world."  In the grand scheme of things, my little cake disaster was a tiny dot on the map of troubles in my life.  The amazing thing is God doesn't care if it's a little problem or a big problem.  He cares simply because He loves me that much.  He cares simply because He loves all of us that much.  As we live our lives, we have opportunites to choose to trust and rely on God regardless of our circumstances.  And especially during the trials.  It's easy to praise God when things are going great...when frosting doesn't melt and everything works out just as you planned.  But when disaster strikes it's how we react that shows our true character.  Something I  am working on on a minute to minute basis.  As long as we are honest with God and reliant on Him for everything there is nothing we can't get through.

So I drove home exhausted, but no longer defeated.  At peace and full of hope, I thanked Jesus repeatedly for His steadfast love for me.  I ignored the mountain of dishes in my kitchen sink, put my feet up and ate a big bowl of popcorn.  Much better. 

Thanks for reading....

Andrea

 

 

 

A Moment of Silence

Here's where I am at tonight.  I am not making a cake and I don't even have plans to make one.

Maybe that's part of the reason I am feeling different right now.  Things are quiet around here lately, almost silent.  By quiet, I don't mean audibly quiet.  There's plenty of noise...kids playing/arguing/laughing/crying, etc....tv, music, video games.  All kinds of noise.  But my soul, on the other hand, is quiet.

Have I become dependent on the idea of relying on God to show up in yet another cake decorating opportunity?  I feel at times that my faith is built only by my circumstances, and that it is not grounded in the Truth.  When my circumstances change and life shifts, the one constant I have is my God, my Rock, my Refuge.  I'm not sureat this moment that my actions back up my words.
 
What happens when there are no cakes on the agenda, and God becomes quiet to me? 

I am at a very honest spot right now, and very raw.  I feel confused, scared and unsure of almost everything that I once not that long ago considered solid and stable.  Different is scary, change is overwhelming.  Lots of changes in our family recently have resulted in me grasping at loose ends, trying to hold on to some sort of normalcy, but yet there is nothing normal about anything right now. 

Can I attach myself to the security of a stable income, job, health or friends?  I can and I have, but I have also discovered that attaching myself to those things results in a completely false sense of security.  What happens when those things are no longer so stable?  What do I cling to then?  Who do I cling to?

I know God hears me.  I know it.  But everything in me wants to grab a megaphone and shout to Him, "WHAT IS GOING ON?  WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO TEACH ME?  HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO RESPOND TO THIS?"

I know I don't need a megaphone.  I don't even need to whisper my words.

My thoughts are enough...
He hears me. 
He sees me. 
He knows me.

It's so quiet in my spirit that I almost can't even hear God.   The silence is almost more then I can bear.  Almost.  I know in my doubt I can turn to His Word and be reminded of His promises to me.  He reminds me in Psalm 46:10 to "Be still and know that I am God".  Not to hear it, or feel it, or experience it, but to know it.  I know it because His Word is true and it is for me.  He is for me and I do know that there is a manipulative force that is trying everything it it's power to get me to believe that God is not for me.   One of the many lies the enemy will throw my way. 

If He can hear me, why can't I hear Him? I am doing all the "right" things, but my realization is that it's not about doing anything right or wrong.  He asks me to be patient and wait on Him.  He asks me to talk to Him, even if I don't hear Him answer right away.  He asks me to read His Word and be obedient to it. 

So, in the midst of the silence, I will set my eyes on Him.  I'll try not to look down at my twisting and turning path but keep my focus on the One who sets my path before me.  I'll try to look at the unknown in expectation of what God's going to do with it, and in turn my faith will grow and mature.  Not because of my circumstances, but in spite of them.

"In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; In the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation....make straight your way before me."    -Psalm 5:3,8

He Makes Beautiful Things

I have always said I love a challenge.  I welcome challenges.  And then when I am in the midst of that challenge, I find myself questioning everything!  So here I was, the challenge set before me to create a beautiful baby shower cake for a friend.  I had been beyond excited to create something for her and her only requirements were the colors so I had complete freedom! 

Scary.  Seriously.

I found a design I loved and felt confident it would be beautiful!  I went into full swing, planning, creating, imagining and waiting for the week before the shower.  I baked the cakes ahead of time and froze them for a few days, which allowed me to trim them up, fill them and crumb coat them much easier.  Here is the base of the cake..crumb coated...I was feeling more confident and prepared than ever!

Friday night rolls around and I prepare for a long night, as I know the design I have found is intricate and like nothing I've done before, but I am still feeling great!  One of the most time consuming parts of this project was coloring the fondant, which is all made stark white.  To get deep, rich colors you must knead and knead and knead, and when you think your done kneading, you knead some more.  All the while, the fondant is naturally sticky, so you much keep your work area coated with Crisco and/or powdered sugar. Oh, and of course I forgot to get disposable gloves to protect my hands from the dye, thus, this result:

 A crazy mess, I tell you!  I really wish I would've taken a picture of the extraordinary pile of dishes I created.  That was quite an accomplishment!

On to the good part.  As I began to cover the cake, I began to panic.  Literally.  My poor husband and daughter weren't sure what to do with me, but I stood there (when I really wanted to collapse on the floor in a big puddle), staring at my mess and trying to figure out how late Costco was open so I could order a last minute cake.  I feared complete disaster and utter failure.  I know I sound dramatic, but in that moment I had built something up in my head so great that I had nowhere to go but down from there.  Had pride gotten a hold of me?  My husband being the amazing man that he is comforted me, hugged me, encouraged me and then because he knows me so well, swept up my sweet 6 year old and took her out for the night.  I suddenly had the whole house to myself and I knew I needed to clear my head.

I needed inspiration.

I threw on some worship music and just started working.  Then something happened.  A song came on that I have heard hundreds of times.  But in that moment, I heard it all different, and I knew God knew that I needed to hear the words. 

"You make beautiful things, You make beautiful things out of the dust.  You make beautiful things, You make beautiful things out of us."  Have you heard that song?  If you haven't, you need to listen to it.  I mean really listen to it.  Ok, just so you don't have to go around looking for it, here it is for you:

He was going to make something beautiful out of this, but He needed me to trust him, and to believe in my abilities through Him.  It's amazing how a fresh perspective can change everything.  It happens every time I bake so I'm not sure why I am always suprised by it!  I replayed and replayed and replayed that song again over the course of a few hours, singing at the top of my lungs, out of key and in full form, but I didn't care and things were starting to come together!

I found inspiration.
I continue to find inspiration.
I am continually reminded of the beauty that God sees in His creation.  In me.  In you. 
I am reminded of the potential that God sees in us.  In Judges 6:11 Gideon felt completely incapable and illequipped to answer the call that God had for his life.  He questioned his abilities and ultimately questioned God.  The angel of the Lord came down and spoke this to Gideon, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior."

Aren't we all mighty warriors?  That night I was a mighty cake warrior.  You may laugh but I'm kidding when I tell you that I put on my armor and I was ready for battle.  I would not let myself be defeated by my enemy.  In this case, my enemy was self-doubt, insecurity and fear.  And before I knew it those lies were squashed beneath my tired feet as I danced around my kitchen at midnight!  Not because the cake was perfect, because it was far from that.  But because I was victorious and the job I had set out to do was completed.  God is so faithful to meet us where we are in every moment of weakness.  And actually, The Lord waits for us to surrender those moments of weakness to Him, so that He can show up and ultimately bring the glory to Him!

The result, in my opinion, is perfectly imperfect, and although this was so much fun (and a huge relief!) to deliver to the baby shower, the moment I shared with God that night far surpasses any confection creation, even if it is strawberry filled, buttercream goodness!

Thanks for listening to my ramblings...until the next cake!

~Andrea

How do you make a friendship cake?

Ok, so this video is a little old school, but it makes me smile.  AND, look at the words, they are so true:

"How do you make a friendship cake,
What's it going to take?
An ounce of kindness,
A drop of generosity,
A touch of heart and a hint of a smile
A cup of trust and a pound of respect
Friends helping friends with a little bit of love"

I am a work in progress in every area of my life, especially being a true friend.  I have not had the best examples in my life, but over the last 15 years, there has been one friend that has always been an example to me.  There were times over that 15 years that I did not appreciate her example, not because she wasn't being a good friend, but because I wasn't.  Years upon years of avoiding, hurting and ignoring because I was too selfish to care.   It is only the love of Jesus that would cause a person to keep coming back and reaching out to a person that never reached back. 

When God knew that I was ready to start letting Him into my heart and in turn letting other people in, He led me back to this friend.  The one who was always there, even when I wasn't.  When we were separated by miles and even states, she prayed for me.  I know she did.  Not because she told me (although lots of times she did tell me) but because I felt her prayers and looking back now my life is a miracle.  God can work miracles through anyone, but He heard her prayers all those years, and so did I. 

I am blessed.

I am honored to call her friend, and to call her my sister in Christ. 

I was overjoyed when I had the chance to make her baby shower cake for her 3rd child, Skyler.

I love a challenge, and I wanted this to be perfect for her.  Any opportunity I have to give back to her I snatch up!  Stacks and stacks of square layers of cake made up this baby block that was frosted and decorated in buttercream.  I never realized how hard it was to get cake perfectly square!  Then recently she celebrated a birthday and there was nobody else I would have had more fun baking for.  She is all girl, all glitz and all bling and I knew exactly what to do!  I had learned a new piping technique that I had been dying to try and mixed with the perfect shade of teal came the most whimsical cake I have made to date!

Candi, my gratefulness to you and my thankfulness for you goes far beyond cake, but if I can say "thank-you" over and over again with cake, I will!

I love you dear friend!

A Power Ranger Miracle (and maybe a meltdown!)

I once was asked to make a birthday cake for a friend of mine son's 4th birthday party.  All he wanted and all he asked for was a red Power Ranger birthday cake.  Simple enough, I thought.  I did a little research and determined I could make the head of a Power Ranger.  Looking back, it's a little morbid as the idea of a decapitated power ranger is not especially appealing.  I have convinced myself that it was a helmet, not a head! 

As my night began, I felt confident and very sure of myself that I could pull off the vision I had.  I spent hours (literally) mixing red dye into fondant to cover the 6 layers of cake.  My pink hands were proof of that!  As I went to lay the giant piece of fondant over the cake the horror set in as I realized it wasn't large enough to cover all the way to the bottom (if you missed that before, it was 6 layers high!).  The mature cake decorator that I thought I was then proceeded to ball up that giant piece of fondant and throw it across the kitchen! 

Humbled and defeated, I cried.  It was midnight.  The party was the next morning.  I cried some more. 

I wondered what time Costco opened and how quickly they could make me a red power ranger cake.

My head was spinning and felt like a total failure.

Then, I remembered something I had totally forgotten that could totally save me!  I hadn't even thought about praying about my little predicament.  In that moment I was trying to get myself out of situation that I didn't have an answer for and I was coming up with nothing.  I took a deep breath and prayed for a way out.  For a fresh idea.  I prayed for energy, for more time, and ulitmately, for a miracle.  As I scraped my emotions and pride off of the kitchen floor (along with the giant  ball of red fondant), I had a glimmer of hope.  I was not going to let this power ranger take me down.  I was suddenly determined!  I pulled myself together and managed to create a cake that any 4 year old would go crazy over (that is, if you like power rangers!).

The moral of the story is this: that night in my greatest weakness, in my biggest moment of failure I realized I had nothing left within myself to finish what I had started.  But I also discovered that God really does respond to our requests, big or small.  They all matter to Him, because they matter to us.  Don't get me wrong, I am very aware that it was just a cake, but it really wasn't about cake at all.  God uses moments like these as opportunities to reveal Himself to us, if we choose to see them. 

2 Corinthians 12:9 says that in our weakness, He is made perfect.  Once I realized that I couldn't do it in my own strength, God showed up and made up the difference.  When I am weak, then I am strong!  No, the cake wasn't perfect by a long shot but God gave me grace that night as He always does.  His perfection was unmistakable to me even if it came in the form of a red power ranger and a giant hug from a sweet 4 year old birthday boy.

**Updated and revised!** A shmorgishborg of birthday cakes, and a tradition is born!

**I am compelled to edit this post.  I realized after publishing this that I have failed to express some of the most memorable parts of making these birthday cakes.  The most important parts, in my opinion.  Really, who cares about a cute cake?  It's great to look at but it gets devoured in minutes and ultimately forgotten about.  If I would have bought a cake at Costco it would have tasted and looked just as great but I wouldn't have the memory of making it.  With almost every one of these birthday cakes, I have had the honor of having either my mom or my mother-in-law with me to help brainstorm ideas and conquer challenges.  Without them in these moments I may have very well had a nervous breakdown!  So, anywhere you see red in this post, I have updated with some fresh thoughts.

I mentioned earlier that my children were the motivation I needed to even attempt to decorate a cake.  As each year passes, their requests get more and more specific, and I suprisingly am up for the challenge!  I love seeing their faces when they wake up in the morning after I have been up (sometimes way too late!) making their birthday cakes.  Those moments are priceless and make every late night worth it.  I have discovered that a store bought cake is not an option and will never again be an option.  But that's ok with me!
Let's start with Logan.  Following his skateboard cake birthday, he had a bowling party, so of course I wanted to make a themed cake.  This is what I came up with using a crazy edible material called fondant:

So the story with this cake is this:  As I was beginning to decorate it there was a knock on my door.  I answered the door with frosting in my hair and on my face, I'm sure, and there standing in front of me was my MOM! (the mom who lives 2 states away and who I had just talked to 15 minutes prior!)  "Surprise!!" She yells.  And her very loving daughter, out of sheer shock and surprise proceeded to slam the door in her face!  After I recovered I got to spend the next few hours being creative with my mom (one of our most favorite thinigs to do together).  We rolled fondant bowling balls and painted "wood" on the lane and my mom was there to interrupt a moment of panic when I realized I couldn't write frosting letters!  Just one more reason to be grateful for moms! 

Then Logan became obsessed with sports and wanted me to make him a replica Cardinals jersey of Larry Fitzgerald.  Really?  Apparantly he really believed in me!  This one was definitely a challenge.  Do you know how hard it is to get a true red frosting?  Almost impossible!  I was determined not to present my son with a pink cake for his 9th birthday, so here is what he got:

What you can't see is that I ran out of frosting and the whole top collar of the jersey is exposed cake!  Good thing 9 year old boys could care less about asthetics when they are about to eat cake!

And as his passion stayed with sports, it migrated from football to basketball and he asked for anything Mavericks and anything Dirk.  I also discovered that sleeveless jerseys are way better than sleeved jerseys...at least from a cake making perspective!

This year he is thinking a Phoenix Sun's logo...we shall see...I will definitely let you know as soon as I do!

The story of Kate's cakes has been a little more, well, girly, pink and sparkly!  After her Barbie princess cake I felt like I had big expectations to live up to.  When we decided to have a pool party for her 4th birthday, I could think of nothing better than a themed cake with a real pool complete with a diving board and pool floats! 

I have such great memories of this cake.  My mother-in-law was visiting for Kate's 4th birthday and I was bound and determined to make this pool cake for her!  I apparantly love to try bold things at the last minute because I seem to do it over and over again!  We filled this pool with blue jello and let it set overnight.  What I didn't realize is how close I cut the pool to the edge of the cake.  In the morning the cake wall was bulging and it looked like the dam was about to burst!  We built a wall of graham crackers and frosting to hold it in and by the grace of God (again) it stayed!  My mother-in-law went on a quest to find Chicklets, as that was my vision for a pool tile border.  Do you know how hard it is to find Chicklets these days?  I knew if there was a store within 50 miles of us that had Chicklets, my mother-in-law would find it!

The following year for her 5th birthday we were in California visiting Disneyland for the first time!  When we got back home, I couldn't resist making this one:

Minnie Mouse was great in theory and seemed easy enough.  What I didn't realize is that black icing dye has an odor to it and when you add too much dye your frosting will taste horrible!  So you can do the math...my frosting tasted HORRIBLE!  With minutes to go, again, my mother-in-law came to the rescue and managed to find odorless black frosting and Minnie Mouse's ears came to life!  Also, who would have known a bow could be shaped out of cookie!

Kate's 6th birthday party was a turquoise and pink themed manicure/pedicure party.  I tried something different this time and decorated with inedible flowers and jewels...beautiful and quick....just what I needed!

This was a quick peek into my world of my kid's birthday parties...I tend to have more fun with these, as personally there is less pressure.  It's great experience for me and I have gotten to the point where I enjoy the challenge of making my child's vision become a reality in cake!  I can't imagine what will be next!

I have realized how lucky I am to have two of the wisest women I know, my mom and my mother-in-law, active in my life.  Not only do they bring humor and experience to my life, but they bring their heart and their love for me and Jimmy and their grandchildren.  I savor the times I have with them and realize that even through the day to day activities and the year after year birthdays, memories are made and moments are created.  That's why we take pictures.  And although my husband will sigh and my kids will roll their eyes as I make them pose for the 100th time to take a photo, I know one day we will look at those pictures, just like seeing these cakes years later, and remember that moment like it was yesterday.

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.