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.
