How to Bake a Spiritual Cake
The secret to making a good cake is knowing how to combine all the ingredients together for maximum results. My grandmother taught me that the eggs and butter should be room temperature to ensure they blend well together. Then you slowly add in all the wet ingredients, sometimes it’s 7-up and other times it’s milk or sour cream. Finally you incorporate flour and sugar into the batter. I like to alternate when I add these ingredients. I find the cake turns out better that way.
Over the years I've learned there are unseen elements that should be mixed in as well; patience, attention and love, the most important of these being love. I've found this to be true in all things, especially in service of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
I have created a blog of my own over the years. I’ve started and stopped too many times to count anymore. Some runs were more successful, meaning I wrote consistently for four or five months, while another time I flat-out neglected it. Imagine my response when God suggested that I try again. In the beginning I have to admit, my heart was not in it.
“Lord,” I said, “You know me. I always bite off more than I can chew, and then I end up falling short.”
He said, "I'll send labourers to tarry with you." (Forgive me I'm old school.) In the back of my mind I heard the scripture, Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
So I said, “Okay.” I mean how do you disregard a request from God? However, I put it waaaay back on my TO DO list. Some of you more seasoned Christians are laughing at me right now, because you already know what I had to find out the hard way. God had His own plan and timing for this vision to come to fruition and before I knew it, I had 60 days to get everything done.
What you'll come to learn about me is I am somewhat of a stubborn child, the kind only a parent could love and tolerate. I’m always trying to push the limits and boundaries in the natural and in the spiritual realm. The first time I had to bring the word at my father’s church, I used every excuse in the book to change the date, but that was after I tried to get out of it entirely. True to my nature, I tried to stretch the 60-day deadline God had given to me into 90 days, but I immediately felt convicted.
In both situations, my faith and trust was being put to the test, and I believe deep down in my spirit I knew just that. Once again, I had to set my flesh aside and respond with my spirit.
The women God sent to plant this harvest with me are simply amazing, as you will soon discover. What began as a feeling of an insurmountable task, turned into a labor of love. Suddenly, I was filled with the same excitement that my God must've felt when He originally ordained this moment in time. A few of these women I’ve admired from afar, wishing I could be as charismatic, courageous and driven as they appeared to be. I soon found out the feeling was mutual, imagine that!
The divine mandate for this blog is to provide encouragement, support and a sense of sisterhood to the women who diligently serve the body of believers and those who've yet to accept Jesus Christ. We each have unique gifts, perspectives and experiences to bring to the table, but I assure you that you will be well-fed. You will not leave this table feeling empty or overstuffed. You will get just what you need to endure this leg of your race. If not, feel free to send a message via the contact page. *wink*
For some of us this is a new experience and it is my hope to provide a platform for those who, like me, felt overwhelmed with attempting to write a blog on their own, but the yoke is much lighter when we collaborate with one another, further promoting unity within the body.
I can’t help but correlate this experience with how I feel whenever I put a cake into the oven. I have so many expectations and hopes. I want it to rise and not fall, I want it to look appetizing and presentable and I really want it to taste good, so good that you’ll want more. Only time will tell how this spiritual cake will turn out, but my prayer is that it will not only sustain you in spirit, but bring love and joy to your soul.
~M
