The Pause

This morning I was sitting in my kitchen reading my Bible and drinking coffee while the kids were watching Sponge Bob and getting ready for the day. It was a wonderful quiet time...at least the moments where I wasn't interfering between the fighting, turning another Sponge Bob episode on, filling up another sippy cup with juice, getting the toddler off the table, turning on another computer game, getting the toddler off the table, taking my almost three-year-old to the bathroom, breaking up another argument, getting the toddler off the table, turning on a shower...yep, I'm sure either you've been there, or you can picture it very vividly!

As I began to get frustrated, I was reminded of how Jesus was with the children. He specifically told the disciples to let the children come to Him (Luke 18:6). There's just something about a child that is so innocent, so care-free, so pure...it's delightful and refreshing. In that moment, I realized how truly blessed I am.

May I always remember to pause and really soak in the blessings around me. They may seem irritable in the moment, but looking back, there's always a lesson to be learned. It's up to me to decide whether I'm going to take that moment to really hear what God has to teach me, or just let it pass by and miss an important lesson.

Pokeball Cake

My son wanted a pokeball cake for his 8th birthday. So, like many other moms, I went online and got some ideas on how to do that. Here's what I came up with:

I started with 3 cake mixes and a glass bowl. After making one box of cake mix, I poured half of it into the glass bowl and baked it until it was done. It took about 45 minutes.

Next, as the first cake cooled, I poured the other half of the batter into the bowl and baked it until it was done. I allowed plenty of time for the halves to cool and then wrapped them in plastic wrap and put them in the freezer.

Now, my son does not like chocolate very much so, we got creative with the filling. I got some fresh strawberries and cut them up into small pieces until I had about a cup full. Next, I mixed them up with about a cup of cool whip. And there was my filling.

I cut out some of the inside of the bottom layer of the cake, because the cakes didn't quite sit together as nicely as I wanted them to. I would suggest doing this before freezing, since it was a bit difficult to cut through the frozen cake. But, I will do that next time, since this is the first time I've attempted to make a ball shaped cake.

After placing the filling inside the cake, I found I also needed to cut off part of the top of the other cake. So, I did.

As you can see, I had already started to decorate the bottom of the cake. I thought it might be best to start frosting the bottom layer before putting on the top layer. But, I'm sure it didn't really make a difference either way. I have found that microwaving the frosting for about 15 seconds before I put it in the decorating bags helps make it a whole lot easier to squeeze it out of the decorating bags.

The nice thing about making a pokeball, is that you only need 3 colors. So, after mixing the red and black, here is how I continued on with the cake.

I think I've said this before...but frosting is a wonderful thing. You can cover up so many mistakes with it, it's amazing! So, after I added the red, I still had a gap between the white and red. I filled it in with more white, and it helped it look much better. Here is how I finished off the top:

After it was done, I still thought it need something else, so I finished off the cake with adding a black ring of frosting around the middle of the cake.

As for the other 2 cake mixes, I made little pokeball cupcakes. 30 went to my son's class, the rest were for the party. Now, I don't have a special cake plate, so what I've been doing is taking a cookie sheet, flipping it over and covering it in tin foil. It makes for a workable "cake plate". Here is the finishing look:

Kumbaya Syndrome

I am happiest when everyone around me is happy and getting along. If people are having relational issues, I like to try to fix them so that they are happy again. I have this inner urgency to make sure everyone around me is doing ok. I want to fix people's problems and make sure everyone is genuinely happy. It's like I have some kind of Kumbaya Syndrome where if everyone is happy around the campfire singing I am in my element.

I'm coming to the point where I'm realizing that I cannot fix everything. God is showing me that I have absolutely no control over other people's state of mind. No matter how hard I try to force happiness and joy around me, I cannot fix other people's problems. I can be there for people, pray for them and love them, but I cannot fix them. This drives me crazy.

No, I don't want to be God, but I sure like to help Him do His job. Maybe this is a pride issue, maybe it's a control issue or maybe it's a little bit of both. I'm not real sure yet. Either way though, I can choose to try to take over the work He's doing or I can choose to step back and pray and let Him do the fixing His way and in His timing.

I sure have a lot to learn. Thankfully, God is not done with me until by body dies. May I live this life focused on Jesus and the things He has to offer and teach me. My prayer is that I would be a woman of prayer, trusting that God will bring eternal peace and reconciliation to those who love Him in His own timing.