We were in Mtskheta, Georgia staying at an Airbnb host home for the week. One day as we were all home for the evening, there was a delicious smell wafting in from the kitchen. We were curious human beings who discovered that the great smell was a cake cooking in the oven. Bella went to investigate while the mom was in there baking, she pointed at the cake then pointed at Bella as the mom slid it into the oven. Does that mean we will get cake!? Bella quickly came in to tell us what she found, so we waited patiently for it to be done.
Time passed by and soon the evening turned into night with no sign of the cake. My nose and stomach couldn’t handle it much longer, so I ventured into the kitchen to search. Now this kitchen seemed to be a bit off limits for us. They made us breakfast, but it seemed like there was no room for us to cook meals (could we even use the kitchen?), so we went out for our lunches and dinners and only cooked popcorn on some rare occasions.
Bella told me she couldn’t find the cake anymore, so, as the coast was clear, I made my way inside and searched through every little space it contained. It wasn’t a very big kitchen and I managed to find the cake rather quickly. It was hidden away in the mini oven. And…IT HAD ALREADY BEEN EATEN!!!! They had made perfect slices through it so it wasn’t like we could just slip ourselves a small piece.
Bella came in with the burnt popcorn pan from what she had made earlier in the day. She secretly started cleaning it as we continued to discuss how we might get a slice of this cake when one of the sons came through the kitchen.
DEAD SILENCE filled the room! What do we do? Do we ask him for cake?
He asks us if we would like tea…we say “sure.”
As the water boils and the continued silence is becoming incredibly awkward, I look at Bella and silently tell her to be an extrovert and say something. She’s always better at starting these conversations. We go through all the generic conversation starters: How are you, what is your name, how old, favorite hobby, favorite subject, school, etc. All the while thinking about the intended purpose of being in there in the first place…the cake!
Through each of these questions, a long, drawn out silence would come as we struggled to think of another question. Every now and then, Bella would slip in a comment or two about cake with no hint from him that we might get some.
The silence would become so unbearable and yet so laughable because all we want is the cake! We would just burst into hysteria at random moments for the situation we had gotten ourselves into.
All the while, Rebecca is in the other room messaging us to get the cake!
As we drank our tea, we started a conversation with him about basketball. Both Bella and I like to play, so why not buy a basketball and create a ministry opportunity out of it!? We could play a few rounds with him and have a gift to give them when we had to leave. Maybe this conversation will lead him to giving us some of the cake, too!?
By the end of the night when we had no other things to say or ask, we decided to make one more bold move to ask for the cake.
I said, “Is that cake in there?”
He said, “yes” while looking over and into the oven that held the cake.
I then asked if we could have some. He said… “no.” And that was the end of our dreams of eating cake that night.
We left for the room with empty hands and empty stomachs for cake. However, as morning came, guess what we had for breakfast? CAKE!
Good did come from this crazy event. The next day we bought a basketball with the boy and found ourselves a court to play. It started with just shooting hoops then a whole group of people came from out of no where to play a few pickup games. They were all mainly teenagers and they all smoked like crazy! However, we made friendships with them and continued to show Jesus through our joy and actions.
We started having more conversations with this son at the house and seeing how he and his family are different than the rest of Georgians. They do not smoke or drink. They practice meditation every day, the clearing of the mind. I told him about Jesus and how I often meditate on Him. He said that we were different than most people that stay at their house. He said that Americans must be nice because of the example we have set. Our conversation went about the same as the cake, where he didn’t grab the bait for wanting to know more of Jesus (and how He fills us more than cake). However, God knows more than we do and maybe we were just there to plant the seed.
With much love and cake,
Laura Leigh Armstrong
