How does mending a broken cake turn into the mending of broken hearts?
Two months ago I began to feel like my cup was no longer “runneth over.” I felt like I had fought the good fight and given all the joy, kindness, and service that I possibly had to give. I said, “Lord I know you love me, and I know you provide, so Father help make my cup runneth over with you once again.” Don’t get me wrong the Lord has still been growing and blessing me in so many ways, but I was missing a little something. Today was the day when my cup was filled and running over once again.
It all started with the fact that it is Kimberly’s birthday, and we needed a cake. Helen, who is the main lady who oversees the orphanage we are working at, took some classes at the culinary school, and is able to make cakes. We asked if Helen could bake Kimberly a cake, and I offered my assistance. Helen is only free when the kids are asleep, so at 9 pm I’m walking up the hill to the orphanage. I enter the kitchen, and see Helen just finishing up the measuring of the dry ingredients. I tell her “I’m your helper, so how can I help”, she says “you want to mix?” So I begin to mix the sugary substance while she peered at the instructions. While the baking is underway we begin the basic introduction conversation of where your from, how many siblings, how old are you, etc.
Two hours later the cakes are baking in the oven while our conversation has progressed into family and relationships. By the third hour the cakes are out of the oven to cool and we are still deep in conversation telling the other our triumphs and struggles thus far in life. Fourth hour was the breaking point! Both cakes were stuck to the pan and we had to somehow salvage the catastrophe. We flipped the cakes in various ways to see which side would be stronger to support the other weak side, and with every change we made with the intent of improving the structure only made the cake crumble more. It was a moist crumble mess, and somehow we managed to get it to a point when the frosting would be our saving grace.
Slowly we frost broken pieces together and mended this cake together into a united piece, and while we are doing this our conversation has literally transformed into how God has been working through our lives and the times when we have felt broken into pieces. The fifth hour is now approaching and the cake is coming along beautifully. What was once a broken mess started to form into beauty, and our conversation took on the same posture. We got to talking about how good our God is, and how we can trust Him to be the baker who can mend us back together when we feel broken and in pieces.
While walking back to my room, I looked at this event as an “ohh thank you God for letting me pour into another being”, but by the time I reached my room I was hit with the realization that God answered my prayer in the form of Helen. It wasn’t me pouring into another woman for only her sake but a mutual translation of the Lord using two broken women with empty cups to fill each other.
He used two ridiculously strong and lovely women of God to speak to each others stubborn heart and say “Let me be your potter, let me put you back together in a way that is more beautiful than you can imagine.”
Man the Lord truly blesses, even when I am undeserving. My first thought at the end of our conversation was how great I was at impacting her life, but the Holy Spirit humbled me the minute after to say step out of your box of pride and see that you have been given a holy and precious gift from the Lord, because you are a worthy daughter that he loves and blesses. Thank you Father yet again for your precious gift, and mold me Father as you see fit, because I only see finite while you see the eternal. I want to be the eternal figure you see in the future here on this earth, you have full reign.
Kimberly with her birthday cake
