Sometimes the best laid plans blow up in your face—literally.
Last weekend, I co-hosted a wedding shower for my future sister-in-law. My job was to bake the cupcakes. I’m talking from-scratch chocolate lime batter with homemade buttercream icing and sugar cookie toppers frosted to look like lime slices.
In other words, a two-day project.
For weeks leading up to the shower, I scoured Pinterest, browsed cake supply shops, and baked three test batches to tweak the recipes just right. So when Thursday (a.k.a. cookie baking day) finally arrived, I was as pumped as a contestant on Cupcake Wars. Let’s DO this thing!
Sugar cookie dough—mixed, chilled, rolled and cut—check! I popped the cookie sheet in the oven, dusted flour off my apron, and turned toward the sink to scrub mixing bowls.
But then. Zap! Bam! Bam! Zap!
I spun around and saw fireworks flying inside my oven. White and blue electric bombs flashed and sizzled behind the door glass. I sucked in my breath and watched, helpless and horrified, as the heating coil burst into flames.
Noooooo! This cannot be happening.
Three dozen cupcakes due Saturday morning—and my oven just blew up. Do you think God was trying to tell me something?
I wondered. Maybe I shouldn’t bake these cupcakes. What if God is protecting me from poisoning everyone! Even my co-hosts encouraged me to drop the spatula and call a bakery. Don’t stress yourself out, they said. Nobody will know the difference.
Nobody but me. I’d worked so hard and party-planned for so long, darn it, I wanted some spectacular baked goods to show for it. So I drove seven blocks to my husband’s grandfather’s kitchen and baked those crazy cookies anyway. The next day, I hijacked his oven again to bake the cupcakes. That evening, halfway through beating an enormous bowl of frosting, my handheld mixer burned out and spun wafts of electric smoke up my nostrils—but I chose to laugh instead of cry.
Call me stubborn.
Or call me faithful.
“For nothing is impossible with God,” (Luke 1:37).
Are you in a tough spot right now? Do the circumstances surrounding you look impossible to climb? Maybe they’re not a sign from God to quit, but rather an invitation from God to do great things.
Think about it.
Noah built an ark.
Moses walked across the dry sea floor.
Joshua demolished Jericho’s walls with trumpets and shouts.
Mary raised Jesus—God in the flesh—as her firstborn child.
What if they had said, forget it. Can’t do it. Too many obstacles, too much opposition.
What if they had looked only at their circumstances, and not at their God?
I know my cupcakes weren’t miracle material. But they did get me thinking about how easily we can give up and call it God’s will. Why shouldn’t we be inconvenienced, work a little harder, or pour our aching hearts into something that matters? Maybe the most worthwhile pursuits are the ones that require us to walk with God through the {kitchen} fire.
Saturday morning, I arrived at that wedding shower carrying three dozen labors of chocolate cupcake love. And they were limetastic. So the next time your proverbial oven blows up, remember this. God might not be telling you to quit. He’s simply teaching you to persevere.
If this post encouraged you, please pass it on. You might also like It Hurts Because I Love You, How Big Is God, Daddy Can Fix It, and When God Doesn’t Give You What You Ask For.
Linking up with: The Better Mom, Playdates With God, The Mom Initiative, Titus 2sdays, Grace at Home, Wedded Wednesday and Things I Can’t Say.
They look delicious -was lime in the batter or the icing? I’ve learned from the last few showers for nieces and nephews to make the cupcakes a week ahead and put them in the freezer (they icing better – and taste great)as well as the cookies (they freeze well, too – I have a dress cookie cutter). Then one day I make the icing – put it in the fridge for the next day – and break it all down into smaller parts so I don’t get so overwhelmed. I love your conversations with God in crisis – I have those too – and He sure wants us to persevere!!! Have a delicious week!
Lime zest in the batter! 🙂
They are so cute, Becky! I hope they taste as good as they look, because if they do … the trouble was all worth it! And just like you’ve pointed out with those people of the faith, it would’ve been so easy for them give up when the going got tough. But I’m so glad they didn’t. That gives me a boost of encouragement and motivation, my friend. I love coming by your place. I always leave with something to nibble on throughout my day. 🙂
Thanks to my test baking sessions, they did end up tasting okay. You should’ve tried my first attempts, though, Beth. Yuck. 🙂 Thanks as always for stopping by and sharing your thoughts!
What a thoughtful, not to mention drool-inducing, post. I do sometimes need reminders to press on, but I have to say this is the most delicious one I’ve ever received!
Ha ha! Thanks for reading, Laura!
Oh man, you are dedicated! They look delicious, though! Totally worth the perseverance!
I only wish I had a better camera (and photography skills) so I could share a less fuzzy picture. But I just had to share, fuzzy photo and all!
Dear Becky
Thank you for a good laugh!! It reminds me of the time when I baked a delicious coconut milk tart for my father’s birthday party. When I took it out of the oven, I placed in on top of the plates. Nothing wrong with that except that I have forgotten to turn the plate of. Well, a glass container on a HOT stove does not work well together.
Blessings from Laura’s.
Mia
Oh my goodness, Mia, I’m so glad to know I’m not alone in kitchen mishaps! Thanks for the chuckle!
Those are beautiful cupcakes and well worth the effort. I loved your analogy.
Thank you for reading, Judith!
Beautiful, Becky! Friend, you are more than an overcomer! I am so impressed with your stick-to-it-ive-ness (not to mention your baking prowess). Thanks for the smile 🙂
Thanks, Laura! Funny, when I was reading your post this morning, I was thinking, “I wish I could take such beautiful photos as Laura does.” My pathetic attempt at a cupcake pic… but I thought this one at least deserved an illustration, amatuer as it is!
I love your positive, upbeat attitude! Great way to see the bright side and persevere. Thanks for an uplifting post.
Loved your post! Your cupcakes looked delicious. Cupcake Wars here you come 🙂
Those look delicious!
What an inspiring story. I admit, I’d have been tempted to call a bakery and be done with it!
Oh, Becky, I’m laughing and crying with you all at once here. I desperately needed to hear this right now. I’m in a HARD season at the moment and I keep asking my husband if he thinks I’m on the right path because everything I am being asked to do feels so impossible right now. THANK you for this reminder that hard doesn’t mean wrong. I’m going to start picturing these cupcakes when it all feels tough. Way to persevere, girlfriend. (Oh, yeah.. and about that hug when we meet face to face — I’m ready! And maybe then we’ll share a cupcake and a cup of coffee).
Amazing job on those cupcakes! bless you sweet sister!