Embracing the Twinkie Cake

It’s the end of April and we’re just getting around to “friend” birthday parties for the boys who turned 8 a month ago.  We had such fun celebrating over spring break that I felt confident they were satisfied and I wasn’t inflicting permanent damage by withholding a local birthday party....but then the normally quiet Kenny asked very loudly why I wasn’t planning his brothers’ parties?  

So we’re keeping it simple.  I’m practically practicing yoga I’m so relaxed about all of it (at least that’s what I tell myself every time anxiety starts to creep in).  John requested and ice cream cake.  Easy and classy enough —no problem!   Jacob asked for a pile of Twinkies with a candle on top😫. Now hold up!?  

This mama was born and raised in Iowa where baking was practically a sport.  My Mom could spot a box cake from across the room and would whisper in my ear not to eat any because it wouldn’t be good.  My first cake entry at the county fair was my Grandma Whattoff’s chocolate cake recipe, which earned me a trip to the State Fair!  And my child is asking me to cut open cellophane wrappers and arrange the factory-made mini cakes on a platter?  

So I said, “Sure—sounds like fun!”

I’ve learned a lot in this process: 

1.  Where the Twinkies are kept at the grocery store.  (Who would have thought with the bread?).

2.  Cellophane wrappers are difficult to open.   (About 15 Twinkies in I decided baking a cake from scratch would be easier).

3.  The love I have for my children seems to know no bounds. 

This last one is no joke.  I gave up my career for my children.  My body is wrecked from carrying them around both before and after birth.  And now I’m serving Twinkies at a party.  Who would have ever thought?

It’s amazing to think we have a Father in Heaven who loves us beyond what our earthly understanding of love could every comprehend.  He knows us, loves us, sent His son to be our Savior, and inspired the Bible to be our guide.  It makes my personal sacrifice of a Twinkie cake seem silly, and His sacrifice of bridging the gap between us that much more magnificent.  

So I’ll serve this chemical-laden dessert with a smile on my face knowing my son feels loved...and knowing there’s a God above who loves us all.  

“Neither height nor depth, nor anything in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 8:28

Tacos as the new fish and loaves...

As the mom of three growing boys, I spend an insane amount of time buying, washing, preparing, serving and cleaning up food.  It often seems a futile task that leaves me wondering what difference this is making in the world?  I’m not finding a cure to cancer or developing a method to deliver clean water to remote villages....here I am, chopping another onion!

Reading about the miracle of the fish and loaves in John chapter 6 has become a huge encouragement.  I think of the boy’s mother packing another lunch in a daze, with the glimmer of hope that her son will be out of the house all day, leaving her with some peace and quiet to do the breakfast dishes, grocery shop and get dinner started.  And yet God uses this Mom’s dull daily task as the starting point for a huge miracle.  The boy finds his way to a hillside where 5000 men (that number doesn’t include women and children) are gathered to hear Jesus teach. Faced with a hungry crowd and no concession stands, Jesus proceeds to pray over the boys simple lunch and direct his disciples to start passing the food.  When all is said and done, the crowd has been fed and 12 baskets of leftover food gathered.  

Maybe our time spent in the kitchen isn’t a waste after all!  Maybe it matters as much as finding a cure to cancer and sources of clean water.  

I have a friend who is walking beside one of her good friends through the unexpected loss of her husband.  It’s heartbreaking, and hard.  We were having coffee this week and she mentioned that in all the chaos she hadn’t been to the grocery store.  I got to experience the miracle of the fish and loaves with my very own refrigerator. Two chicken pot pies turned into three and the problem of her empty cupboards no longer mattered that day.  

As years pass and I add notches to my mothering belt, I’m convinced that tacos are the new fish and loaves.  I can’t even count the number of times we have been playing with friends as dinner time draws near.  We may be counseling each other through a crisis, or having too much fun to end the play and can always throw together a meal of tacos for ten! 

This most recently happened on a March day marked by a blizzard coined the “bomb cyclone”.  School was cancelled, the kids were antsy and begging to play with our good friends.  In our desperation, we dug through cupboards and refrigerators and pooled ingredients for tacos.  Our family braved the three block drive to their house and sanity was saved! These six kids have shared so many meals of tacos that we’ve started joking about serving tacos at their weddings!

So as you’re prepping food for your next meal, be encouraged that God uses food, and the people who prepare it to build relationships, provide comfort, and even work miracles!  Go ahead and mentally award yourself the Noble Prize while you peel those potatoes:-)