God's Cake

A daughter is telling her mother how everything is going wrong. She’s failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her and her best friend is moving away. Meanwhile, her mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack. The daughter says, “Absolutely Mom, I love your cake.”

“Here, have some cooking oil,” her mother offers.

“Yuck,” says her daughter.

“How about a couple of raw eggs?”

“Gross, Mom!”

“Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?”

“Mom, those are all yucky.”

To which her mother replies: “Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake.”

God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good. We just have to trust Him and eventually they will all make something wonderful.

Author Unknown

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The Invisible Mother

I couldn’t make sense of the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids would walk into the room while I was on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'   

Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! 'Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??   

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'   

Some days I'm a crystal ball; 'Where's my other sock? Where's my phone? What's for dinner?'   

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history, music and literature --but now, they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!?   

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well.   

It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: With admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'   

In the days ahead I would read --- no, devour the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: 1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. 2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. 3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. 4) The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.   

A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it ' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'  

I closed the book, feeling the missing pieces fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you.  I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does'.   

'No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last-minute errand is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'   

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder; as one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.   

The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.   

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand-bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home.  And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, he'd say, 'You're gonna love it there ....'  

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers.  

(Author Unknown)

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The Folded Napkin

My research tells me this is fiction, but it’s such a nice story I’m posting it anyway. The last sentence is not fiction … but fact.

Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection? I never noticed this. The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes. The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed separate from the grave clothes.  

Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, 'They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!'  

Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see.. The other disciple outran Peter and got there first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the side.  

Was that important? Absolutely! Is it really significant? Yes!  

In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition. When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it. The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was finished.  

Now if the master were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table. The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, 'I'm done'.  

But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because..........  

The folded napkin meant, 'I'm coming back!'  

He is Coming Back!  

(Author Unknown)

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Mom's Empty Chair

A woman's daughter had asked the local minister to come and pray with her mother. When the minister arrived, he found the woman lying in bed with her head propped up on two pillows. An empty chair sat beside her bed. The minister assumed that the woman had been informed of his visit.  

“I guess you were expecting me”, he said.  

'No, who are you?' said the mother.  

The minister told her his name and then remarked, 'I saw the empty chair and I figured you knew I was going to show up.'  

'Oh yeah, the chair,' said the bedridden woman. 'Would you mind closing the door?'  

Puzzled, the minister shut the door.  

'I have never told anyone this, not even my daughter,' said the woman. 'But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it went right over my head. I abandoned any attempt at prayer,' the old woman continued, 'until one day four years ago, my best friend said to me, 'Prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here is what I suggest.  

'Sit down in a chair; place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It's not spooky because he promised, 'I will be with you always'. 'Then just speak to him in the same way you're doing with me right now...'  

'So, I tried it and I've liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I'm careful though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she'd either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm.'  

The minister was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old woman to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with her, anointed her with oil, and returned to the church.  

Two nights later the daughter called to tell the minister that her mama had died that afternoon.  

‘Did she die in peace?' he asked.  

‘Yes, when I left the house about two o'clock, she called me over to her bedside, told me she loved me and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found her. But there was something strange about her death. Apparently, just before Mom died, she leaned over and rested her head on the chair beside the bed. What do you make of that?'  

The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said, 'I wish we could all go like that.'  

(Author Unknown)

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F R O G

I was told a story about a lady in the hospital who was near death when an area Chaplain came to visit her. This Chaplain was a very young female with long blond hair. She listened to the lady who was ill and then left her a small gift for comfort. It was a tiny ceramic frog.  

The next day, one of the people from the lady’s church came to visit. The lady told her friend about the beautiful young Chaplain who had come to visit her. The friend was so impressed with the way the lady had improved and felt the need to talk to the young Chaplain.  

In her search to find the young gal, she was repeatedly reassured that the chaplains are never very young and that there was never a gal that fit the description given.  

Upon returning to the lady in the hospital, a visiting nurse entered the room and noticed the ceramic frog. The nurse made the comment, “I see you have a guardian angel with you”. As she held the little frog, we asked why she made that comment. We were informed what the frog stood for.

Forever Rely on God

(Author Unknown)

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Remembering Mom's Clotheslines

We had a long wooden pole (clothes pole) that was used to push the clotheslines up so that longer items (sheets/pants/etc.) didn’t brush the ground and get dirty. You have to be a “certain age” to appreciate this one…..  

But you younger ones can read about the “Good Ol’ Days”. I can hear my mother now…..  

Basic Rules for Clotheslines (If you don’t even know what clotheslines are, better skip this.)

1.               Hang the socks by the toes … not the top.  

2.               Hang pants by the bottom/cuffs … not the waistbands.  

3.               Wash the clothesline(s) before hanging any clothes. Walk the entire length of each line with a damp cloth around the lines.  

4.               Hang the clothes in a certain order, and always hang “whites” with “whites”, and hang them first.  

5.               Never hang a shirt by the shoulders … always by the tail. What would the neighbors think? 

6.               Wash day is on Monday. Never hang clothes on the weekend, or on Sunday … for Heaven’s sake.  

7.               Hang the sheets and towels on the outside lines so you could hide your “unmentionables” in the middle (perverts and busy bodies, y’know).  

8.               It didn’t matter if it was sub-zero weather … clothes would “freeze-dry”.  

9.               Always gather the clothespins when taking down dry clothes. Pins left on the lines were “tacky”.  

10.            Line the clothes up so that each item did not need two clothespins, but shared one of the clothespins with the next washed item.  

11.            Clothes were off the line before dinner time, neatly folded in the clothes basket and ready to be ironed.  

12.            Ironed???? Well, that’s a whole other subject!  

(Author Unknown)

 

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