IS IT CAKE YET?

Okay, the pan is in the oven. The gooey batter surface bubbles a bit from the heat, but is it cake yet? Nope, not yet, but it is rising to the occasion. And so is this (short) season as God continues to develop the plans He started in me. I may not have submitted a writing lately (of which I'm sure you've come to expect - smile), but much like the cake in the oven, I hope you won't be disappointed with the outcome from the Master Chef.

Right now, a great deal of caring, sharing and prayer has been encouraging my progress. But there are times when you can feel like the impatient child anxiously awaiting to "taste and see!" This is where I get the strong sense from God that I'm to invite you into my "spiritual kitchen." It's the place where God works in the "process." It's where He does His best work in all of us. Our deep-seeded hopes, dreams, expectations, fears, joys and triumphs are stacked and stored upon our life shelves. When we invite Him into our spiritual kitchens, He begins to pull our heart's desires off the shelves. He takes those ingredients and creates in and through us a culinary masterpiece we get to enjoy and share with others. For His efforts, He produces beautiful daughters like you and me for great service.

But like I shared in the last entry, discouragement and stress began to mess up my kitchen. It doesn't negate the work God has begun in me so far. It just excites God more with the opportunity to prove His good work can (and will) come to completion (Philippians 1:6). Oftentimes, we tend to forget that even a great work in the kitchen is not exempt from spills and messes. We don't want to ignore the problems they potentially cause if left unattended, so we try and clean things up on our own. But what if the spill is more of a knee-deep puddle mix of discouragement and the stress of the mess is too much to handle? We bring in reinforcements! That's where our Master Chef, Jesus, becomes Master Cleaner-Upper! With prayer and patience, He comes alongside us. He teaches us how to get our spiritual kitchen in order through the acting power of His Word. And like scrubbing bubbles, He surrounds us with encouraging friends who work hard so we don't have to! (okay! I'm getting a little too slap happy with this cleaning analogy).

Cake takes time to bake. But I am thankful for your encouraging prayers and for visiting my spiritual kitchen during my hiatus! Blessings!