God is so good!

I am so full of expectation. God is soooo good. He is so actively at work all around me and it is so exciting! Let's see if I can even put this all into words and make it flow right.....

As most of you know, God has laid a huge burden on my heart to be at home full-time. I have been praying and figuring out a way to help God make that happen. I am an immediate results, instant gratification type of gal....hence why I love the emergency department ;) Nonetheless, God has been dealing with my patience (or lack thereof) for quite some time. I finally realized that God does not need my help...imagine that! So there was a revelation and peace. Since then, I've been waiting and waiting and waiting and guess what....I'm becoming impatient.

I believe that God is laying the foundation and opening up doors. Last night our pastor talked about having small Bible study groups in the home. This made Charles and I very excited. We have been interested in this since last year when we went to a marriage conference by Family Life Today and they have a Homebuilders series that we were very interested in. God has grown us individually and as a couple during the last year and the thought of ministering to others is so exciting. But, no one from Prattville is going to drive to Lowndesboro for it I'm sure.

I've been doing a Bible study by Priscilla Shirer called Discerning the Voice of God. Wow is it good!!! She is amazingly gifted and I am learning so much. The first week talked about praying expectantly. So often we pray but don't really expect God to answer. Then she talked about waiting patiently...there it is again! It went on to teach about taking the time to listen to God and stop talking so much, planning to be obedient when He does speak, and having faith that He will speak. And that's just week one!

Then, I got this email devotion by James McDonald at Walk in the Word about the benefits of waiting. He uses the process of waiting to mold us into the person that He wants us to be...to advance His purposes for His kingdom. Then he quotes many Scriptures to support these claims. (This is already becoming quite lengthy, but you can check out the posts on http://www.walkintheword.com/).

So as you can see, this waiting is becoming a persistant theme in my life right now. But aren't the best things in life worth waiting for? I may have an end result, but God has the plan...and His plan is best. He is teaching and molding me so I can be of better use to Him. Again, the expectation is building...I am so excited to see what He is going to do. And it will be worth the wait and He will get the glory. Isn't it amazing that with all of the big, major events that are happening in this big world that He still cares about little me and my little piece of the the world? I get overwhelmed with just my little piece of the world....THANK GOODNESS I SERVE A GREAT BIG GOD WHO IS STRONG, MIGHTY, ABLE, LOVING, PATIENT, FORGIVING, AND WORTHY!!!!

So, until His perfect timing is brought to light...I will continue to wait...patiently....

Wedding Cakes

These are wedding cakes I did for my best friend and her new husband, Bryan and Shelia Easley.

The brides cake is vanilla with vanilla pudding filling and buttercream icing. It is four tiers with the top and third having a ribbon border and the second and bottom with a diamond impression and edible pearls at each corner of the diamond pattern. These tiers have fondant pearl borders. There is a fondant 'E' on the top tier for Easley. The flowers, though, is what I think make the cake.

The grooms cake is chocolate with chocolate chips. It is iced with chocolate buttercream and then impressed with the diamond pattern. It is topped with chocolate ganache and accented with chocolate dipped strawberries and grapes. The top has Ephesians 3:20 written on the top.

This was definitely a labor of love. If I ever doubted what God revealed to me about the baking business not being His plan for me, it was confirmed through this cake. It was very time consuming and very stressful. I placed all of the stress on myself because I wanted it to be perfect...which it wasn't. Don't get me wrong, I was happy to do this for my dear friends that I love so much and I have talked to Shelia about doing her wedding cake one day for years. But, I couldn't do this all of the time for people who really do expect perfection. Thankfully, Shelia loves me and did not expect perfection...she was so gracious (and brave) to give me this chance and be my guinea pig. I've always wanted to do a wedding cake and now I can say I have. But I know that on a daily basis my focus, time, and attention is meant to be given to my family. So, thank you Shelia and Bryan for believing in me, but I think I'll stick to birthday and special occasion cakes that I can do in a couple of days :)

PS...I had to include a picture of me and the beautiful bride :)

Fire Truck to the Rescue

These are cakes I did for my friend Dana's little boy. He is really into fire trucks so needless to say he got a fire truck birthday cake. We were concerned there would not be enough cake with just the fire truck so we came up with a plan to have a house on fire. (For all of you who are as much of a perfectionist as I am, yes it bothers me that the house and fire truck are not proportionate to one another.) Hope they enjoy!

A Revelation

Well, this will not be my typical blog entry. You will also notice a change in the blog title. God is doing a fresh work in my life and just yesterday gave me a great revelation. This will probably be a long entry but I want you to understand things.

I have had this dream of opening up my own little "business" of making and decorating cakes for a while with the end result being my coming home to be a stay-at-home / homeschooling mom. I could not foresee how to be at home without supplementing my existing income even if we made lifestyle changes. So, two days ago I contacted the Lowndes County Department of Public Health to see what I needed to do in order to make things happen. Much to my disappointment, I found it would be far more of an investment than I ever wanted to make. So, I began to pout. "I'll never get to come home."

I kept telling God I just didn't understand. There is no doubt that He is calling me home. Why is He not allowing my plans to work? My husband began to pray. Close friends also lifted me up as I slumped into discouragment. I attempted to take a nap but couldn't. Still my heart questioning God. As the hours passed, God spoke softly and tenderly to my heart. He gave me a revelation.

The conversation went a little something like this...
God: "Is your dream to stay home and serve your family or to own a cake business?"
Me: "To stay home with my family."
God: "Are you sure?"
Me: "Yes."
God: "Then why are you pouting? I am not sensing you being grateful for what you have. I don't see contentment."
Me: "I'm pouting because how else am I going to stay home if I don't supplement my income somehow?"
God: "Oh, so you are saying I'm not big enough to handle that?"
Me: "No, I'm not saying that. I just don't see how it's going to happen."
God: "So you're saying I'm not big enough to handle that?"
Me: becoming ashamed...also began reading about opening at home cake business and realizing from person after person that there is so much more to it than baking and decorating a cake....
God: "If you are so consumed in running a business, does it really matter if you are at home? Will you be able to still have the time to teach and mold your little girls? Will you have time to make your home a sanctuary for your family? What will be left for your husband at the end of the day? So, will you really be accomplishing your 'dream'? Furthermore, who gets the glory for your 'success'? If you go home because you made something happen to accomplish your goal, you get the glory. When you go home because I have provided the means, I will get the glory. Are you living for your own glory...or Mine? Would you rather be home baking, decorating, and stressed or would you rather be home loving and serving your family?"

A REVELATION

First of all, thanks be to God for speaking to my heart...for allowing me to hear....for removing the blinding scales from my eyes...for giving me hope and peace....for being concerned about my little world when there are so many bigger things happening in this big world. It's quite humbling. I am overwhelmed by His unfathomable love.

Second, I am excited to see what He is going to do. I passed by a church who's marquee said "do not sacrifice the future on the alter of the immediate." If I do things my way, I more than likely will be sacrificing the great blessings He has in store for me by forcing my plans which will be less than what I "dreamed."

Third, I do enjoy decorating cakes. So, I still plan to do that for my friends and family. But now I will enjoy it more. No pressure to make it so great others will want to "use" me. It really can be just fun now.

Fourth, my friend Dana pointed out that even the Proverbs 31 woman worked and had a craft to support the family. I am interested to see what God is going to develop in me. I very much want to learn to sew, paint, etc...now I can diversify my artistic side with things that aren't so regulated.

God has been doing this fresh work in me for a few months now. Speaking to me through His word, through music, and other Godly people. Just the other day on my way to the hospital He spoke to me through a song by Avalon ... You were there. He was there when Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac and He provided the lamb at just the right time. I was weeping in my car...cried my make-up off even before my day began. The same God who came through in mighty ways thousands of years ago is the same God who comes through for me each and every day. He loved me enough to die for me....to save me from myself. He loves me today and will love me tomorrow. He is here...holding me in His arms...surrounding me with His love.

So I am excited to give up my "dream" to follow His lead....

Reese's Cup Cakes

These are a couple of Reese's cups cakes that I've made over the last month. The first one I made for my mom and then my best friend needed the same. So, it's the same cake, just one is square and one is round. It is my chocolate cake (with chocolate chips baked in) filled with a chocolate peanut butter filling then poured with a satiny chocolate glaze. Then, of course, topped with Reese's cups. Talk about a rich cake! Milk is a must with this one! But it is oh so yummy!

Drums

This is a cake I did for a friend of ours' son, Luke. He is a wonderful self-taught drummer and we are going to celebrate his birthday tonight. So naturally, I attempted a drum cake. The drums are iced in buttercream and I made fondant accents. The cake I modeled this one after was done entirely in fondant. It did look better than this one but I'm not a fondant fan (as far as texture and taste). So, needless to say, it could look better but since I'm partaking in this one, I'd rather have taste over looks. I made the drumsticks and cymbal from gumpaste. I hope it will be a good surprise for him!

Lemon and Rasberry

This is my version of a cake that I enjoyed made by a friend of mine at church. She had made it for another friend's baby shower. It is lemon cake with a rasberry filling. I was suprised because I personally would not have thought to put those two flavors together...but it was soooo good. So I tried it for myself. The cake is lemon with a homemade lemon frosting. And it has three layers of a rasberry preserve filling. Oh so moist and yummy!! Thank you, Christi, for the inspiration!