You Are a Cake

About 7 years ago, when my wife Christy and I were newly married, she (my wife) decided she would surprise me on my 21st birthday with a home-made birthday cake. This may not sound particularly amazing to you but for us - it was! All we had was a little toaster oven and a hot pad to make food with. Our fridge was a mini fridge. We lived in a small 1 bedroom granny unit where the owners would frequently leave on the weekends and turn off the AC. Oh and this was in Simi Valley where it reaches 120 degrees sometimes.

While I was off working, my wife scrounged together enough change to buy some strawberry cake mix, eggs, milk, and icing. She was very excited about making this cake. In fact, her mother had been a 4 star chef in the past and Christy was excited to put her learned baking skills to use.

Christy worked diligently to shape the cake just right in the pan and fit it all into our tiny toaster oven. Unfortunately, all her effort did not produce a very beautiful result.

As I came in the door that afternoon, there she was, crying her eyes out over a strange looking pink pile of crumbs. Confused, I asked, "why are you crying? Is something wrong?" With tears in her eyes, she looked up at me. "Your birthday cake is RUINED! I can't do anything right!" My heart broke. "Ohh, that pile of crumbs is a birthday cake", I thought to myself.

Not wanting her to feel worse than she already did, I ran over to the cake prepared to put on my best fake "ohhh that is tasty" face. As I examined the cake closer I couldn't help but notice that it was riddled with toothpicks. No doubt this was her attempt to hold it all together as it cooled. It resembled something like a pink porcupine.

I picked out the toothpicks and took a big bite. It was DELICIOUS! Maybe the best cake I ever had! Between bites of cake, I said with stuffed cheeks, "babe, this is great!" She was still skeptical, "but it fell apart and looks terrible", she insisted still sniffling. "Perhaps so, but it tastes amazing", I argued. Slowly the tears stopped and a smile started to replace her heartbreaking frown.

Before I could think of offering her a bite, the entire cake had vanished (strange huh?). The outside of the cake may have appeared to be a mess but inside it was delicious. To this day, we still often recall those first years and the experiences we had together. Now we can look back and laugh at those difficult times.

As I think back on that incident, I can't help but compare myself with that cake. Sometimes I get so self involved and insistent on "looking my best" and "wearing a smile" at church that I forget to ask myself, "what am I like on the inside?"

When Samuel was reviewing the sons of Jesse in search of Israel's next king, he was focused on the stature and physical appearance of one son, but God said, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

On the same token, I think on what Jesus said to the pharisees in Matthew23:27-28
²⁷ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. ²⁸ In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

So, ask yourself, "what kind of Cake am I?