| THE BIRTHDAY CAKE |
I was living in Louisiana my 35th birthday. I worked as a church and school secretary. I don’t remember now why,
but for some reason earlier that week my pastor’s wife had grabbed me and prayed over me that God would show
me just how much He loved me. She did not believe I knew that.
That was on a Monday and my birthday was on Thursday. From Tuesday to Thursday, I suddenly had people
coming up and telling me how much they appreciated me. I found gifts on my desk from parents and children. I got
funny appreciation cards in the mail. It was wild – everywhere I looked, blessing overflowed!
On the morning of my birthday, people came into my office bringing birthday gifts. This had never happened before
and I’d been there through two birthdays prior to this one. One of the teachers even came to my office bearing a
large chocolate sheet cake from a bakery. It was such a thoughtful gift because she knew I loved chocolate. What
she did not know was that I hate bakery cakes with a passion.
My mom made everything from scratch when I was growing up. Every cake was homemade. To me, bakery cakes
are too dry and the lard icing is not to be tolerated (smile). So here I am faced with a large bakery cake I don’t like.
I remember thinking, “You know, Lord, while I really appreciate this thought and I don’t mean to seem ungrateful, it
would have been nice to have my favorite cake today!” I knew that wasn’t going to happen because no one except
my mom knew what my favorite cake was and she lived over 500 miles away.
When kids came to the office throughout the day, I would share my cake with them and anyone else who came
through. Later that afternoon, a woman I knew stuck her head around the door to my office. She asked me, “Do
you like pineapple?”
I was confused, but said that I did. I went on to tell her that it was actually an ingredient in my favorite cake icing.
She looked at me with a stunned look and came on into the office carrying a cake container.
She said, “You’re not going to believe this but last night, God woke me up and told me to make you this Alabama
Pea Pickin’ cake. I have never heard God speak to me like that and I thought maybe I was imagining it. But the
thought just wouldn’t go away, so I got up and made the cake. No one in my family likes this cake and it is a strange
cake that has pineapple in the icing.”
She took the lid off the cake and I began crying. She was alarmed until I told her that it was my favorite cake (I know
it as Mandarin Orange Cake). Then I told her how I had just had the thought that morning about wanting my favorite
cake for my birthday. This stunned her even more and tears came to her eyes, too. What else was amazing is that
this lady didn’t even know it was my birthday.
Needless to say, learning that God loved me SO much that He woke someone up to make my favorite birthday cake
for me changed my life. I truly learned that He wants to be involved in the smallest of details in our lives.
Jesus Rambling Copyright © 2006 Nan C Loyd
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
but for some reason earlier that week my pastor’s wife had grabbed me and prayed over me that God would show
me just how much He loved me. She did not believe I knew that.
That was on a Monday and my birthday was on Thursday. From Tuesday to Thursday, I suddenly had people
coming up and telling me how much they appreciated me. I found gifts on my desk from parents and children. I got
funny appreciation cards in the mail. It was wild – everywhere I looked, blessing overflowed!
On the morning of my birthday, people came into my office bringing birthday gifts. This had never happened before
and I’d been there through two birthdays prior to this one. One of the teachers even came to my office bearing a
large chocolate sheet cake from a bakery. It was such a thoughtful gift because she knew I loved chocolate. What
she did not know was that I hate bakery cakes with a passion.
My mom made everything from scratch when I was growing up. Every cake was homemade. To me, bakery cakes
are too dry and the lard icing is not to be tolerated (smile). So here I am faced with a large bakery cake I don’t like.
I remember thinking, “You know, Lord, while I really appreciate this thought and I don’t mean to seem ungrateful, it
would have been nice to have my favorite cake today!” I knew that wasn’t going to happen because no one except
my mom knew what my favorite cake was and she lived over 500 miles away.
When kids came to the office throughout the day, I would share my cake with them and anyone else who came
through. Later that afternoon, a woman I knew stuck her head around the door to my office. She asked me, “Do
you like pineapple?”
I was confused, but said that I did. I went on to tell her that it was actually an ingredient in my favorite cake icing.
She looked at me with a stunned look and came on into the office carrying a cake container.
She said, “You’re not going to believe this but last night, God woke me up and told me to make you this Alabama
Pea Pickin’ cake. I have never heard God speak to me like that and I thought maybe I was imagining it. But the
thought just wouldn’t go away, so I got up and made the cake. No one in my family likes this cake and it is a strange
cake that has pineapple in the icing.”
She took the lid off the cake and I began crying. She was alarmed until I told her that it was my favorite cake (I know
it as Mandarin Orange Cake). Then I told her how I had just had the thought that morning about wanting my favorite
cake for my birthday. This stunned her even more and tears came to her eyes, too. What else was amazing is that
this lady didn’t even know it was my birthday.
Needless to say, learning that God loved me SO much that He woke someone up to make my favorite birthday cake
for me changed my life. I truly learned that He wants to be involved in the smallest of details in our lives.
Jesus Rambling Copyright © 2006 Nan C Loyd
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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