Wait for the Cake

So, how many of us love sweets? I don't think there's a soul out there who can say that they're not a sweet lover. I mean even if you don't live and breathe for cakes, and cookies, and donuts, and brownies, and pies (OH MY!), some sort of sugar-infested treat sends you over the moon. When I was a little girl my grandmother always baked cakes. It didn't have to be a special reason, okay maybe...the sun was out and she felt the need to whip up some batter in a mixing bowl and bless us all. Chocolate cakes, vanilla cakes, butter cakes, yellow cakes, rum cakes, fruit cakes, pound cakes...the list can go on. And I'm not talking Duncan Heinz or Betty Crocker people. Ogreathea Daisy (my grandmama) used to make these babies from scratch. Now, occasionally she would use a boxed cake mix if she didn't feel like "really getting down and dirty", but even when she did she would put her own spin on it.

There was one cake in particular that I went gaga googoo for. It was her strawberry surprise cake with vanilla frosting. There were hints of strawberry pieces embodied in the cake and the frosting...like manna from heaven. And don't let her decide to make some homemade vanilla ice cream to accompany the cake. My God, my God, I can't even type this post I'm shaking so much. Memmmorrrrieeessss (sung in my Barbara Streisand voice). You won't be able to understand my emotions right now unless you had "THE CAKE" and "THE ICE CREAM".

Whew...let me calm down. Okay, so one day my grandmother was making "THE CAKE" and I was overjoyed. She always cautioned me to never run around the house when she was baking her cakes or open the oven door because the cake would fall. I usually obeyed her, but this day was different. I was unusually impatient for "THE CAKE", so I kept cracking open the oven door to see if it was ready. Well, my last peek was the cake's last chance. When my grandmother pulled her strawberry surprise out of the oven, it had deflated just like a helium balloon a couple of days after a party. She was livid and I was scared. I knew that although I wasn't going to get strawberry surprise...I was going to get a SURPRISE.

10 minutes later...

I walked to my room sniffling and wondering why was I so anxious this time around. Why couldn't I just wait until the cake was done? I couldn't figure it out then, but I know what it was now. It was the anticipation of knowing that I had something good coming my way.

How many times have you allowed your impatience to get the best of you? You've gotten wind that something great was coming your way and you just can't help but to peek at your cake to see if it's done. Please take it from me...wait for your cake. If we rush things before they're ready to be revealed or are complete, we affect the outcome. Our cake becomes flat and we become disappointed.

Now, maybe my grandmother could have salvaged "THE CAKE", but it was so unpleasant to look at and was hardly recognizable. It may have still smelled like strawberry surprise, but it looked more like a strawberry demise. No one would have eaten it. And although, you may be able to salvage your long anticipated cake, it won't be the same. So, again I say: Wait for the cake.

Be blessed
TAE