Birthday Cake

There's one requirement that I have for a birthday - something that, for me, "makes" a birthday. That one thing is a cake. Can be an ice cream cake, cookie cake, brownie cake, muffin cake, cheesecake, or regular yellow cake...it just has to be some kind of cake meant especially for me, for my birthday. So...the cake is kind of special to me.

Today while running errands, I went by my favorite local bakery to pick out my birthday cake, hoping they would have one of my all-time favorite cakes: German Chocolate. They did! I bought it, went back to the car balancing E on one hip and the cake in the other hand, and we loaded up and carried on with our errands.

Jumping back into the car after our next stop, I threw my bags carelessly into the passenger seat, realizing a moment too late that my cake was probably underneath those bags. Panicking, I grabbed the bags and searched for cake damage. Then I started searching for the cake. I could not find the cake. Though Indiana was in the car, I doubted he would have time to eat a whole cake and leave not a single crumb in less than 10 minutes, so I started to retrace my steps back to the bakery.

And it hit me. I had put the cake on top of the car when I loaded E into the seat. Surely I didn't drive off with it still on the car. As I passed by an intersection near the bakery (while back-tracking), there it was...chocolate cake and bakery box smeared across the highway. I had driven off with the cake on top of my car.

As a last-ditch effort (and because I had nothing to lose), I parked and went back into the bakery for the second time in 15 minutes, and started in on my sob story, laughing out loud at myself and how ridiculous it sounded. Not only did the bakery have an extra cake in the back, but they also packaged it up and gave it to me for free.

I know it's pretty trivial, but to me, I got two clear messages from God in that moment.
1) He is the giver of all good things. Instead of me buying my own birthday cake, by walking me through such a crazy half-hour, it turned out that God gave me a birthday cake instead. So much more meaningful, and reminded me that he cares for even the seemingly insignificant little things that put a song in my heart.
2) Slow down. For some reason, God keeps bringing up the story of the Tortoise and the Hare, reminding me that those who steadily work toward their goals are the ones who finish first and finish strong. This lesson is permeating my personal life and my work life, reminding me over and over again to keep pressing forward one step at a time. By moving at Hare-speed, I am leaving things unfinished and vulnerable to destruction. Thankfully for us, God is ready and waiting to give us a brand new "cake" even when, by our own design, we have destroyed the first one.