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Baking With the Best Ingredient in Mind

Encouragement Wrapped in a Bow

by Cathy Baker

Remember this post from 2008?

  • Starbucks has the Pumpkin Spice Latte
  • The Beacon has the Hash-A-Plenty
  • My late grandmother, Elsie Knighton, had her egg custard pie

Like those “signature” dishes, my other grandmother, aka “Ma-Ma”, was well known for her pound cake in Fairforest,
SC, back in the day. For as long as I can remember, she baked at
least one pound cake a week. She sliced it into thirds, wrapped each section in
wax paper and added one last shiny wrap before delivering her thirds to the sick, lonely, and elderly. 

Unfortunately, I didn’t pay close attention to either grandmother’s mad cooking skills. In fact, years ago, I bought a rubber stamp that said, Don’t worry. I didn’t bake it myself, in hopes of putting the recipient’s mind at ease. I saw no hope in sight until I received my shiny red Kitchen-Aid mixer. It revved up my baking engine as well as my interest to find my own “signature something.” You know, the kind of recipe that comes to mind as quickly as your firstborn’s name.

I’ve tried several pound cake recipes (including MaMa’s)
only to have the pans sabotage my efforts. Yes, it was the pan. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

However, I’m confident that a day is coming when I’ll say goodbye to the rubber stamp and say hello to a tag that reads, Baked with Love, by Cathy.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦
Update!
My “Signature Something” baked in vintage Pyrex

Score! I may have discovered my signature something this weekend—pumpkin bread with a brown sugar glaze. The only obstacle? The glaze is so yummilicious you’ll want to ditch the drizzle and smother your bread like it’s a blanket. Brian called it “the kind of dish that makes you want to scrape the plate clean.”

And yet—where both grandmother’s were concerned—their signature somethings were far more than a delight to the palate. Each cake and every pie was baked with one thing in mind: other people, the best ingredient of all.

 
Do you have a signature something? A go-to dish that you share with others? I’d love to hear about it and if you’d like to share the recipe, I’d be honored to include it on my blog in the near future, along with my signature something. 

Whatever you do,  
work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your
reward. 
You are serving the Lord Christ. 
Colossians 3:23, 24

Why My Laptop Was Left Behind

Our view from the Portofino IV deck in Garden City, SC

by Cathy Baker

If you know me, you know my vacation actually begins when pen hits paper a few weeks prior to our departure. Yes, the list could be saved on a Google doc but there’s something about starting with fresh paper and bright ink each year that makes me…well, downright happy. 

This year, however, I felt the tinge of a holy adjustment coming my way every time I glanced at the words “lap top” on my list.

Moonlight skimming the ocean.

I knew with three grandbabies on the trip there would be no desire to peruse the internet, check email or write blog posts during the day but I admit I thought it might be the perfect way to close the evening before heading to bed. 

And then I came across Emily Freeman’s post Why Rest Takes Courage. Her final paragraph clung to my soul, refusing its release:

The details of soul rest may look different for each of us, but
probably includes some combination of silence, solitude, nature, your
people, and the willingness to come into the presence of Christ and
simply be ourselves.

The Holy Spirit was as clear as the moon on our first night at the beach—I was to leave the lap top behind. And I did, resulting in a few discoveries along the way: 

  • I was ambushed by the uneasiness that crept in as our departure day drew near. What did I think I’d really miss in 7 days? 
  • A new-found freedom emerged as I carried out my beach days with little to no thought of the lap top. I felt no obligation to check Facebook or email. I tried to rest in the fact that if someone didn’t receive an immediate response from me, all would be well in the end.
  • I lost nothing by leaving my lap top behind but I did gain a liberty I didn’t know existed, time I can never recapture and a renewed appreciation for God’s promptings. 

I’m not suggesting everyone should leave their lap top behind, but I don’t ever see it reappearing on my family beach trip list again. Ever. 

So, how about you? Is there one thing in particular you most appreciate about God’s promptings in your life? 

Taking time off is not a punishment or a dare or a rule.
It is a gift.  
-Emily P. Freeman

A Waterproof Writing Pad and Purple Pen

by Cathy Baker

Once upon a time, a friend named Joyce Ann opened her exquisite home to a woman with a waterproof writing pad and purple pen. 

The woman was greeted by a warm breeze, an embrace she’d known all her life, and a waterfall with two toads singing a chorus of smiles.

The
woman with the waterproof writing pad and purple pen made her way down
to the dock via a curved cobblestone pathway more than once that day.
Each time, soaking in all the lake had to offer, including the water.

She was thankful for her waterproof writing pad. (Mast General Store)

Lake Hartwell, Clemson SC

After reminiscing with her life-long friend over
Southern Pecan coffee, the woman with the
waterproof writing pad and purple pen scurried down the cobblestone path
to catch one last glimpse of sun-glazed water. 

She
sat on the dock immersing herself in the sounds of a father teaching his
son to fish across the way, dizzy dragonflies zigzagging by and calm waves hugging the red clay bank. 

As she made her way back up the steep hillside one last time, she discovered a petite triple-coned twig, a mini-masterpiece of God’s handiwork, reminding her of why she was there. What began as a research trek for an upcoming project matured into praise.

Thank You, Father, the One who truly makes “happily ever after” an eternal reality.

Lake Hartwell Bidding Farewell to the Day

Where is your favorite writing getaway?


When Scripture Meets Sand

Last week’s family beach trip created many “favorite” moments and life-long memories. Piper’s first swim with grammy and pappa, late night set-back card games, boisterous boardgames, a-mazing seafood and seeing this sweet face first thing in the morning. 

My favorite time with God occurred one early morning when I ventured out alone to the shore, plunked down into my low-to-the-ground beach chair, and soaked in the sights and sounds of my surroundings.

Jeremiah 31:35 ESV took center stage as I fixed my sight on the ocean, trying to drink in its vastness, while praying for friends and family facing sea-sized trials, “what-ifs?” and heartache. May they know—and rest in—the knowledge that the same God who fashioned the waves to roar is the very same One moving on behalf of His children.

Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light
by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord of hosts is his name.
Jeremiah 31:35 ESV

Psalm 139: 17,18 sifted through my spirit as I scooped up a handful of sand, full of wonder and gratitude to the One who chose gritty grains to describe how often He thinks of us. How are we to wrap our minds around such love and attention?

How
precious concerning me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of
them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.”
Psalm 139: 17,18 

As our time drew to a close, I clicked my iPod to Satisfied, a song my son co-wrote and sang on his first CD, Dialogue. With hands raised to the heavens and salty tears flowing, I couldn’t help but sing my favorite lyrics: “Lord, take my heart, my wants, and my desires. Lord, take all of me. Jesus alone satisfies.”  It’s a moment I wanted to freeze in time.

When scripture and sand meet, blessings flow but thankfully sand isn’t a requirement to experience God in the daily doings of life. 

What have you seen just today that reveals God’s power, love, or grace?

Praise. I can’t imagine a better way to begin the week.

True Marks of A Disciple

Sunday Snippets from Mark 8 
  • Our discipleship in Jesus Christ is essential to others coming to know Jesus. 
  • There is nothing passive about being a disciple of Jesus. 
  • Discipleship isn’t about taking a class. The cost of following Jesus: Your life. The reward of following Jesus: True life. 

Verses 34-38, Jesus says:

Deny yourself. Do we believe our issues are more important than others? Do we deny ourselves anything for the glory of God or do we bow to the god of self-centeredness?

Take up your cross. Jesus asks Are you willing to say you’re with Me? It’s in My death that you’ll find true life. 

Follow Me. Keep following me…daily. If you want to follow Me, your life will be about investing in the lives of others. Is the beauty of what God has done for you in Jesus leading you to lead a life less self-centered? 

The above snippets come nowhere close to doing Jason Malone’s sermon justice but is there one particular snippet that resonates with you this Monday morning? 

To listen to Sunday’s sermon (3/10) in its entirety, please visit Summit online.

 

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