22 Feb 2022
In preparation for Christian Backpacker’s 5th Birthday picnic, I ordered a cake. (What’s a birthday without a party – and what’s a party without a cake?). I didn’t have many requirements: it had to feed around 20 people, have a splash of yellow and blue and the number ‘five’. In my hectic existence, that’d do.
But what I picked up from @imbuefoodandwine the day before
the event didn’t ‘just do’. It was something not fit for a picnic, but a wedding:
a chocolate cake with ganache filling and fondant icing that bore the name,
colours and logo of Christian Backpackers. And it was ‘a gift - God bless your
ministry,’ she smiled.
‘Hold it carefully, here, from underneath,’ she advised. Let’s
just say, I was glad I’d done my squats and bicep curls at the gym that morning
- such was its weight. I held it like a baby. I waited until there were NO cars
in sight before crossing the busy road back to my car. For the next 24 hours, I
guarded it with my life. I put it downstairs, out of the sun, away from the
cat. I reinforced a transport box for it. I had nightmares of me squashing it, trying
to put it back together and running late for the event (no kidding).
At the picnic-party, the cake didn’t fail to draw attention.
Everyone ooohed and ahhhed, snapped pictures, had seconds and
took pieces home in the paper cups. Where
did you get this? they marvelled. ‘It
was a gift’, I said, and we marvelled more.
The food and our festivities made for a memorable night. But
amongst it all, there was a slight misunderstanding. The cake – in all its glory – wasn’t the real
gift. The centrepiece of celebration wasn’t chocolate flavoured. Rather, it
was the group itself: The community God brought together some 5 years ago,
sustained to this day and laced with his grace. The gift was Christian
Backpackers.
But how fitting a symbol of this reality was the weighty
cake: Rich and sweet and carefully crafted. Exceeding expectations and a sight to
behold. A delight to partake of, with slices to spare. Not of my own doing but
a gift to gently hold.
That night, oh how we did ‘taste and see that the Lord is
good….’ Ps 34v8
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