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WRITE 2 THE HEART
Stories that are aimed "Write 2 The Heart"
July 4, 2001 Volume 1, Issue 25
Cheryl Speir, Editor, moderator@write2theheart.com
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Ever have one of those days where things go
wrong and continue to go wrong? Me too.
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Recipe For Disaster
By: Cheryl Speir
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The house had been cleaned and prepared for
family and friends who would be coming by later
that day to help celebrate Jeremy's second birthday.
All that remained was the baking of the cake. I had
purposely waited till the day of the party so the cake
would not have little finger prints all over it.
I gathered the flour, sugar and other ingredients while
two pairs of little eyes watched with intense fascination. Timmy
and Jeremy were going to "help" me while their two older brothers
played outside. Each took a turn stirring with a big spoon.
Four-year-old Timmy even helped to grease the pan.
As I began to pour the batter into the prepared pan,
disaster struck. Two overly eager little boys surged
forward hitting my arm, causing the sticky batter to miss
the pan and cover the floor. Anger began to rise up in me. You
know how it is, that hard knot that starts in your stomach and
expands rapidly like a balloon making you say things you may
regret. My mouth opened for something harsh to come out, when I
remembered my pastors words from the previous Sundays sermon.
Brother Bill had been teaching on self-control and made a
statement that people who become angry and lose control do so
because they choose to do so. Anger is a choice.
OK, I thought, this was an accident, they did not
purposely make this mess anymore than I purposely
dropped the bowl. I took a deep breath and calmly said
"It's OK boys, we will just start over. Let's clean up this mess
and mix up some more batter". Relief flooded their little faces.
Happily, they "helped" with the clean up.
This time after the mixing, the batter was placed
safely into the oven. While it baked, I thought I could
mix the frosting. They enjoyed this even more than the
cake batter. Little fingers kept slipping into the sugar
mixture and into their mouths. And kept on slipping in and
out while I washed the bowls and beaters. When I turned
around from the sink, I found that Jeremy had "tasted" the
frosting till there was not enough to frost a cake!
Again I opened my mouth, but shut it. I had never told him not
to touch the frosting. So how was he to know? I just retrieved
my newly washed bowls and beaters and began again.
Finally, the cake was baked and I was in the last stages
of decorating. Yep, you guessed, disaster struck again.
Chris and Aaron, who had been in the yard all this time,
Came running in chasing each other. Aaron jostled the
chair Timmy was standing on causing him to lurch forward.
His arms went out to catch himself. Down came his elbow
on nearly a fourth of the cake pressing it flat. There are days
when you are tried in the Word to let you know what's in you,
here was mine.
I admonished the boys to be more careful and sent them
to the living room while I repaired this fiasco. There was
no more time to bake another cake, so I made ANOTHER
bowl of frosting. I figured I could build up that corner. Of
course Jeremy's eyes lit up at the mention of more frosting.
I was in the last stages of matching the previous decorating
attempt, thinking I am almost done. Chris came running into the
kitchen with Timmy. Timmy had fallen and was bleeding! Quick
check showed it was a very small scratch; just the type that a
band-aide and hug would fix. I picked up Timmy and stepped
towards the bathroom. Then I remembered my frosting fiend.
"Now Jeremy, I have got to tend to Timmy. Do not touch
the cake. Do you understand? I do not want to see your
fingers on this cake when I get back". As I stressed do not
touch this cake, Jeremy nodded his understanding.
With Timmy taken care of, I walked back into the kitchen
to see Jeremy obeying the letter of the law. There he stood by
the table, with both hands palms up outstretched behind him like
wings, while licking the frosting off of the corner of the cake I
had just repaired!
I marked that corner of the cake for Jeremy. His
grandparents had a huge laugh over the incident. I learned a
valuable lesson that day that I heeded well while my four sons
were small. Always bake and decorate birthday cakes after the
boys are in bed.
Cheryl Speir
moderator@write2theheart.com
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Cheryl has been married to her high-school
sweetheart for 27 years. Together they have
four sons, two beautiful daughter-in-laws, three
grandsons with a fourth due in October.
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FROM OUR READERS
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Dear Readers.... As a good friend to Debbie's, I can testify what
a wonderful mother and wife she is to her family. She bypasses
me and others who know her by far! I am proud of her and their
"Little Angel" and consider myself and family proud to know them.
THANK YOU DEBBIE
Delynda
**
Some one should have warned me, I would need a tissue.
Jill
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Cheryl's Corner
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Would you believe that thirty minutes after I spent nearly two
hours typing in address's to get last weeks Write 2 the Heart
out, that the host came back on line? What a fiasco!
This week, I am in the process of transferring my
domain to Christian Web Host. Knowing how I have
to do everything twice on a computer, I thought I should
warn you. If your email to me bounces, have patience
and send it agian. It just means I am having to learn
more about computers than I thought I wanted to know.
I picked blueberries yesterday! Ummmm. I love berries.
Made a big fruit salad and added them while they were
still warm from the sun. I can't tell you how good it is,
it's impolite to talk with my mouth full.
God Bless!
Cheryl
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Cheryl Speir
Write 2 The Heart
moderator@write2theheart.com
http://www.write2theheart.com
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