This was actually written 2/22/12 but I was having posting issues...
I didn’t make all the baked goods myself. My friend Netta gave me two loaves of her world famous poppy seed bread, my friend Eliz donated rice krispie treats, Phyllis helped me bake cupcakes, people helped me carry in all the containers, and people purchased cupcakes! And lots of people prayed.
I had a fundraiser yesterday, I sold cupcakes and water for my trip to El Salvador. All the money that I raised went to our ‘general fund’ of expenses. There was a lot of lessons that I saw come to light yesterday.
I was thinking about the song from Wicked last night, ‘ No good deed goes unpunished’ and how UNTRUE that really is. I try to really live with a generous spirit. Sometimes it is SUPER easy and sometimes… not so much. Maybe you don’t know this but I make cupcakes for a ton of people in my office, it is something that I truly enjoy doing. I mean I LOVE it! I know that we are grown adults but it does not mean that God loves us any less or that a birthday should not be celebrated! Because I have shared lots of cupcake love (we used to have cake, then I had the brilliant idea that cupcake holders were a lot cheaper than plates and forks – and cupcakes are easier to distribute) & people know how good my cupcakes are and were willing to purchase them. It was amazing to see how generous people were! I don’t make cupcakes with the intention to ever get something out of it, but I think that if we are kind and loving towards others, that love is indeed returned to us.
Ecc 4:9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor
because they have a good return for their labor
I didn’t make all the baked goods myself. My friend Netta gave me two loaves of her world famous poppy seed bread, my friend Eliz donated rice krispie treats, Phyllis helped me bake cupcakes, people helped me carry in all the containers, and people purchased cupcakes! And lots of people prayed.
Variety is the spice of life! I had a nice variety of cupcakes for choosing. Yes, I could have made one kind, and I am sure I could have sold them, but everyone has different tastes and I think my combination was perfect (I actually sold EVERY LAST ONE!)
White with Raspberry Filling with Vanilla Frosting
White with PB frosting
Chocolate with PB frosting
Yellow with chocolate frosting
Banana with cream cheese frosting
Poppy seed Bread
Rice Krispie Treats
Never take the gifts that God has given you lightly. I often look at my talents and think “I just cook” or “I just do that” and I look at others like Pastors I know and people who lead worship or who write books or do whatever… and think ‘wow, it would be cool to have a gift like that, they affect 100’s or 1000’s of people all the time’ but then I think of the quote by Mother Teresa “if you can’t feed 100 people, than just feed one”. Our gifts matter, even the gift of making cupcakes! I think that if we offer up our lives, our gifts to God, He will honor them. Because He loves us, and He knew what He was doing when He gave us those gifts.
My fundraiser was a complete success! It would have been a success if I raised $20 because God did so much work in my heart through the whole thing! But at this point I have raised $658 towards our trip! I originally set my goal as $200 but God had spoken to me and said “don’t put a limit on Me” so when I sent the email, I did not include what I had hoped to raise, I just let God do His thing. Also I was going to make 250 cupcakes, and God told me that would be too much! 15 dozen, 180 cupcakes, and I sold every single one of them by 4:30!!! What would I have done with 70 extra cupcakes??? I find it comforting and THRILLING that God knows what He’s doing and is the Boss of me!
I cannot put into words the joy and love in my heart poured out by so many in my life. I’m thankful for a Savior who not only saved me from a life of eternal death, but has brought so much joy and love into my life that my heart could just explode!
Comments