Birthdays & First Days

My mom had a birthday cake tradition when we were growing up. She had an “Easy Cut-Out Cakes” recipe book, and we got to choose what pattern we wanted each year. This is my sister Susan with her 1st birthday elephant cake.

(Oh, she’s a cutie pie!)

I tried desperately to keep up the tradition for our boys. However, the “Easy” (?) cut-up cakes did NOT work for me. No matter how hard I tried, the trains, monster trucks, and planes ended up looking like they had been in major catastrophes…and I was a wreck, too!

The boys have now grown passed the “pick your shape” cake…and instead like to choose the flavors and fillings. That works much better for me.

Today we are (finally!) celebrating Colin’s birthday. So, his cake of choice is ready for his celebration… an old-fashioned white cake with butterscotch filling and vanilla icing…


And, thankfully, the top layer didn’t slide off to the side…:)

***
 
On another note, my friend Kerry-Lea’s mom, Mary, just spent her first day in Heaven yesterday. Mary was the dear, sweet Pastor’s wife at the church I first attended as a newlywed 21 years ago. Oh…she will be missed.

Every day for the past 3 weeks, I’ve come to my computer to read Kerry-Lea’s updates on her mom’s health condition. It was so, so sad. My tear ducts and my heart have had a work-out. And yet, I have been profoundly impacted by this family. They clung to God and each other. They worked together through the process of letting go. They gathered together for morning “Tim Horton’s coffee time” around the hospital bed. They took turns spending the nights in their mom’s room. They prayed around her bed. They held her hand.

The precious pictures of the tender good-byes just broke my heart. Oh…saying good-bye is so hard… Thankfully, it’s not a forever good-bye.

 

And, Mary, she blessed my heart, too. She was a precious woman of God. At peace with her Saviour. And ready to go Home.

 
Her passing went quickly, and she is now free from pain and suffering. The song that keeps going through my mind is this:

 

“When we all get to Heaven

 

what a day of rejoicing that will be.

 

When we all see Jesus,

 

We’ll sing and shout the victory!”

Oh, Heaven! It is the beacon of brightness in the midst of the darkness of heart-wrenching grief.

I know some precious people who are there – Grandpa Glenn and Sylvia. Uncle Arnold. Grandpa Tom. Grandma Jennie. Dad. Grandma Bernice. Aunt Lois. Dan. and Mary.

I can only imagine what it must be like for them. They are all free from pain. They are healthy. They are with Jesus!

Time for them is no longer measured in days. It is an eternal. Celebration.

(I wonder who bakes the cakes?)

 

 

 

 

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One Comment

  1. Beautifully said Rita … thanks for once again sharing a piece of your heart.

    There is of course no segway for this, but on a lighter note I hope the little guy who is now getting to be a BIG GUY has a great birthday … I sure wouldn't mind a piece of that cake!!!

    … Cheryl 🙂

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