Lenten Promise Checkup: Fourth Week of Lent

​My Lenten promise for this year is to stop trying to be or make situations perfect.  Instead, I vowed to try and look at myself and situations the way that Jesus would.

For my mother’s birthday, I decided to make her a chocolate cake.   While it would have been much easier to just buy a cake from the grocery store, I thought it would be more thoughtful to make it from scratch.  Okay, not scratch, but a box.  Still, I would assemble the ingredients, bake and frost it myself.

Of course, my toddler is my sidekick (more like, I’m his sidekick) and he has reached a stage in his toddlerhood where he insists “I DO!” at each turn.

Knowing that baking a cake wouldn’t be an easy feat with an independent toddler in tow, I mentally prepared myself for the worst.

I would not try to make a perfect cake or a perfect morning with my son.  We would just have fun.  I told myself that no matter how bad the cake turns out and regardless if the kitchen is destroyed afterwards, it will be a good memory for me and my little love.

Memories
My son and I started to assemble all the ingredients, well I did- he just kept taking things out of the cabinets and putting them on the counter.

​It was a mild day outside, so I opened the windows, letting the refreshing air fill the room.   As I started the oven and began cracking the eggs, my son and I discussed how we loved hearing the birds chirping outside.
Everything was perfect, which of course is not in accordance with my Lenten promise.

But then, God tested me.

As I was stirring in the oil, some splattered on my shirt.  It was a t-shirt that I got from my husband on our honeymoon.    At first, I was sad since this was my favorite t-shirt and somehow was one of the few that did not have any visible marks on it.  
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Usually, I would rush to change my shirt and pretreat the stain, cursing myself that I forgot to wear my apron.   But before I reacted, I reminded myself of my Lenten promise. ​

Then, I thought of the stretch marks on my stomach.  

I realized that if the stain did not come out (it didn’t), then it would always be a reminder of a fun morning where my son and I baked my mom a chocolate cake for her birthday.

The stain on the t-shirt was just like the stretch marks I got from pregnancy.   When I was pregnant, I was adamant that I would do everything in my power not to get stretch marks.  Each day I would lather as much coca butter and creams all over my stomach as possible.   Sometimes I would do it twice a day.

​But then, after my son was born, I saw two stretch marks next to my navel.  Instead of being upset that my efforts failed me, they brought me joy.  Those two marks showed me that I survived a very difficult time in my life where I often felt hopeless.  They will forever remind me of the fact that God had broken the “old me” so that He could rebuild me- stronger, happier and more aware of my blessings.

​Back to the Chocolate Cake 
If you’re wondering how the cake turned out, it was amazing.
Thanks to my mom-brain, I accidentally baked a four-layer chocolate cake. 
I wanted to bake my mom a double-layer chocolate cake and didn’t realize that each box makes a double-layer cake.  

So, I bought two boxes of cake mix and two cans of frosting.  Since I did not take the time to read the back of the boxes before opening all the mixes, I was forced to bake all four.   Oops.
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Happy birthday, mom!

See, when you leave recipes in God’s hands, He lets you bake a four-layer chocolate cake!​

How is your Lenten promise going?  Please share with us on ​Facebook. ​
As always, thank you for reading.  God bless you and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always!