Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a cake connoisseur. Bakery cake, that is. I attend weddings, anniversaries, and birthday parties with one thing and one thing only on the brain...cake. And, furthermore, a cake from the Kroger bakery does NOT cut it. Like I said, I love cake.
It's been a somewhat stressful morning solidifying details regarding the retreat this weekend and feeling heavy hearted for some friends who are walking through a period of deep faith struggles.
This morning a friend came by and was talking about the cakes at "The Flour Shop", a bakery in Brentwood. Doug Sanders, my office mate, and I were salivating as she talked.
A few minutes ago Doug called on his way back from lunch and announced that he couldn't resist and was coming back with CAKE in hand! Hallelujah, the angels rejoiced!
Doug Sanders, you rock!
Lastly, Maddie began reciting the pledge of allegiance the other day out of the blue. Apparently, they do that at school. She says the entire thing with a few little modifications:
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Of the "unicorn" of America
and to the Republic for which it stands
One nation under God, indivisible
With "liverty" and justice for all.
I have certain feelings about the pledge, I have certain feelings about a country without borders and what it means to be God's people in this world and to be true to Him only. I believe that His call on our lives should be the main thing--over our country for sure--that impacts our allegiance and our actions. However, now I've got a daughter pledging her allegiance to a unicorn. Hilarious. Maybe that should have been our national symbol instead of the eagle. Maybe that should be a children's book. Mom...go for it!
Thursday, October 20, 2005
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7 comments:
You and your cake obsession is a little odd. You realize you are going to have to bring your own cake to any celebration of mine. I'm glad you had one today though, you deserved it. Hope the retreat goes well!
Hi Brandon. Our prayers will be with you on the retreat.
I wanted to comment about the "Pledge." Having grown up in a military family probably makes me a bit partial to acts of patriotism like the Pledge of Allegiance. I also realize the inherent conflict at times between the Christian and nationalism. The Great Commission knows no boundaries or nationality. But I believe the Lord understood and even honored those who practiced the right kind of nationalism if they were able to balance their allegiance between God and Country.
This conversation came up one time when I was talking to a good friend of mine who happens to be our deacon of worship. Ray also is in the National Guard (infantry) full time and has served a tour of duty in Afghanistan. His main mission was to train the Afghan Army as well as go out on search and destroy missions with respect to the Taliban and Al Queida. The “destroy” means that Ray had to kill to protect our country. As you can guess, this really bothered him so he asked me for my opinion concerning his “profession” and his walk with the Lord. I couldn’t help but think about Jesus’ conversation in Matthew 8 with the Roman Centurion. Jesus undoubtedly knew about the Centurion’s profession which would have included killing for his country. And yet, he marvels at the faith of this Centurion and places it above all of Israel. To me, this would have been the perfect opportunity for Jesus to place a prohibition against any kind of patriotism including serving in a country’s armed forces. For some reason he doesn’t.
I don’t know if any of this makes sense but I guess it’s like anything else, there must be balance in our view of ourselves vs. where we fit inside the boundaries of nationalism.
By the way, pray for us good folks in Florida that Wilma will head out to the Atlantic Ocean and not make landfall.
ok- had to chime in here about the knock to Kroger cakes. My family is die hard for Kroger- don't ask me why. But, we love their cakes (and peanut butter too- it's won national awards!) My dad is the domesticato in the family and he shops there at least twice a week. I'll even admit the managers know my name when I go home to Nashville for the holidays because they knew me and my brother growing up. We even get a Christmas card from Kroger. It's wierd, but man oh man don't I love me some Kroger cake! Give it another shot...
cwinwc,
your comment really made me think and I was touched. Thank you for opening my eyes on that topic and even more opening up and sharing your heart!
Shanta--
Meant to write last time you commented...of course I remember you. Your relatives made quite an impression that day at Otter. They were so sweet!
Let me restate--I don't prefer Kroger cakes, BUT we do most ALL of our shopping at Kroger too and love it. GO KROGER!
As for the other stuff, it's dangerous territory to tread even in comments. I respect each one's right to search out those things for themselves. I join Matt in thanking you for opening up about it. My personal opinions on the topic probably differ, but what I truly appreciate is the difficulty we all have in searching our hearts and the heart of God through prayer to work those things out. Thanks for sharing!
BST - Please tell me you saved me a piece of Flour Shop cake. Strawberry cake with cream cheese icing, right? DELISH.
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