Act 26 - Bake on

Today I was absolutely gutted to not get my bake-on on. All day I had planned to make brownies but it never happened, and then I ran out of time to pop to the shop. What my disappointment helped me do was focus upon how difficult it will be to do 40 Acts when I go to Easter School from the 19th up until Easter Sunday. So I'm planning an Easter school generosity kit- cards, treats, booze, pens...whatever small thing I can think of to spread generosity. We're in a tricky place course-wise; weariness has set in. We have the weight of responsibility and accountability knowing we'll be ordained in 3 months, yet still have assignments and tutorials to complete. Then there's the practical stuff such as getting vestments and organising the appropriate paperwork. TLC is required, so Easter School generosity here I come.

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This will be short but terribly sweet.
There were many years where my entire ministry in my work place was that of baking and sharing cake. Since starting training the times I've been able to do this are very few, which makes me incredibly sad.
Yesterday was a work day so no chance to bake, and the day before was a slightly selfish one. This means cake sharing will happen tomorrow after baking today- I've been looking for an excuse to try our my dalek cake pan!

Mmmm....cake

The first blog post I wrote was about cake baking ministry- baking and sharing cake for the sole reason that it brings joy to others. Another 12 hour shift today so I've not been able to bake but we did have some good sharing moments with treats given to us by patients.
The generosity of present and former patients is overwhelming at this time of year as we're inundated by treats- even some really delicious home baking. It often serves as a poignant reminder of the good we do- knowing there are folk that are out there enjoying their lives because of the work our team does is pretty wonderful.

Remember more

Stop me if you've heard this one before, but I used to have the most marvelous memory- I could remember all sorts of random nonsense. Then I had kids. These days I'm doing well if we all leave the house wearing shoes.
I thought I could memorise something holy today, like a prayer or favourite hymn, but I settled on something way more fun- my favourite never-fail brownie recipe. Just ask if you want to know it!

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I was really really looking forward to today's task. For about four years my husband was on a gluten free diet, the beginning of which coincided with my finishing an eighteen month course which had dominated most of my free time. Having more free time and a husband with dietary needs meant I went all Sylvia Plath and starting baking like a lunatic! I loved it and I turned out to be a reasonable home baker. What I loved to most was sharing what I'd made at work.
Since starting my ordination training baking has gone right out of the window. The pleasure of spending an evening locked in the kitchen, no one else allowed to enter my private domain, has for the time being been put on hold. I did manage a few Christmas treats and a birthday cake for my daughter. I vaguely remember baking brownies for my course mates quite early on.
The last truly extravagant bake I made was my husband's 40th birthday cake back in early September.
All this back story is my rather convoluted way of revealing I failed at yesterday's task. Thursday and Friday were way too busy to bake and I worked all day yesterday. Glad to report the kids baked with my mum, and shared their treats with their other grandparents. We did have sharing treats at work as our lovely student Leanne brought lovely things on her last day.
I do have biscuits to share at today's Family Praise service...does that count?!

Bless all the dear children

There doesn't seem to have been much time this Christmas just to hang out with my kids and do whatever they want to do, so this evening I made sure they each had time with me to do whatever they wanted.
My son was first- we built a wooden fort together. We did a fantastic job as we had no instructions and no clue where to start! We were finished within 30 minutes and he was soon racing his knight around it- first riding a unicorn, and later a puffin.
My daughter wanted to bake- I let her choose and she decided upon mini choc cupcakes. They were delicious!
It's such a special time- it won't be long before they no longer want my help, or think they know better. It's important to give them my time when they want it, and celebrate the fact they still need their mum.

Cake or Death?

Sharing cake takes me right back to my very first blog post, my blog title & my very reason for starting this blog- no matter how awful your day is someone sharing some cake with you can, fleetingly, make you think everything is ok...and for that moment it is.
I try and share cake as often as I can- I love baking (mainly as therapy!) And I love to feed people. I've fallen back on my 'not-much-time-fail-safe' recipe today- chocolate brownies. I even managed to decorated them without one flake of glitter- though my hand was on the sprinkle cupboard door at one point.
A night shift tonight means I have lots of colleagues to feed. Sharing makes you feel good and makes others feel good. I have a cake ministry!

Acts 4:32
Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.

Be More Creative

I'd really been looking forward to today's task- creating something.  We're good at that.
Well the sunshine meant the kids had little interest in sitting down and making things but they did gather together some bits and bobs they've been hoarding to make some interesting robot thingies (I think), and interestingly some plasticine fruit. Well why on earth not!
For my own creation I did flirt with the idea of an ink drawing, or crochet, or fimo model but amongst the LLLL book suggestions was "bake a cake" and they definitely had me at "cake" (this is cake or death after all!).

Thinking about God's creation, and his creation in us, today I'm not quoting the Bible but the greatest of all Mancunion songwriters Johnny Bramwell:

"I believe that we are forever something which is incomplete"

I'll take the cake please!

It's difficult to know exactly how to begin this blog- I want to keep things light in tone whilst looking at what it means to try and do God's work as an Anglican in the UK in 2012. The main problem is that most of the time I feel about as holy as a brick; I'm an irritable and grumpy cow, a bit of a know it all, ridiculously competitive over the most inane things, kinda lazy and kinda selfish and sometimes really struggle to see why God would bother with me. It can also in my working life be hard to see God's plan at work as I and my colleagues nurse folks from 16 to 70ish suffering from a variety of rather unpleasant haematological malignancies- not a promising start so far.
So let's talk about cake instead. Cake is a marvellous, sociable, healing thing and generally speaking nothing makes nurses happier. A bit of cake is good for the soul so whilst being mindful of Philippians 3:19 "Their end is destruction, their God is in their belly" and Proverbs 25:16 "if you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit" the arrival or promise of cake can sometimes be a shining ray of hope on a long and difficult shift, such as yesterday.
I had a lot of cake hanging round the house last weekend- my youngest turned six last week, plus we had friends round to watch the British Grand Prix- two occasions which warranted me putting my pinny on and getting the recipe book out. I love to bake, not because I have a crazy sweet tooth, but because I love to feed people and to bring them joy through food. I fed my family with cake, I fed my son's friends with cake, I fed my friends with cake...and there was still cake. So the cake went to work.
It's been a difficult few days on the unit. Sick patients, tired staff. Then the cake arrived. The staff were still tired, the patients were still sick, but we had cake and cake is awesome.
Eddie Izzard described the Anglican version of the Spanish Inquisition as "tea and cake or death?". Bringing cake for my colleagues I hope shows a generosity of spirit- not because I'm a Christian but because we're a team, we're all in it together, and sometimes when you're having a really crappy day a slice of cake can momentarily make it seem not quite so bad.