Good Intentions...

Things don't always work out the way we think they will. Today I had the privilege of bringing a special birthday treat to Trevor's little preschool class for all to share. As a mom, and former preschool teacher, this is one of those small moments I've always looked forward to. And if I'm really being honest I should say that since I have a summer birthday, I was never able to celebrate at school as a kid and it's quite possible I'm a little bitter about it. Needless to say, it is something I have always wanted to do and I was super excited to share the moment with my boy.

Bearing in mind my son's penchant for frosting-face painting (see previous post), I elected to make little cake balls covered in white chocolate. Less mess, still cute, still home made. I painstakingly rolled each ball, colored the chocolate blue, sprinkles on top...the whole nine yards. I bought cute little baking cups for each one, and packed them in my handy cake pan. Did I mention I didn't start this project until well after bedtime last night? Did I mention I didn't finish until well after midnight? Mid-way through I thought "What are you doing? Just go to the store and buy some brownies, cookies...anything!" Oh no, I told myself. This was a special day, a day I'd been waiting for....

So today that day arrived. I loaded my little girl in the stroller, grabbed my nifty cake pan by the handles and marched inside. I was so clever. I was so creative. Frankly, at that moment, I was supermom. That picture-perfect image began to melt in my brain the moment I opened the classroom door to find my son wearing his "just in case" shorts, bare-footed, clamoring for his teacher's attention. He was happy to see me, and even more happy to see the special treats in tow. He stood on his (bare) tippy toes, trying to peak inside the lid. His teacher began clearing and cleaning tables, readying the class to sing "Happy Birthday."

It was really a golden moment. That is, until Trevor managed to release the lid from the pan on one side, sending the cake balls to the ground, rolling all over the floor. Without missing a beat, Trevor picked one off the floor and began eating his prize. I shuttered as I considered what might live on that floor. I frantically began trashing cake balls before the other kids followed his lead. There were 6 (out of 15) clean cake balls left in the pan. There are 12 kids. Long story short, I did my best to cut each of the six in half with a plastic fork. The kids sang to my boy, and he grinned from ear to ear as they ate mutilated cake balls.

Things certainly don't always go as planned, but nothing is ever without reason. I hadn't realized how caught-up in "doing it best" I'd become until it all fell apart. It's so easy as moms to bring a spirit of competition into the most idiotic things. A lot of times, I doubt we ever realize we're doing it. Even so, we tend to look at each other, sizing-up everything from burp cloths and diaper bags, to developmental milestones. It's a terrible, terrible thing. I fell into the trap today and got burned. It was a not-so-gentle reminder to me that everything good, pure, loving, and creative in me exists only because God covers my true nature by His grace. My job as a mom, is not to show my children how to compete with the world. My job is to show them how to honor God as they journey, showing His love to everyone around them.

It's always amazing to me when God uses the most mundane parts of my everyday, hum-drum, housewife life to mold me. What a mighty God we serve!