As someone who writes a blog (I still can’t refer to myself as a “writer”), I’ll often be struck by ideas and dump them into a draft to be worked on at a later date. Today I was looking through over 100 “drafts”, many with cryptic notes, some with quotes to be reflected on, others with just titles.
One of them had the title “Acts 2” and this picture of a coffee cake that didn’t turn out exactly as planned.
That’s it. That’s all she wrote (as it were). Sooo…what the heck was I thinking? Why was this meaningful in my tiny brain and what does it have to do with Acts 2? Was it funny? Serious? What part of Acts 2 was I thinking of? Peter addressing the crowd? Or the fellowship of the early believers? I’m going to guess it was Acts 2:42-47 (but maybe not)
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
The rest is up to you! Put your idea or an experience you’ve had that relates, in the comment section, even if it’s just one line. It can be silly or serious, intensely reflective or outrageously creative. I’ll pick my favorite and give a copy of Bob Goff’s Love Does!
Life is just a draft. We’re all trying to figure it out and make it better. One way I’m trying to make it better is by running to raise money for clean water for Africa. You can be a part of this caper here!
That picture looks like every experience with a bundt pan I’ve ever had… And it makes perfect sense to pair it with Acts 2, a passage that TWICE refers to the breaking of bread. Yup. Literal breaking of bread (ala bundt pan!) has now been redeemed thanks to you. 🙂 So I’m going to devote myself to some bundt pan breakage now, sharing the crumbs with others, knowing it can be a sign of the Holy Spirit at work! 🙂
Gotta think about the author as well as the image to re-create the original thought! What Laura thinks of as a mess others see as a masterpiece, sumptious creation. That confusion is at the beginning of Acts 2, where Pentecost brings both confusion (are these guys drunk?) and an unexpected feast prepared by the Spirit. No wonder it appears rough and messy, soemthing wonderful is being born! Even the crumbs are great… but we have to get past the mess to get to the new, stop worrying about the cooks or servers. What stops us from celebrating the feasts set in front of us? (or maybe I’ve just started making stuff up now)
Their hunger was not for the food or the “quality” of the food being given, but for the teaching from the apostles, the truths, the fellowship and experiences they shared together that encouraged them even more to live out the truths with one another. They were encouraged by one another in “real” ways that motivated them to receive the favor of all the people and of God.
Messy. A flop. Didn’t quite turn out like I hoped. Disappointed. Expectation not quite met. BUT……
Still can be used. Tastes good. Will fill a hungry belly. Appearance, shmearance. Sometimes its good to be humbled.
When we are messy, when our lives aren’t quite what we had hoped, when we are looking less than lovely – inside or out – there is still a purpose. We can still be used.
A Martha Stewart perfect looking coffee cake is symbolic of what the Pharisees would eat. Yours? I like the mess. A truer picture of my real life… And probably of what the lives of the peeps in Acts 2 looked like, too.
the line “they were filled with awe” or maybe it should have been spelled “ahhhh:(
(as in what a pit)…It may have looked strange to those who didn’t understand but every morsel says “taste and see that God is good”
(as in what a Pity) not pit!
I had to laugh out loud at the little scraps of paper with verses and comments on them! I do that all the time, sometimes from John’s sermons! (Gasp!!!) What struck me was the obedience of the people ~ they DEVOTED themselves, sold property and possessions, every day, in the temple, in homes, and then GOD yielded fruit, and was gracious enough to let THEM be blessed by it!! What a God!!!! I’d take the crumbiest crumb from HIS table any day!
Rebah woke up in Jerusalem one day, eager to make a bundt cake. It would be the perfect way to escape all the craziness in the city. No debates. No tea shop bickering or fights in the marketplace. Just her and a bundt cake. The city had been in an uproar over the past few weeks. News of the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the leader of a rag tag bunch of Jews who claimed to follow The Way, had spread throughout the city. There was a debate going on – belivers on one side, non-believers on the other. “What a mess!” she thought to herself. “It’s enough to hear everyone bickering about the upcoming Gladiator Games in Rome!” (The Gladiator Championship System had put a 1 loss gladiator in the final match over an undefeated gladiator due to an abacus rounding error!)
Besides, she had just gotten her hands on a new ceramic bundt cake pan, a gift from her husband Malachi. It had cost them many, many talents. Leaven had been hard to come by with the post-Passover rush on the supermarkets, and she was ready to try out the new Beulah Crocker recipe she’d been given by her neighbor Martha.
So in the morning, she set about her tasks. The bundt cake had been in the oven for some time and she was pulling it out, when suddenly, the sound of a blowing wind howled outside and what looked like tongues of fire through her window landed on people in the streets. A blast of heat rushed in the house, rapidly warming the pan in her hand and burning the edges of the bundt cake. “Holy Moses!” she exclaimed, throwing the bundt cake sky high. The pan came crashing down on the floor, leaving the overdone bundt cake spilt all over the floor. “Well that stinks! What ever will I do with this bundt cake?!”
She ran outside to see what all the commotion was. She saw the craziest scene! People filled the streets talking in crazy languages, acting as if they were drunk. Then one of the followers of The Way stood up and explained what was going on.
Long story short, Rebah heard the words of the man they called Peter and followed The Way from there after. A few days later she joined a small group, and brought the pieces of the bundt cake as a humble gift. Peter welcomed her the first night with a slap on the back and a smile. “Welcome Rebah! I see you already know a thing or two about breaking bread. You’ll fit right in!”
Too funny!!! You should write a book!!! Loved it!
I can’t outdo Austin, so instead I’ll just throw my weight his way! Go Austin!