Our recent week-long family holiday (vacation) began with a three+ hour drive to Northland.  The car discussion centred on whether or not a such a trip is actually a biblical concept and pursuit.  Every Christian should wrestle with this question.

We were blessed to receive true Christian hospitality and have free accommodation for the week.  We spent a few nights at Emmanuel outside of Waipu.  The cottage was built on farmland for the sole purpose of being a blessing to Christians in need of a holiday.  The accommodation is free, but the owners will accept a maximum donation of $10 per night.  The location is close to a long stretch of coastline with many beaches, caves, and other places to explore.  Hospitality is fresh on our minds since the ladies at GNBC are currently studying biblical hospitality.  Our family truly sensed the biblical “love for the stranger” displayed by our host and hostess at this accommodation.  The remainder of the week we hung out at the home of friends just outside Whangarei.  We attended their mid-week service at Calvary Baptist Church, where we no longer feel like visitors due to much fellowship over the years.   

Sometimes the camera was forgotten when we went out for an adventure.  Sometimes the camera was lost in the van…under wetsuits and towels, dog equipment, games, you-name-it paraphernalia for a family vacation.  The photos we did manage to get show at least a decent glimpse of God’s beautiful handiwork and our enjoyment of it.  Next time we’ll try to get a few whole family photos…looks like we only snapped the kids this time!

This month the lady of our house had another birthday.  Our daughter has developed an enthusiasm for kitchen work (i.e. baking and cooking -- not the cleanup) and volunteered to make the birthday cake.  This was a welcome plan.  Surely there are many ladies of the world who don't particularly relish making their own birthday cake.

Having been engaged in morning routine and relying on her husband to keep an eye on the children during that time, the lady of our house was surprised when the lovely daughter reported at 9 a.m. that the cake was in the oven.  Thoughts of surprise were quickly escalated as the daughter proceeded to report that she thought the cake batter was lumpy.  The conversation proceeded in this manner:

Lady:  Did you use cold butter?

Daughter:  No, the recipe didn’t call for any butter.

Lady:  (thinking to herself) Hmm…I’m sure that recipe would call for butter.  (speaking aloud)  Did the recipe say to use oil?

Daughter:  No, it didn’t.

Lady:  (thinking to herself)  Very strange…a cake recipe with no oil or butter.  (speaking aloud)  Did you find the cake batter to be quite thick?

Daughter:  No.  I added extra milk. 

Lady:  How much extra milk?

Daughter: A cup and a half.

Lady:  Well, I think you might find the cake will need to bake a bit longer than the recipe stated for the cooking time.  I’ll go have a look.

The daughter happily ran off to play, and the lady went to inspect the kitchen proceedings.  The lady discovered several more surprising issues with the cake.  The oven was cooking the cake at the highest possible temperature on the dial -- 280 degrees Celsius.  This amounts to over 500 degrees Fahrenheit.  (The daughter must surely have forgotten that one must convert Fahrenheit to Celsius and simply got the temperature as close to the requested 350 as possible).  The cake was rapidly baking on the very top oven rack, just three inches from the oven element.  All concerns about extended bake time quickly vanished.  The cake was already finished baking.  Fifteen minutes in those conditions was more than sufficient.

An inspection of the recipe revealed it called for shortening, instead of butter or oil.  American shortening is a precious commodity reserved for pure white frosting and one other special recipe.  On questioning, the daughter reported that she didn’t know what shortening was (which was true), so she decided to just leave it out.

All these circumstances resulted in a rather firm cake which had the consistency of sour dough bread.  The lady, fully expecting said daughter to ask for help to get the cake done, was truly appreciative of the efforts to serve and let mother have a break.  However, many giggles privately escaped, and the events are now permanently recorded for future use and your enjoyment.