Chocolate Frosting

Each year for my birthday, my mom would ask me “What kind of cake do you want for your birthday?” My response was always the same, “The one with your chocolate frosting.” You see, this frosting is the whole reason you eat the piece of cake. Not to say the cake isn’t good, it is incredible. But the frosting! This frosting could practically be called fudge and the second it touches your tongue, you’re hooked…and quite possibly on your way to sugar shock. Every bite is a tiny taste of heaven on earth making you want to savor every single bite. And go back for seconds.


Maybe it’s because I just celebrated my half-birthday last week (yes, my family recognizes the “half-birthday”), but I’ve been thinking about that chocolate frosting a lot lately. And it’s not because of my sweet tooth. Who would have thought God would use my mom’s chocolate frosting to teach me a little bit about my life?

My understanding is that the expression “icing on the cake” represents something that intensifies an already good or bad situation. I’ve come to realize that I’m guilty of being too focused on the ‘icing on the cake” when it comes to life. I’ve want the REALLY good stuff…what the world tells us is the best and a “must-have.” Things that aren’t necessarily bad, but become bad when they’re my only focus or end-goal. I was becoming consumed by the “frosting” of life and realized if I wasn’t careful I’d become obese from buying into those lies. I was forgetting about the foundation, the cake. And really, isn’t that the whole reason you make the frosting?

Now, the other thing you should know about my mom’s frosting is that it takes time to make. It’s not easy like that stuff you buy in a jar…it takes time and effort…and usually a vacuum cleaner to pick up all the spilled powdered sugar when I’m in the kitchen. That’s the other thing about my life...I like things “now.” But in all this thinking about frosting, I’ve been reminded that the really good stuff often takes time and rushing this process ruins the end result. Some things are worth the wait.

This month I’ve been thinking about how these two frosting lessons relate to my life:
1. What’s the foundation I’ve started to overlook by being so focused on the “icing on the cake.”
2. Why would I want to skip the process that makes an already good thing, great, for something that’s just easy?

So my focus is shifting. I’m learning about true surrender and what it really means to “let go.” There is a verse in Matthew that I’ve known for years, but I’m not sure I’ve truly tasted its Truth until now. “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” I’m not so concerned with the “frosting” I wanted for my life anymore. I’m more interested in what God wants from me. And you know what? I’ve experienced more unexpected blessings, what I now refer to as “frosting moments,” in the past two weeks than I have in a long time. There are almost too many to count, and to me they all add up to one word: HOPE.

So next July when I eat that piece of cake with chocolate frosting, I’m going to savor every bite. Not just because of the way it melts in my mouth, but because it represents a new understanding, or dare I say, “recipe,” for what the next 25 years and beyond are all about.