Yesterday’s blog post was about how parenting is similar to being a “soaker hose” … as we faithfully and continually “pour out” for our kids … so that they, in turn, can be a “soaker hose” to “pour out” to others.
The Daddy-Daughter Cake Bake is a perfect example of this.
When my daughter was little, she was involved in the Awana program at our church. Every April the Awana 3rd & 4th grade girls had a Daddy-Daughter Cake Bake. My daughter absolutely loved baking a cake with her Daddy and taking it, along with her Daddy, to the special Daddy-Daughter Cake Bake night.
Here you can see the cake my daughter and her Daddy baked together her first year for the Daddy-Daughter Cake Bake.
Here you can see the cake my daughter and her Daddy baked together the second year for the Daddy-Daughter Cake Bake.
Now that my daughter is older, she has been serving for the past several years as a leader in the same Awana program.
This past year she was the leader for the Awana 3rd & 4th grade girls group. Which meant that when the time came for the long-anticipated Daddy-Daughter Cake Bake, she asked her Daddy if he would, once again, come to Awana with her and, together, present the devotional to all the girls and their daddies.
Of course my hubby said Yes!
April is a very busy time! My daughter’s job had a lot going on and she was swamped! Her bandwidth was stretched about as far as it could go. But my daughter is now a “soaker hose” … pouring out God’s love to all her little 3rd & 4th grade Awana girls!
My hubby’s job had a lot going on and he was swamped! His bandwidth was stretched about as far as it could go. But my hubby is a “soaker hose” … pouring out love for his daughter!
So together, they dug down deep … gave it everything they had (time, energy, effort, etc.) and presented the most epic Daddy-Daughter Cake Bake devotional ever! Here is what they shared:
They started their devotional by my daughter sharing with the girls, and their daddies, about how much it meant to her to bake a cake with her Daddy.
She showed them all her cookbook … permanently stained with coco powder, from where she and her Daddy accidentally spilled coco all over the cookbook in their baking endeavors. A leftover reminder of the good time they had had together!
In turn, Hubby shared with the girls, and their daddies, what it meant to him. He then proceeded to share three main points for how to build a lasting relationship. These were his points:
Foundation – Make sure you are building on the right foundation.
* As with any house or building … or cake … you have to start with a foundation.
* For relationships, this foundation needs to be set on something bigger than ourselves. It must be something that guides how we communicate, how we work together … and doesn’t change.
* In life, that foundation must be on God, and the principles laid out in the Word of God.
At this point my daughter pulled out a shiny gold cake base. This represented God, upon which they were going to build their cake (aka … their relationship together).
Hubby further continued:
* Psalm 127:1 – “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it …”
* This verse clearly is articulating that no matter how hard we try, no matter what we do, if we aren’t following God’s relationship principles we will fail. Some of these principles are:
– Love
– Joy
– Peace
– Patience
– Kindness
– Goodness
– Faithfulness
– Gentleness
– Self-control
(Galatians 5:22-23)
Framework – Set the right tone for your relationship.
* Once you have established God as the foundation, then dads you create the base layer for your family.
At this point my daughter pulled out a single layer cake, frosted blue, and set it on the gold cake base. This represented the dads, being the base layer for their families.
Hubby continued:
* Dads, you are the one setting the tone for the principles which will be followed for the family. This includes not only following those principles, but also ensuring that you have fun. This enables your family to grow healthy and happy.
* So, in our visual example, we as dads are the base layer upon which our kids can be built.
At this point my daughter pulled out lots of mini cupcakes, frosted pink … and proceeded to place the pink mini-cupcakes on top of the blue base-layer cake. This represented the daughters being supported and “built upon” the “base framework” of their dads.
Focus – Make sure you set the right priority: God, family, goals.
* The final point is Focus. Proper relationships require attention, time, and energy.
* What you spend your time on shows what is most important to you.
* For example, this cake is done and we could eat it now … but it doesn’t look very pretty. We could decide to just call it good and leave it at that … or we could take more time to make it look great. So let’s add some sprinkles, and some glitter gel.
At this point my daughter pulled out all kinds of fun sprinkles and glitter gel … and together she and her Daddy proceeded to decorate the cake they had built.
* What can we learn from this example:
– We took the time to do it. Prioritize time together.
– We planned for what it will look like. Be intentional about how you spend time together.
– We made sure it was Fun!
Hubby concluded their devotional:
* So I want to leave you with these three principles to help you with your relationships …
Foundation – Make sure you are following Godly principles in your relationship.
Framework – Make sure you establish the right tone for your relationship.
Focus – Set the right priorities in your relationship.
