She Is a Homemaker & a Cake Baker – by Melisha Pillay

Welcome back Hopeful sister,

If you have a sweet tooth for cake & Jesus, this one is for you. Today on The Hope Table, my good friend & guest blogger Mel uses the Proverbs 31 woman & her cake baking skills to show how women of God can be good homemakers & hopefully by the end of this blog post good cake bakers too with her simple sponge cake recipe.

Enjoy this sweet & delightful one my friends. 

with heart & hope,

Shovorne Adams 

Shovorne Charly Adams & Dominic Adams

 


She Is a Homemaker & a Cake Baker – By Melisha Pillay

Proverbs 31:13-15 

She selects wool and flax
    and works with eager hands.

She is like the merchant ships,
    bringing her food from afar.

She gets up while it is still night;
    she provides food for her family
    and portions for her female servants.”

My interpretation of this virtuous woman is that she obviously loves working with her hands. Unfortunately I am not a textiles kind of girl like her, but I do love baking cakes and all things sweet, as my friends would tell you. So I felt it fitting for me to describe what a Good Homemaker should look like using the illustration of baking a cake.

Pinterest simple sponge cake recipe by Melisha Pillay at The Hope Table a Blog for Christian women by Christian Women. Blog post of the proverbs 31 woman being a home maker. Founded by Shovorne Adams

I’ve likened some of the ingredients to some of the virtues I think we should aspire for:

 

BUTTER – Truth

And my first ingredient is butter! For me Butter – stands for the TRUTH. In the Bible we all know that this is one of the greatest teachings of Jesus. In John 8:32 it says “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

You see if we can always live for the truth in our lives, then our family as well as others are able to see Jesus in us. I always say, if I tell the truth then I never have to rely on my memory (which by the way, can be very unreliable at times with so much going on).

So if we want to aim for purity in our lives its seeking that pure butter which is what I look for when baking, the purer the butter the better, because the function of the butter is to bind all the dry ingredients together in order to create a smooth textured batter. Just as the word of God, which is truth binds our walk with Him and our faith in Him.

Inspiring blog post based n the proverbs 31 woman, by Melsiha Pillay called She's a home maker and cake baker o The Hope Table blog, a Christian blog for christian by Christian Women, founded by Shovorne Adams

 

Flour – To Admit when you’re wrong

James 5:16 “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

You know for many years this was very hard for me to do, as Donovan – my sweet husband would tell you but with God I was able to make changes in my life that remind me that we are all imperfect. I am better, but like us all, I’m still a work in progress.

Being able to confess that you are wrong is refining yourself into a better you. You know to make the perfect sponge cake, I always sift my flour because it gets rid of all the lumps and hard bits. Just like us, when we see our wrong and admit it, it gets rid of our lumps and bumps too. Flour also adds consistency to your dough, when making bread, you need to knead your dough (see I am actually teaching you a few baking techniques at the same time) but it’s the kneading once again that gets rid of the lumps and creates a soft dough that is malleable and workable, which brings me straight into my next virtue. Flexibility!

 

Eggs – Flexibility

Flexibility is being open to the plans and ideas of others, and most importantly ~ to live a life in full surrender to the Lord, willing to be instructed and challenged to change for the better, to live in obedience. You have to be willing to bend and sometimes break. Like eggs, to get to the best bit you need to break it open. Can you imagine eating an egg with its shell on? Very unpleasant and so too can being inflexible. We fail to see the big picture, how people and events are all interlinked with a sovereign God at the controls. In this way, we can see that our plans and ways are not always the best; we can trust God, go with His flow, and make the most of opportunities and relationships.

One of the biggest reasons why businesses fail is because they do not adapt to changes in the market. Because those companies fail to adapt and change to the needs of the public, they no longer exist! When Christians fail to be flexible, we, too, will go out of business with our faith and end up with lost connections and possibilities when we could have had relationships and ministry!

 

Inspiring blog post based n the proverbs 31 woman, by Melsiha Pillay called She's a home maker and cake baker o The Hope Table blog, a Christian blog for christian by Christian Women, founded by Shovorne Adams

 

Sugar – Prayer

In most recipes the quantity of flour and sugar are the same. Now remember I said that flour was to admit when you are wrong? We are only able to do this through prayer and seeking God.

It’s the sugar in the cake like prayer in our life, that adds the sweetness. It enhances taste like prayer enhances our life. Making the most bitter situations that we endure a bit sweeter knowing that the Lord is always for us. And frankly, I believe it is addictive ~ like a good drug! Like I mentioned earlier I am a self confessed chocoholic, I cannot survive a day without chocolate, just like my prayer time with God. This sugar God gives me, provides me with the energy and endurance I need to go through any day come what may!

Like the word of God says in Philippians 4:6-7 ”Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God”

 

Vanilla essence – Joy

My favourite – you know every time I bake I have to sneak a smell of my vanilla essence. The fragrance is able to give you such excitement and anticipation of what is to come. This is what Joy is, always hoping and expecting the best from the Lord for us. You know the Joy of the Lord is our strength and did you know that Joy is contagious? You know when I am shopping, I always go out with a goal, I try to look for the most miserable looking person and smile at them. 99% of the times, now trust me its been tried and tested, their entire countenance just changes.

A smile brings such joy to someone, someone you don’t know who might be going through something awful in their life, someone who might be looking for a sign that they still matter ~ it’s just unbelievable how something that is considered so small can make such a huge difference. And that’s why, coming back to my cake, only a few drops is required. Like Joy, vanilla essence is so concentrated that only a small amount is required to spread through the entire batter and make a world of difference.

 

She Smiles She's a homemaker on The Hope Table. Instagram post on a Christian blog for christian women The Hope Table founded by Shovorne Adams. Guest blog post by Melisha Pillay.

 

Now how does this relate to being a homemaker, well its our character and what we display not only when we are home but when we are out and about too. Are we miserable at the chores we have to do for our family, yes but I’ve noticed that if you doing a chore with maybe your worship playing in the background, you suddenly forget how awful ironing is!

The word of God states in James 1:2-3 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”

So I believe that with all these ingredients/ virtues we can receive near-perfection in God with God helping us, stirring us, stretching us and adding a little bit of heat now and then and we can become a HomeMaker as virtuous as the Proverbs woman. For me, it’s not looking all gorgeous and perfect with a spotless house but it is the virtues that we display and practice in our lives daily.

In closing, I would like to say, I don’t know what your “wool and flax” may be. You may be using it everyday and not even know it yourself but this is who God has called you to be. And like the Proverbs woman we can use this, may it be your talents, your gifting or even something you enjoy doing, that can provide “food” for your friends or family and the world around you. With the Lord, it’s not impossible, we can all bake the perfect cake!

 

Inspiring blog post based n the proverbs 31 woman, by Melsiha Pillay called She's a home maker and cake baker o The Hope Table blog, a Christian blog for christian by Christian Women, founded by Shovorne Adams

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