Dec 18th, 2020: Christmas Blessing - Sharing God's Love with One Another



It has been our tradition since we got married to give out fruitcakes to some friends and family members. Nothing is for sure about how we are going to celebrate this Christmas except making these cakes. It is rather amusing to receive emails and texts from friends who hinted that they would like to remain on the list. It is not a fancy cake, and yet it has become dear to some people. We are glad.


I guess after many years of making and sending them to mostly the same group of people, some of our friends have expected that to be part of their own Christmas tradition. These cakes have indeed been made with care and creativity by using different kinds of nuts, dried fruits, and yes, alcohol. It takes time to make them, and we enjoy that. For me, it is not about the cake. It is our way of sharing with people the simple love that God has for us.

Here is a funny story for you. About 15 years ago, I gave one to a Baptist preacher friend I knew without mentioning that there was rum in the cake. A few days after Christmas, he phoned me and told me that I almost got him fired. 'Really? Why?', I asked. He told me that he served the cake at his elder board monthly meeting, and was horrified to discover that there was rum in it. I then asked him: 'How did you know that it was rum? Who told you that? Certainly, not me'. There was an awkward silence at his end.

I drove around to hand-deliver some of these cakes to friends in our city. We could not get together, so we had our visits outside on different porches and front yards to catch up with one another about 2020. These conversations have given me a better understanding of how to pray for my friends and their families. God extends our ability to care beyond giving our cakes as gifts. He then became the focal point of our time together. That is another Christmas Blessing for us all.

Jeremiah 9: 23-24
"Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord."

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