Courageous Cupcakes

I am the oldest of five children. I have four younger sisters: Braelyn is 24, Shaye is 20, Marlie is 18, and Finley--a pleasant surprise--is only 5. She was born the same summer that I got married and that Braelyn graduated from high school. Growing up, the Four Original Martin Kids spent a lot of time together. The girls were my first friends, and we got along very well. Adding Finley to this mix has been an absolute delight! She’s an awesome kid, and we try to spend as much time with her as possible.

A good example of this is Finley’s third birthday party. Kendall--my wife--and I made the trip back to Indiana to participate in the shindig. Like many young children, Finley was a big fan of the zoo. Thus, for her third birthday, the Martin family overtook the Indianapolis Zoo for a party.

It was a day full of fun and excitement--lions roared, penguins dove, and monkeys climbed. The weather was beautiful and--dare I say--it was perhaps the best day of Finley’s young life thus far. At midday, we took a brief hiatus for a picnic and presents. The highlight of the meal, though, was the cupcakes. Mom had commissioned a batch of stunningly realistic--and abundantly cute--animal cupcakes from the local bakery (AKA Walmart...there aren’t a ton of bakery options in rural Indiana).

And really, they were amazing. Reminiscent of something off the TV show “Cake Boss,” the detail was exquisite. One almost expected the animals to begin roaring, trumpeting, and neighing out loud. Mom was delighted by these pastries and had been gushing about them for days leading up to the party. We all took turns ooh-ing and ah-ing appropriately. More pictures were taken of the cupcake animals than the actual zoo animals--they were the highlight of the whole day. As luck would have it, we didn’t eat all the cupcakes that day, so there were leftovers. These were carefully repackaged and prepared to return to the car with the other leftovers, which the Four Original Martin Kids began lugging to the minivan in the parking lot.

This next part is a little blurry (and potentially up for debate), but here’s how I remember it: the leftover cupcakes had been placed on top of one of the coolers because all of our hands were full. Someone (me) was pulling the cooler with the cupcakes resting on the top. When we reached the curb at the end of the sidewalk leading to the parking lot, whoever was pulling the cooler (me) asked someone else (Shaye) to make sure the cupcakes didn’t fall off the cooler when it was pulled off the curb. Now I don’t mean to cast aspersions, but it seems that knowing the importance of these cupcakes, the person asked to protect the cupcakes (Shaye) would have taken that duty seriously. But alas, this person (Shaye) fell asleep on the job, and the entire case of cupcakes crashed onto the asphalt. The case opened, some of the cupcakes fell naked onto the pavement, and the others were strewn about on the lid of the case. The screams of horror were heard from Indianapolis to Timbuktu. Our stomachs sank. Our palms perspired. Our legs liquified. The beloved cupcakes had been destroyed.

I knew I was in trouble. I knew that disappointment awaited my return to the party, and that I (Shaye) had potentially ruined young Finley’s perfect day. I knew Mom would be even more upset than the birthday girl, and I was anxious to confess. But I also knew that the courageous thing to do was to immediately tell Mom what had happened. This terrorizing thought was made more tolerable by the fact that the girls would be doing it with me. I didn’t have to approach the situation alone.

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In the month of October, we’ll be talking about courage in both Base Camp and Ascent. We want kids to know that they can be brave because God is always with them. When God asks us to be courageous, he doesn’t ask us to do it alone. He has promised us that he will never leave us nor abandon us (Deuteronomy 31:6). He has promised us peace even when life gets scary (John 16:33). He has proven over and over again that no matter what we face, he will face it with us.

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Mom’s grace was plentiful, and she forgave me quickly. 2+ years later we’re able to laugh about the incident (Mom is very sweet--she doesn’t usually cry over spilled milk [cupcakes]). In the same way that facing Mom was easier because I knew the girls were with me, kids can know that they can face anything because God is with them. Join us in reminding our kids that when we’re courageous, God is always with us!