Let me tell you the story of the Pumpkin Barf. (Not a typo haha)
I was in high school. It was October.
Over the course of a week, four of my close friends each had very serious and very sad life events occur.
Everyone was really down.
And I had a little prompting jump into my head, “If YOU are doing alright, you should make all your friends some treats to cheer them up.”
To say this was outside my comfort zone is an understatement.
I did NOT bake.
But I felt strongly that I should do it out of my place of emotional privilege, and so I made a scared-but-eager trip to the grocery store for ingredients for Pumpkin Bars.
I felt this nervous excitement as I made them. I was following through on a scary prompting, and I could just picture how this would brighten up my friends’ weeks!
When the timer went off and I pulled the tray out of the oven, I looked down at a dark brown thin substance.
And then I touched it. And it jiggled.
After my confused mom tried to talk me through what I had done while making them, we realized that I had forgotten the flour!
I’m extremely good at laughing at myself, but I felt really frustrated in the moment.
I knew I was following a prompting, and yet it hadn’t turned out. I just wanted to help my friends. I gave up.
But as I sat there looking at our messy kitchen, that same thought came back: “Cali, you can help your friends. Bring them the treat.”
So yes, I sliced up, plated, and Saran wrapped servings of this dark brown gelatinous substance and brought it to my friends the next day.
Like I said, I’ve got a good sense of humor, but this seemed just a little TOO weird.
But I did it. One by one, I approached my friends, told them of my baking debacle, and gave them the plate.
One friend did actually take a bite, and thus the term “Pumpkin Barf” was born.
This has always served as a silly but beautiful lesson for me. Cuz guess who totally cheered up her friends, created an infamously hilarious story, and lightened the whole mood with a weird but sincere gesture?
Initial promptings are tough to follow. And they get even more tough when they don’t turn out the first time we try. And even the second time we try, the results don’t look like anything close to how we thought they would.
But if we follow the first prompting, over and over, God will turn our messy kitchen concoctions into the beautiful little miracles He wants for His sons and daughters.
Happy Studying!
-Cali Black
4 Responses
Sorry. You don’t have time for this but mine was pumpkin pie for a man we’d taught in my first mission. My pie jiggled..
Well no it actually rippled like a wave. I’d forgotten the eggs. Have a BEAUTIFUL day!
Cute most of my baking tries are laughable too!
I once added 1/2 c of salt to some cookies I was making. Realized my mistake and scraped the bowl out. Didn’t clean it out with soap and water. Just made a new batch. Yummy, how crunchy and hard those were.
I remember my first homemade frosting. My mom had been hospitalized, and I decided to make a cake. I did not know how much milk to put in the frosting, so asked Dad. He said 1 cup! I did it, and had VERY loose frosting (more like soup!). I went to the store 3 times for more confectioners sugar, I finally ended up with a HUGE bowl of thin BLUE frosting – probably enough for 5 cakes. I used it for my cake, but cannot remember what happened to the rest of it. It was still loose, more like an icing that runs, but it was very sweet and blue! I laugh about it often, We ate it.