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Red Velvet Cake.....Never has been a favorite of mine......but it taught me a lesson this week.

 My sister LOVES Red Velvet.  She would give her right arm for it, I think. So, I told her I would attempt it for her birthday.  And, that I did.  I'm usually the type of person that follows recipes as "suggestions" and not "science", but this time I wanted everything to be perfect, so I followed everything exactly.  When it came out of the oven, I looked at it and wasn't sure.  It looked kind of sponge-y, but she said it is supposed to look like that.  I believed her.  Then she bit into it.  She smiled and said it was good.  Well, to a perfectionist like me, good wasn't the right answer.  I asked for clarification.  She looked at me, realizing her mistake.  What?, she asked.  I said it was good.  I asked if it was just good.  She wrinkled her forehead and slowly said it was good, but not the best she had ever had.  Well that wasn't what I wanted to hear, of course.  The recipe promised it would be the best, that she had combined 3 different recipes together to get this one amazing cake.  Either she lied or I messed up.  And either of those options wasn't sitting well with me.  I stewed about it all night and the next day.  I even went online to see if I could find another recipe until I realized that basically all of the ingredients were the same.

 So, I decided that I would just start over.  But this time I changed one thing: I did it my way.  Yep, cue Frank Sinatra (I actually did just a snippet in the kitchen to the laughter of all!)!!!

 This time I measured things how I normally would, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, adding more, doing a little less of other things.  Then I made them into cupcakes rather than a big cake like before.  Then I waited.........The smell from the oven started to signal good things.  When I took it out, they looked a little better than yesterday.  Then came the taste test.  I believe her eyes rolled back into her head and she said, "This is the best ever!"

 Success!  I wasn't true to myself.  I tried to be a different baker, doing another person's recipe.  No wonder I wasn't successful!  How could I have been?

 We often spend so much time measuring ourselves against other people, their successes, their money, their families, etc., all the while robbing ourselves of the success it takes just being ourselves.  

 Am I the best baker in the world?  Nope.  Am I the best Chaplain?  Nope!  Am I the best secretary?  Not by a long shot!  But, I am the absolute best when I am being me!  The Lord knit me in the womb.....it was all about ME at that moment and He worked hard to make me ME!  So why am I always trying to compare myself to others?  

 Have a great day being you!  Do a Snoopy Dance!  Sing a song!  Bake a cake!  Just don't do it while thinking someone else will be sure to be doing it better.  That's just a lie.  :)  I promise!  :)

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