Many families don’t have the opportunity to celebrate a birthday or even have a cake, and one mother had already accepted that as a reality for her daughter’s fourth birthday until she arrived at the St. Matthew’s House shelter.
While on the way to Naples, the young girl asked her mother about getting a cake for her birthday. But the mom didn’t think they would be able to because of their circumstances. Shelter staff soon became aware that the girl was turning four the next day, and they wanted to change that.
Without knowing the girl’s prior wish for a cake, Ray Steadman, director of shelter operations at St. Matthew’s House, asked her if she wanted a cake to celebrate. The girl and her mother lit up with excitement at the idea.
Upon checking the kitchen to see if any cakes had been donated, kitchen staff found a recently-donated Dora the Explorer cake, and Dora just happened to be the birthday girl’s favorite cartoon character. The team wrote her name in the cake with icing, and before long the girl had a birthday party at the shelter.
God has His hand over this ministry, and sometimes the small things show it the most.
By: Jacob Braun