How to pray a cake

First, ignore advice such as "You're baking for the campus ministry supper from scratch? Don't do it -- just buy something!"

Assemble ingredients for chocolate chip cake, adding more chocolate chips than necessary. Use brown sugar instead of white. Fret slightly about the imminent snow/ice/sleet that may prevent this cake (and its creator) from even making the trip to Iowa City. (The text of my sermon is printed and waiting in my office, just in case someone else has to officiate and preach, but the cake and I need to travel the interstate.)

Turn the useless episode of fretting into an opportunity to pray for the students who have walked through the church doors this fall. Pray each name aloud while stirring the creamy, thick batter: Sam, Carrie, Annie, Kevin, Christy, Andy, Kelsey, Dan, Brent, Anna, Kate. I hope I see them tomorrow, and I hope that the cake tastes as though there's something extra added -- because there is.