Chaos

Why is life so chaotic? Why can't it be peaceful, flowing like a gentle breeze, gurgling like a stream or just flowing smoothly across the sky like the clouds in a movement of serene beauty?

Because it is life! Life is never gentle, smooth or flowing. At least not in my household. It crashes through the day, bringing incidents through the front door from a haphazard world. Not only that it blasts through the walls of the house in an ever flowing competition to see what can disturb my peace of mind. 

Children, bring their own flavour of chaos. Each different, each demanding their own brand of need and all wanting love, attention and money now! And adding to the mix a husband who is complicated and loyal, trying to understand a world that is noisy, full of challenges and stressful. His childhood occupied himself, so there was no one else to fight with or smooth his edges. 

Life is full of ingredients, some rough, some smooth, but always a combination to keep you on your toes and guessing how to make the best of the situation. 

Without God in it, it would be a mishmash of coincidences to foil the mind and bring little understanding of a chaotic existence. Only God can bring peace into the storms and calm the raging seas. His hand is there waiting to take hold of ours; but so often we stay stubborn and adhere to our answers to the questions of life, clinging onto hurts, anger, jealousy, pain and stoic philosophies adamant that we do not need God. And when we do not get answers, or the answer we want we declare there is no God or that he has done us some injustice and we can't be doing with that. 

God is my friend in the chaos, He is in control, at least He is when I allow Him to be in the situation. I talk to Him, tell him everything. My prayers are sometimes quiet, but often yelled out, when I think He is not listening. I think He probably laughs a lot at my predicaments, which are often man made. But He never puts me down or hides from my ridiculous escapades. If I look carefully He is united with me in all the messiness. But He cares. I am special, and my mix is unique. He made me, folded in all the ingredients carefully so that I could face the chaos of this world walking with Him at my side. His Spirit is the secret ingredient, quietly waiting for us to discover Him, so that this rather ordinary cake takes pride of place at His banquet.  

A moment of your time?

You are now entering into the world of Victoria Sponge:

The doorbell rings. My spaghetti bol is simmering on the hot plate, and the pasta about to boil. 

'Someone get the door please' I yell to no-one in particular. Silence, not even a 'no mum, I am busy.' Four children, and I am the one left to open the door! I have a wooden spoon in my hand, not for defense, but because I am in the middle of cooking and want a quick get away ploy. 

Two smiling faces look at me and then the wooden spoon. 

'I can see that you are busy, but we will only take a moment of your time', one of the white haired lady's states.

I jump in immediately, 'If you are selling, conning, collecting, giving something away, or just bored of life and want to chat, I am afraid we do not buy, give, take, or socialize when food is being cooked.'

'Well, that is the thing' the other lady gently intones, we just want to tell you about our spiritual nourishment that we offer every Sunday at our meeting place. 

Unwittingly I open the door to their comment. 'What church are you from?'

'Oh, we don't like to go under a particular name, we just want to invite you to our service.' 

'Do you have a leaflet?' I say in a bored manner, desperate to get back to the bubbling dinner that I can hear is in need of a stir. 

'We don't like to give out leaflets unless a person shows interest in our ministry, as it can give the wrong impression.' The lady smiled again standing firmly rooted to the spot. I didn't want to seem rude but my mind wanted to get back to the kitchen and I hate just closing the door on people. 

'I really need to go and check up on my cooking. I think it might be burning.'

'Oh that's alright dear, you go we will just stay here until you get back.' 

That wasn't the answer I wanted to hear. Don't they realize I am busy with mouths to feed. 

'The thing is', I start to yell, as I move away from the front door, this isn't exactly convenient at the moment.'

'Don't worry about us, we have all day.'

But I don't I wanted to say.

Dear Lord, I know I should be charitable, but could you possibly make these people go away? 

'Would you like a hand?' one of the callers asked as she started to step into the hallway.

'What, no, I am alright, Henry, I need a hand.' I call loudly. 

'I'm busy' he replies.

Lord, are you busy, could you just intercede here, please?'

'Whatever you are making it smells very nice', came a voice from the front door. 'So do you think you might like to come to our meeting?' the lady continued. 

'The thing is I am already a Christian, so I am not really looking for another place to worship.' 

'Oh that's okay dear, we take any denominations.'

I can sense that this 'moment of my time' is going to be a slog to get through.

'Lord, I am waiting, I need that help now!'

From upstairs I can hear movement, then a bump, bump, bump as Lily Pink jumps down the stairs. 

'What's the door doing open mum?' she asks and promptly shuts it without registering the people on the other side of it.

The doorbell rings again, and Lily Pink opens it. The two ladies look at my youngest daughter and smile, she smiles back and shuts the door again.

'Lily Pink that was a bit rude closing the door on those two people.' I declare.

'They were strangers mum and your told me not to talk to strangers!' 

'That is very true, well done you for doing as you were told.' I give her a big hug and she asks me if dinner is ready.

Thank you Lord, for answering my prayer. It may not have been the answer I was looking for, but you used what was at hand to bring a conclusion to the awkward situation I was in. 

That feeling of being trapped can happen at anytime in our lives and it is especially awkward when it is on our doorstep. Fortunately for Victoria Sponge her young daughter came to the rescue, and that is the point; God often doesn't send thunderbolts or angels to fix things when we feel under pressure or need a 'get out of jail' card. God is in the everyday solutions. Now what happened may have seemed rude to shut the door on strangers who felt they were offering you something important, but those interruptions are sometimes planned like that so that you feel forced into saying or doing something that you don't want to. God protected Victoria through the logic of her daughter. Sometimes prolonging a situation can cause you to step out into dangerous territory, where your peace of mind is taken away. Better a short sharp disconnection than an entrapment. 

So why use a fictitious character?

Victoria Sponge is actually a very real character and I suspect that many of you have some of her gems as part of your life too. 

By making and writing about a fictitious character more challenges can be explored. Her family can be extended and issues raised in a way that may not be otherwise possible. 

If I only referred to my own life experiences I would miss the opportunity to connect with other potential challenges. We all have stories, material for humorous gaffs, disasters that mold our being and these can come over a long period of time and that would make the telling of the story boring and tedious. How  many of us experience our years in a week? Well I hope that many of you don't, but perhaps for some this is possible, but it may break the camel's back. 

Victoria Sponge tells her story over the seven days of Holy Week. Her day is split up into four sections, Morning Prayer, Afternoon Prayer, Evening Prayer and Night Prayer. Her journey flows from each day uniting in Christ's own Holy Week. 

Sometimes we might feel that our whole life has been stuck in Holy Week. Well Christ doesn't want us to be left there. He wants us to rise after our falls and to dig deep with His Powerful help and take his courage to pull our cross to the next stage. When we fall we need to ask God why? What is not aligned in our life  with God's Will, that is tripping us up? What heaviness is pushing us down and making us stumble. God is our alignment; through His Will we are healed and helped to look at the Son again and through His sacrifice we are blessed and saved and our life changed.

So who are the characters in the book

Of course there has to be a main character in any book and the clue is in the title 'How to Make Victoria Sponge'. So we start with mum who is called Vicky and is married to Bob. 

Vicky has a down to earth relationship with God and chats to him like a friend about anything and everything. But during her conversations she isn't expecting a journey quite like the one God proposes to her in the book. 

Then we have the rest of the family. Support characters in the form of Robert or Bob as he likes to be known, who tries his best to be a good husband and father. However there is a secret in his past that he would rather leave behind which is stirred up one morning when a familiar face stares at him on the news.

Henry the eldest son, is sports mad and protective of his younger brother Johnny.

The twins Gabby and Johnny. Gabby loves make-up, is bright and moody. Johnny is also bright but has autistic traits and is bullied at school.

And lastly Lily Pink the youngest, who is bubbly, bouncy and full of fun. 

All the characters make up an interesting mix and deliver a week's worth of insight into the world of Victoria Sponge.

There are also smaller parts played by Mr and Mrs Green, Victoria's parents, Mandy, a childhood best friend and her husband Robert Kind, the Preschool Ladies, and a distraught lady called Cathy. 

Of course there has to be a mention of God, my all time favourite and wonderful Creator who has quite a lot to say in the book. 

How Victoria Sponge was born

Margaret: One of my goals in life was to write a book. In my head I have written many, but not on paper. It was a goal that I knew I could not fulfill, but then when has that ever stopped me! But in fact, in this case, this achievement did seem like trying to get to the moon. Apart from that, lets face it, life gets pretty busy with three children and a husband, along with a part time job, which tended to be full time when you added all the extra hours that seeped into everyday life. 

Having said that, the opportunity to write afforded itself when I gave up my last job. With some time on my hands, (I laugh as there are never enough hours in a day to do all the things I want to) I wondered what God had in store for me next. Then in the early hours of the morning, one eventful day, I had a strong urge that I must talk to God, or rather that God wanted to talk to me. So we talked and it went something like this:

God - I want you to write a story.

Me - Yeh right. You want me to write a story!

God - Yes.

Me - Haven't you forgotten that I am dyslexic and find it hard to write more than a page and a half. My spelling is humorous and my punctuation a joke. My memory is such that I can't remember plots and characters and get lost when trying to put all the pieces into the jigsaw. I could no longer write a book than I could swim underwater for an hour. 

God - You are forgetting who is asking you. I want you to write a book.

Me - Yes, but....

God - I don't do buts. Margaret, I need your hands to type and I will give you the words.

Me - Okay, when do we start.

God - When everyone has left the house. Now get some sleep as we are going on a journey in the morning, and I need you wide awake.

So that was that. I had been given my instructions and I knew not to go against my Father in heaven.

Call me mad or insane, a religious nut, whatever, but I obeyed this calling and Victoria Sponge was born. I sat with my laptop and typed. The words flowed from my mind to my fingers and the theme and message of the book took shape. 

At the time I had some health issues, and as we wrote the book these began to get better. Healing took place in my life as well as in my body. I can truly say God spoke to my inner being during this time and I felt amazingly blessed being used by my Father.  

When we had finished, over 75,000 words later, I read the book, (of course it took longer than a day!) and was blown away with the script. It still makes me laugh, think and cry. Now that may sound full of pride, but I know my limitations, and can only state that a greater person than I had a hand in this. 

When all was said and done, I felt the urge to approach publishers with the script. I felt that the  message was not just for me but for others, to encourage them and to know that God is so close to them in everyday matters. That He really does want to hear about the mundane and be part of it as well as the 'big stuff'. That his journey to Calvary and the Resurrection is intertwined with our own messy lives. 

Victoria sponge as we all know is a cake, a very famous one. Victoria Sponge the character, is not, she is an everyday lady coping with life's struggles. God has put in his ingredients into her make up and wants to be her raising agent. 

The challenge of the book is to allow God into our messiness and to surrender to His victory. Are we bold enough to do so? Do we love Him enough to allow Him to bake us into a fabulous cake, one that can rise to unfathomable heights with His help.

How to Make Victoria Sponge-a journey of Faith

Victoria Sponge is the wife of Bob and mother to four children. She is a Christian struggling with everyday issues just like you and me. 

Each morning when she awakes she says 'Yes' to God, even though she does not know the question God is asking her. 

Victoria, known as Vicki, constantly involves God in her everyday activities, sometimes asking for help and other times just exclaiming her frustration. No matter what hits her she uses the experience to pray/talk with God as God is her constant companion.

Victoria Sponge is fictional, however the situations she finds herself in are real. God creates the mix, pouring in His ingredients, and Vicki arises to the challenge.