WHEN YOU CAN’T HAVE YOUR CAKE

By Cheryl Ong

As a home baker, customised cakes are a big part of the business. When COVID-19 and the circuit breaker hit, my cake orders were cancelled one after another. For most people, not being able to visit family meant there would be no birthday celebrations.

Initially, I took it as a chance to just roll with it. My business model shifted to creating Cheer Boxes - indulgent treats that people could send to friends and colleagues who were working from home. Friends from the aviation industry (another hard-hit area) helped with deliveries. It was a period of juggling and tap-dancing for us home bakers as regulations changed every few days! The final blow was when home-based food businesses were asked to cease. Cakes were considered “non-essential”, along with desserts and bubble tea.

That was the breaking point for me. I remember having a huge ugly cry as I faced the possibility of zero income for the next few months. “What do people have against cake?!” I complained to anyone that would read my Whatsapp messages, because of social distancing.

Then an opportunity came for me to deliver parcels, which I have never imagined doing. I went into it with the impression that at least it was an honest way to earn money (instead of robbing a bank or running Internet scams). But our God knows me better than I know myself – delivering parcels was a surprisingly good fit. It catered to my organisational skills and sense of direction. As a bonus, I also had really toned arms! Most people I met were nice - I’ll always remember the lovely lady who came to the door holding a prawn she was preparing for dinner and didn’t realise it! Others did not even want to open the door, retrieving their parcels only after I had left and spraying them with copious amounts of disinfectant. It was really a representation of what we were going through: people were scared, and a little stir-crazy. When cake orders (finally!) picked up again, I walked away from the experience humbled and with a newfound appreciation for our delivery personnel.

My biggest lesson from 2020 is how much God takes care of things. I’m a compulsive planner and I like knowing what I’m doing way in advance. Psalm 65:11 shows us how God gives abundance, even when we are out of our comfort zone or when the road ahead is full of potholes. God taught me to slow down and take things as they come. My favourite verse in Jeremiah 29:11 says that He knows the plans He has for us. Even when the world is crazy and we have no idea what is coming, we can find hope in the fact that He does.