I stir the milk and strawberries into the flour, pour the batter into the little donut-shaped wells. And I giggle. This little yellow donut maker holds some of my favorite memories, and possibly one of the greatest life-lessons I have ever learned :). I close my eyes, the smell of fresh strawberry donuts filling the kitchen...and I remember.

It was September. The plans were all carefully layed out...we had been planning our anniversary camping trip for months. Our itinerary was decided on, the best route to the mountains in our camper was studied and chosen. Plenty of money was saved and tucked safely away, just waiting to be spent on the many adventures we had planned for the week. Excitement filled our home as the countdown for our yearly anniversary trek to the mountains began. But then something happened. My SUV started riding "funny". My husband took it to the dealership, where they ran tests to see what was wrong. The Navigator ended up getting a five THOUSAND dollar diagnosis of a bad suspension, and my dreams of the perfect anniversary trip went down the drain. There would be no trip that year, and my little family was heartbroken. We ended up getting a much better quote on repairing my vehicle, went to the state fair instead of the mountains, and our anniversary gift? Let's just say it wasn't what we had hoped for ;). I spotted the little donut maker on the shelf at Target a couple of days before our anniversary. It was cute, a happy, vintage shade of yellow, and it looked like fun. I remember half-laughing, half-crying as I plopped my new appliance on the conveyor belt in the check-out line. I looked at the cashier proudly, daring her to ask me why in the world I was buying a donut maker, of all things. The truth is, I didn't know why, except that it made me happy when I saw it, and it was only thirty dollars, HA!  I think I wanted her to ask me...I already had my little sob story planned out. Poor, pitiful me...

The first time I opened the donut maker was on our anniversary. Josh and I made every kind of donut we could think of that night, laughing as we went through the recipes, trying to figure them out together. Peach, chocloate-iced, powdered sugar, sprinkled donuts...we made them all! And then something wonderful happened. In the middle of our donut-making party...in the middle of the messy dining room table, sprinkles scattered everywhere, sticky icing coating little fingers, I saw it. I stepped outside for a moment, and I had a view very similar to the one in the photo above. Oh life, how beautiful you are! For just a second, I was an outsider looking in, and I saw the abundant blessings overflowing around that table. The love...SO much love!!! And I was overcome with guilt...how could I ever want anything more than this? Trips, money, expensive gifts, well they just don't compare to the blessing of these four souls, gathered around our sticky table, sharing laughter, love, and homemade donuts. I felt so grateful, and I knew it was an anniversary I would never forget.


Hugs,
Julie