Baby Plants & Birthday Cake

“Mmmm . . . that’s so yummy, Mom!” Justin licked the frosting off his fingers. Today was Ellie’s birthday. Ellie was Justin’s little sister who was turning two years old.

“Can I help put the frosting on the cake?” asked Justin. “I promise I won’t eat it all.”

“OK. As long as you keep your fingers out of it, I guess you can help.” Mom handed him a spreader. Just then there was a knock on the back door. “That’s probably Jessie. Do you want to go check?”

Justin jumped down from his stool. He ran to the back door and peeked out the window. Yep, it was Jessie. Justin opened the door and let her in.

“Hi! You’ve been eating frosting, right?” she laughed.

“How did you know?” Justin asked, surprised.

“Because, Silly, it’s on your nose!” They both giggled as Justin looked cross-eyed at his nose and wiped the frosting off.

“Oh, wow! That’s a really pretty cake, Aunt Kristy. I like birthdays! They’re fun,” exclaimed Jessie as she came into the kitchen.

“I do, too! Especially on such a beautiful day like today,” replied Justin’s mom—Aunt Kristy to Jessie. The two families were such good friends, Jessie called Justin’s parents “Aunt Kristy and Uncle Tim,” and Justin called Jessie’s parents “Auntie Bev and Uncle Dave.”

They both watched as Justin’s mom finished frosting the cake. She put a candle shaped like the number 2 on top since Ellie was turning two years old today. “There now, it’s all ready for after dinner. Now why don’t you two go outside and play? You can check on the garden and see if anything is growing yet.”

Justin raced around the house to the garden. He got down on his knees and looked at the dirt. “Wow! Jessie, come see!” he shouted.

Jessie ran over to see what was so exciting. There, all over in the garden, were tiny, green sprouts. “Where did they all come from? It’s like they just appeared,” said Jessie.

“Yeah, we just checked the other day, and they weren’t here then. Let’s go tell Mom!” The two friends ran back to the porch where Justin’s mom was playing with Ellie. “Hey, Mom, guess what? Some plants appeared in the garden.”

Justin’s mom looked up. “Some plants did what?”

“They just appeared there, in the garden,” explained Justin. “They weren’t there last time I checked, but now they are.”

“Well, you know that things can’t just appear, right?” asked Mom. “We planted the seeds for the plants to grow. Everything has a creator.”

“What do you mean?” asked Jessie.

“I mean, someone has to make everything we see. Look around you. Did the birds and sky and trees just appear? Or did someone have to make them?”

Justin thought for a minute. “Someone had to make them.”

“Now you’ve got it. Things can’t just appear. So, who made everything we see?”

“God did?” asked Jessie.

“Yes,” replied Mom. “The Bible tells us that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and everything in it.”

Jessie was confused. “But what about your house? God didn’t make that, did He?”

“Good question, Jessie. In the beginning God made everything, and He made people. And God gave people brains to think and figure things out, like how to build houses and many other things we use every day.”

“Like the birthday cake you made!” said Justin.

“Right. It had to have a maker, too. I had to mix up the ingredients and bake it,” said Mom.

“So everything we see had to be made by somebody!” exclaimed Jessie.

“Yeah, I get it,” said Justin. “But what about God? Who made Him? Does He have a birthday?”

“God doesn’t have a birthday like we do. The Bible says God was there in the beginning, before anything or anyone. No one made Him; He’s the one who made everything,” Mom explained.

“Hmmm,” Jessie thought hard. “So if God doesn’t have a birthday, that means He has always been here.”

“That’s right,” said Mom.

“And everything around us had to be made by someone,” added Justin.

“Right again,” Mom nodded. “Either God made it, or He gave people the ability to make it.”

“So we know that things don’t appear all by themselves, and the Bible says God created everything—so that’s how we know God is real!”

“Yeah!” added Jessie. “Someone had to make everything, and that someone is God!”

“You got it!” Mom clapped her hands. Little Ellie clapped her hands too and said, “Yaaay!”

Everyone laughed. Then Justin and Jessie ran back to the garden to water the tiny plants. They knew for sure that God is real just like the plants they were watering.

Later that evening, everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to Ellie. Jessie ate her cake neatly without spilling a crumb, but Justin ate his in two big bites and licked the frosting off his fingers.

They all watched as little Ellie smeared cake and frosting all over her face. Then she smiled happily at everyone and sang, “Haddy buffdy to me!”