Queen of What Ifs - I think not!

As I watch the morning sun peek above the houses and shine into my office window, I am glad that I have, "one again" surrendered my crown of "Queen of What Ifs." It is a daily process, you know, this laying down the crown every morning. It is a surrendering of a list of "what ifs" and laying them down at the feet of the One who has all the answers. I used to be very good and rule the Kingdom of "What Ifs" very well. It was exhausting! After all there is all this planning ahead, making sure there is a multiple list of possible scenarios for each event...just in case, the first one didn't work, well, then the second or third or...sad to admit that really, the "Queen of What Ifs" liked to be in control.
It was a little unsettling at first, you know, relinquishing the crown and all that goes with the act of surrender. At first, it didn't make sense that I should give up control - after all - I am really good at this! Yet, all the control I thought I had didn't make the kingdom run smoothly. As the saying goes, "The best laid plans..." It appeared to me that if I relinquished my control as "Queen of What If''s" that my world would be completely upside down! If I lost control what would happen to my world? Who would be in charge? Oh my! Just thinking about relinquishing my crown made me feel as if I was upside down!

Funny, that is exactly what the Prince of Peace wanted. To the world, it appears all that He says and does is "Upside Down." Yet, in truth, it's not. It really is the world that is "Upside Down." I don't want to be in the world's upside down kingdom!

So, once again, I meet my King early in the morning. Bowing down before Him I lay my crown of "Queen of What If''s" at His feet and smile. Belonging to His "Upside Down" is belonging to a kingdom that is "Right Side Up!" His kingdom feels right. There is peace and joy in NOT being in control. And the best part of relinquishing my crown is that the weight, burden and the illusion of being in control is gone. Queen of What If''s - I think not!
I bet you have guessed by now what the recipe for this week is...you guessed it! And don't miss the poem at the end. Thanks Sarah and Aaron for sending me the poem. Perfect!

Ingredients for a Pineapple Upside Cake
1/2 cup of butter or margerine (I use butter)

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 can (20 ounces) sliced pineapple (undrained)

5 maraschino cherries (drained and halved)

1/2 cup chopped nuts

1 package (18.25 ounces) yellow cake mix

3 eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil (I use canola)
1 cup thawed whipped topping
Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in the Pampered Chef 12" executive skillet (do not use stainless cookware) over a low heat. Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar until well blended. Drain pineapple, reserving juice, set aside.

Arrange pineapple slices over brown sugar mixture in skillet. Place a cherry half in the center of each pineapple. Sprinkle with chopped nuts. Add enough water to the pineapple juice until it measures 1 1/3 cup of liquid. In Pampered Chef Classic Batter bowl add cake mix, eggs, pineapple juice and oil. Whisk until well blended and smooth. Pour over fruit mixture in the skillet

Bake at 35-40 minutes until a toothpick when inserted in middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes. Carefully loosen edges of cake and invert onto a large serving platter. Cool slightly and garnish with whipped topping. Yields 12 servings.

Poor little upside down cake, cares and woes-you've got 'em, because little upside down cake your top is on your bottom. Poor little upside down cake, your worries never stop, because little upside down cake, your bottom is on your top!