I was having a conversation with a friend of 25 plus years about faith. He explained his definition of faith as being, “Changes in life.” Because the spirit and soul will never change, however, they do mature. Therefore, the recognition of knowing and having the awareness that there is something greater than you on outside, allows faith to mature within you.
Earlier this week I received a call from one of my favorite grocers, HEB. A few weeks ago, my personal assistant convinced me to enter the “HEB Quest for Texas Best,” a search to find the top Texas-made products to possibly be sold in HEB stores.
I have been working on getting my Signature Cheesecake in stores for about five years now. In September of 2014, I told a group of my closet friends that I made the personal decision to not force the issue of when my cheesecakes would be in stores for purchase, however, I have enough faith to know that in God’s time, he will provide the outlet for my cheesecake to be on store shelves. And to my surprise the call this week was HEB notifying me that my cheesecake product was selected to move to the second round of the contest.
HEB instructed me that I needed to have samples of my Cheesecake to their San Antonio’s corporate office no later than Monday, May 18, 2015, prior to 4pm. My first thoughts were:
- When would I have time to bake cheesecake while in the middle of a steamy Rocket’s Playoff schedule?
- Who would deliver them? My cheesecakes had to be delivered on Monday, which meant I wouldn’t be able to personally deliver them since Game 7 of the Houston Rockets was Sunday night.
So, as I sat still for a moment and collected all my thoughts and gave thanks for the opportunity that has been presented to me, I thought about what my Dad still tells me to this day;
“God won’t put any more on you than you can handle.”
God had prepared me for this moment.
It was 2003 when I began to master the cheesecake, and some twelve years later the “Faith Walk” that I took moving towards the destiny that God has for me, I was witnessing it now, right before my eyes.
Therefore, the passage that I read many times before I left my corporate job of 16 years does stand to be true,
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” – Hebrews 11:1
Taking all of this in, I made a phone call to my two confidants, my cousin Anthony Bryant and a best friend of 25 plus years Carl Morris (Yt). I told them both of the good news. This is when Chef Rey took over. I instructed them of my plans and what part of the master plan they would bless me with. On Friday evening, along with Carl, I gathered my ingredients, went back to the kitchen and began the process of creating my cheesecake.
Along with the help of Carl’s Seous Chef skills in the kitchen we mixed the cheesecake going back and forth on tasting the batter until we reached the ultimate taste that has garnered my cheesecake the label of being the Best Cheesecake on the market. As I poured the mixture into the graham cracker crust, I began to thank God for his grace and mercy in seeing me through. I selected to submit my basic New York style cheesecake cake along with the Raspberry Swirl cheesecake. I placed them in the gas oven at 325 degrees F. They baked to perfection. I allowed the cheesecakes to cool and set. I then placed them in the freezer for the next 2 days to freeze solid since they will be sold in the frozen section of HEB.
The next task was transporting my cheesecake to San Antonio. This is where my cousin Anthony Bryant comes in to action plan.
By the way, the Rockets won Game 7, we are moving onto the Western Conference Finals.
That being said, I was required to be back at the Toyota Center on Monday morning at 8 am. I started my Monday at 4:30 am. I went to retrieve my cheesecake and remove them from the pans onto the cake pads, wrap them and place them in a cooler for transporting to San Antonio. I pulled up to my cousin’s home at 5:30 am and gave him all the detailed instructions for transporting my cheesecakes. Before leaving his home Carl told me, “It’s already done kinfolk.”
I couldn’t feel any better about the experience because, you see, I already knew way back when this would be, I just didn’t know when it would be.
Most important, I personally went back to my basic fundamentals which has propelled me to this moment, and that was my “faith.” What I know for sure is, believing in self, it’s a very simple formula in life and by doing so it is the greatest way to display reverence to whom all gifts and blessings flow, thru being with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
