A little over a week ago, when the temperature was almost 60 degrees and it was hard to imagine Christmas was less than a month away, I spoke at a women’s brunch in northeast Iowa. Having learned the hard way that it’s best to eat lightly before speaking, I bypassed the cranberry salad the other diners raved about, wrapped the yummy looking orange roll in  a napkin to eat on the way home, and satisfied my stomach rumbles with a small slice of ham.

After the event, when I was packing my things, the caterer introduced herself. “I’m Colleen Downing, and I just figured out who you are. I’ve read your book,” she said. She explained that Earl Taylor, a member of my church and the director of Hidden Acres - the Evangelical Free Church Central District Church Camp - had given her a copy of Different Dream.

“Our sixteen-year-old daughter Chloe has been receiving treatment for leukemia for two years,” she said. “Your book is right on. It even made my husband cry, and the only other time he’s cried was when Chloe was first diagnosed.” Then she bought two more copies of A Different Dream to give to the families of Chloe’s cancer buddies, and we exchanged emails.

I thought about Colleen and Chloe on the drive home, wondering what life had been like for them during the past two years. And with one bite of the orange roll, I knew Colleen’s recip was a must have. The roll, not just the frosting, was dotted with orange zest and fresh citrus flavor permeated the dough. How did she get the flavors to do that? I would email her and ask, I decided, wondering if she would let me share her secret recipe on this blog.

Well, Colleen is more than willing to share her recipe. In fact, she said the request made her laugh because the “secret recipe” is Rhodes Orange Rolls, available in the freezer case of most grocery stores. And this Sunday’s newspaper even had a coupon for them.

Score!

The rolls are a Christmas morning tradition at Colleen’s house. They may become a tradition at my house, too. So will something else - checking Chloe’s Caring Bridge site athttp://www.caringbridge.org/visit/chloedowney now and then. She’s a lovely young woman from a lovely family, and I want to know how to pray as she fights cancer. 

My plan is to pray for her every time I crave Rhodes orange rolls.

God’s gonna be busy listening to me.