Paula Radcliffe, Steve Cram, Gregory Porter, Matthew Goode and Emma Willis

From Comedian & Writer Paul Kerensa:

This week I celebrated 7 glorious years of marriage – by coincidence, my wife did too. 7 years since we cut that cake, storing the top layer in the freezer, as is apparently tradition.

But 7 years went by, and we forgot it. We had two miracle children, having been told we wouldn’t – that would be our medical miracle. And with kids, our freezer gained layers, like wedding cake: First, more puree, then small meals, lunchbox sandwiches... Our chunk of wedding cake remained abandoned at the bottom.

Perhaps as a wise colleague said to me recently: we shouldn’t store away our best for another time. Why hold back the good stuff? I know life’s fragile: 3 occasions, hospitals have said it’s 50/50 for me. I’ve played those odds. In life, we don’t know where the finish line is.

I know in marathons, you need to retain reserves. Wine can be laid down for years… so long as one day you drink it. But in the marathon of marriage, and the wine cellar of life, I’m sure we can’t hold back our best.

There’s a biblical concept of tithing – giving 10% to God, not our leftovers, but our first fruits and best of our crop. “Bring it in,” God says. “And I’ll throw open heaven’s floodgates and pour out so much blessing, there won’t be room to store it all.”

So I won’t store back my best. Freeze cake? No thanks. Because here’s the kicker: while we enjoyed our anniversary supper this week, our freezer was accidentally defrosting. Food had to be binned: the lunchbox sarnies, the baby puree, and – awful but true – the wedding cake. It went bad. 7 years almost to the minute after cutting it, we were binning it. The cake’s no good; the marriage is fine I should add.

But we should have heeded the Good Lord. Grown from, as Gregory Porter memorably sang, his Cradle in Bethlehem, Jesus said: “Store treasures in heaven, where vermin won’t destroy”. Those rodents of Guildford’s rubbish tip now enjoy prime 2009 wedding cake.

I’m not going to hold back when I say Godspeed to those giving their best this weekend. Best foot forward! Although I’m well aware… it’s no piece of cake.