Bread...of life

I opened the cabinet today, and discovered that I had some yeast that I had bought a while ago but never used. I decide to, once again, TRY to make some homemade bread. I say TRY, because I have never successfully made bread from scratch. (My bread maker that I used to have doesn't count!). I found a simple recipe from a blogger that I frequently read, and started to prepare my yeast. I followed the recipe pretty well, and put my dough to rest. It didn't rise...same as usual. So I made some flour tortillas out of that batch and some funny looking donuts with cinnamon and sugar. (haha). A little disappointed, I went back to the recipe. I carefully reread the instructions. I had used milk and sugar to prepare my yeast, but I think the milk was too hot, and killed my yeast all together. I didn't realize that you could kill yeast. I kept reading. "Knead for ten minutes"....hmm....I probably kneaded for about three minutes.  I wondered if that made a difference. So I looked up online about yeast (probably should have done that first) and I learned about gluten and the importance of kneading.I definitely went wrong there. So, I rolled up my sleeves, and I started all over gain. I measured out the milk, warmed it just right. Added sugar and the yeast and set the timer for exactly ten minutes. When that was done, I followed the recipe word for word. When it came time to knead, I set my timer for ten minutes. I started to knead on the same floured board that I had used earlier but because it still had small pieces of the other dough on it, my new dough kept sticking. So I turned it over to the spotless side, floured it and started kneading. At first it seemed as though the dough looked and felt exactly the same. I kept kneading, and kneading. My arms were exhausted. I kept going. Suddenly, the dough started to change. It was becoming more pliable. It wasn't sticking at all. The texture of the bread changed completely.It was really amazing to see. I know I have never kneaded bread for that long before because I have never seen it change like that. As my last minute counted down, I started to think about what I was doing. I started to think about how the bread represented something very valuable.

The clean cutting board represented a life when you give it to Jesus. Clean slate, new beginning, and things old are passed away. Adding the ingredients correctly represents being obedient to the Lord. Following His direction, His ways, His path. The kneading represents the hand and timing of God. Sometimes God has to knead us for a long time. Sometimes we are thick and hard headed, and we need the firm pressure of the Father to work out some of the places in our lives that are not conformed to His word. With firm touch, we are molded and transformed into a new creation. Clay in the potter's hand.

Well, here's my finished loaf-it rose! Next time, I need to use a bigger pan! I bet, when you make bread next time, you'll never see it as only bread again! =)

Fun with the camera

A Whole New World

Tonight after church, we drove to the mini mart.

Jonathan: "Mom, there are so many letters written all over the front of that store".

Me: "Yes, and do you know that all those letters together are making different words?"

Jonathan: "They are?"

I proceeded to read a few words to him as he watched in wide-eyed wonder at what he thought was just a random bunch of letters on the window of the store. All of a sudden, a light went on in his little mind, and he realized that what he thought he was observing was, in actuality, something very different. Yes, they were still letters, and he was able to tell what each letter was, but now there was meaning and purpose to those letters.

It got me thinking about how it is the same way when God first becomes real to us. I am not talking about the first time we went to church, or heard about God. I am talking about when we, for the first time, begin to comprehend just what Jesus had done for us. How much He wants to be part of our lives minute by minute. How he loves us with an everlasting, unconditional love. Up until we reach that point, we look at life with an "it is what it is" mentality. Then, the Lord turns on that eternal light bulb and what was merely our life as we observed it through physical eyes, is now transformed into what we perceive through spiritual eyes. A whole new, exciting world has come alive. Our life suddenly takes on new meaning and new purpose. Just as the letters did for Jonathan. It never ceases to amaze me that the God of this universe, the Creator of every living thing, the One who was, who is, and who is to come, knows us, loves us, and wants to show Himself to us more and more each day. He, being God, could use any gigantic, extravagant method to reveal Himself, and yet, He chooses to use a simple conversation between a Mom and her son to do so.

I want to be like the Psalmist who said, "Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long."

I know most of you reading this have had that real experience with the Lord, and I am so thankful. If, however, anyone who reads this hasn't and would like to know more about it, please don't hesitate to send me a comment and we can chat. Love to all!

Oh what a night (and morning)...

For dinner last night, I made pinto beans to go with our fish. Lily is quickly learning how to make use of her two little bottom teeth, and she ate a whole plateful of beans. Later, while the kids were showering and getting ready for bed, Lily became very fussy. I knew it was gas from the beans, and her multiple "toots" proved that I was right. Soon her little whines became full blown screams around midnight. By 2:00am, I was ready to cry as well. At 4:00am, I was delirious with exhaustion. At 6:00am, the alarm went off, and, ready or not, the school day began! I was a little short with the kids and Luis this morning. Jonathan decided that he wanted to drag the chair all the way around the table, between the high chair and the table. It didn't fit, so he was trying to MAKE it fit, by repeatedly banging the chair on the table. Luis switched his potato chips for Cheetos, which I had planned on giving Jonathan, so HE received the "look" from me as well. Joshua chose his own clothes this morning, and to be honest, he could have left the house with a garbage bag on and I probably wouldn't have cared. We all got in the car, and the chilly morning air breathed some life into my sleepy body. I dropped the boys off at their schools, and headed home, now feeling much more awake, and even deciding to go on my morning walk instead of going home and going back to bed. So, I pulled into the driveway, got the stroller out, fastened Lily, and off we were. I do some of my best praying on my morning walks. Lily is always so happy and quiet that I can really meditate and pray about anything and everything. This morning, I found myself praying exceptionally well...as I passed my neighbor's house, and saw that their goat, who is usually chained, wasn't. He walked right toward me...I think he thought I was just his "type". I tried yelling to scare the goat away, but he just kept coming. I clapped my hands and made loud noises, but I think all it did was egg him on. I had flashbacks to the story of my niece being gored by a goat in the thigh. The only form of protection I had was the stroller, which held my precious little gas filled baby, and even though she was the reason for my complete lack of sleep last night, I wasn't about to sacrifice her stroller with her in it to the lord of the goats...no matter how scared I was. Now, I have only been walking for like 4 weeks now, hardly enough time to lose any weight, and definitely not enough time to be in any shape to run. So, like the scared chicken that I am, I walked as fast as I could, down the hill to the end of our road. Brilliant. Instead of just turning around and going back to my house which was just two driveways away, I went down the road. My heart was beating a mile a minute, and I could hardly catch my breath. I'm sure it was the best work out I have had in a long time. At the bottom of the hill, I found a big stick, so I balanced it on the top of the stroller and headed back home. My usual two trips down and up the hill became only one this morning, and my fervent and effectual prayers were just that.

Important conclusions:

It's going to be a long time before I give Lily pinto beans again.
Sleep is a good thing, and the lack thereof is detrimental to your health.
Goats are my least favorite of God's creation, I hope there are no goats in heaven.

I am certain that God has a great sense of humor. In my mind's eye, I can see him holding his sides, getting a good belly laugh at me, and all my antics. In keeping with that perspective, I have learned to laugh at my own life when I insist that this or that could NEVER be done, then BAM...it's done. Or when I give one of those great Sarah laughs, only to find myself doing the very thing I thought was inconceivable. as a teen, I was never one to take great risks, for fear of failure, or being severely dismembered. I would always choose the "smart route"...which meant safe, familiar, and comfortable. Well, in my thirty years of being a Christian, I have learned that God rarely asks us to take the smart road. Not that God is asking us to make unintelligent choices, rather, He asks us to trust His intellect over our own. You see, we have been so tainted by the world's perspective that the things of God, the things He wants us to do, are foolishness to us. We are such logical creatures that faith has been totally thrown out the window, and when we even consider stepping out of the realm of "ordinary" we are surrounded by critics, naysayers, and people who want to have our heads examined. Let's face it, in today's world, if a man came up to us and said, "Hey, that bush over there...the one that's burning....it just spoke to me!" we would probably walk a little faster, hoping that whatever was wrong with that man was not contagious. I think that's why when God wants us to do something, we are so against the idea of doing it, rejecting even the notion of it. No one likes to look foolish, make mistakes, or be different. On a human level, we all would rather have the accolades of man over their strange looks any day. But even more than that, I desire the accolades of heaven, which are of far greater worth that anything this world has to offer. The last fourteen years, Luis and I have learned several important lessons. Here are a few off the top of my head:

Trust God over man any day-man wavers, God is our rock. ~ Believe what God says about you, not what YOU say about you (or anyone else for that matter). ~ Anything you say can and will be used against you, so best make it right, pure, lovely, etc....

So, here's our next adventure. We have been asked by the district supervisor to pastor a small Hispanic church in Greenville, SC. After much prayer and discussion with our Pastor, we accepted and we are excited! (and also a little nervous). I say that it's a Hispanic church, but to be completely accurate, it has no members. For the last few years, this church has never been able to grow for various reasons. It has never been more than 8 people strong. On the up side, we won't scare the people away! haha...but it is a great opportunity to see what it takes to start a church from the ground up. A task that is not an easy one, for sure. To learn the ins and outs, the logistics of running a church. To allow God to work through us in ways we never imagined. Our kids are just as excited as we are (which is a miracle). We have our first service on September 5, so I'll keep everyone posted on what God is doing. In the meantime, please pray for us, our family, and for God's will to be done in all that we put our hand to do.