bread

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Don’t Waste What You Really Want

There’s an old saying, “waste not, want not”. Well, sometimes we waste what we want or waste an opportunity that comes along. 

Don't waste what you really want

I was with a friend recently who is going through the process of looking for a new home. He told me he had seen a place that had everything he needed, but because he didn’t jump on it soon enough, he didn’t get it. 

I know it still bugs him because he talks about that place like the one that got away. He probably looks back on it like a wasted opportunity.

We have all wasted something we really wanted. 

… Like that ice cream cone that you were three licks into when it dropped on the ground. 

You were so into that cone that you used about 30 more pounds of press with your tongue when you took the next lick. And that did it. The ice cream toppled right off the cone like someone had put little tiny explosive charges around it and then hit the detonator. 

Boom! You are left looking down longingly at the scoops of ice cream covered in grit and sand. 

What a waste. 

The other week I told you that I’m a bread maker now. I baked my first loaf of bread and it turned out amazing (read about it here). The bread was great tasting, but I don’t eat bread every day. 

I have a regular breakfast routine Tuesday to Friday and it includes a half a grapefruit and a small bowl of hot oat bran cereal. It’s a pretty boring meal. 

But on the weekends, I treat myself. A half a grapefruit is still on the menu but, instead of the oat bran, I have toast. I usually have one piece with just butter on it and a second piece with peanut butter on it.  

I really look forward to those breakfast meals on Saturday and Monday mornings. Sunday I have my regular weekday breakfast – just a throwback to when I was pastoring.

I had made that first loaf of bread Saturday morning and I was pumped – not because of the breakfast but because I’d made the bread myself. 

On Monday I had toast again. It was all good. Then I went back to my regular weekday breakfast and forgot about the bread I’d made. 

It sat Tuesday through Thursday in the bread container on the counter. On Friday Lily looked at the bread and noticed it had lots of mould on it. 

Just as I was getting to the weekend to have bread again, it was no longer good. 

I had wasted what I wanted. 

Monday I should have sliced the rest of that loaf up and put it in the freezer. Through my neglect, what I wanted so much I had actually wasted. 

I guess a new loaf is in order for this weekend.

Here’s the thing: No matter who we are, we all want peace and hope and love. We look for these three things in many places. We look for peace, hope and love in people, in things and in experiences. Sometimes it works out and we get one or more for a time. But a guaranteed place to find them is in God. God offers us peace, hope and love through Jesus Christ His Son. Don’t waste the opportunity to get hold of what you really want. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Where do you usually turn to find peace, hope and love? Leave your comments and questions below.

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Bread Is Not Just Something That Arrives At The Table

I guess you can call me the breadman now. I’ve started making bread at home.

bread is not just something that arrives at the table

I’ve never really done any baking before and it was never something my mother taught me growing up.

I was always better at eating what she made than I was at helping in the preparations. In fact, I was such a good consumer of baking that my mom would bake cookies and then hide them. If she didn’t there wasn’t any cookies for dessert at dinner time. 

My brother and I would come home from school and scarf down a handful of cookies each. I think my mom got a little discouraged seeing all her hard work gone in a matter of minutes. But she should have been pleased that we liked what she baked. 

I still love those oatmeal cookies with gum drops in them … and her gingerbread cookies were indeed fine.

In our marriage, I’ve carried on that tradition of being a better eater than a baker. Lil has complained a few times how the cookies seem to disappear rather rapidly after she bakes them.

Maybe that’s one of the reasons why she doesn’t make cookies all that often anymore. 

So I have experience in baking – it’s just more on the front end than on the back end.

And one thing I do eat regularly is bread. Two days a week I have toast for breakfast, so we need to have bread in the house for that. 

Years ago Lily took to making bread and so that has been my main source for one piece with a little butter on it and the other with a whack of peanut butter slathered over the surface.

But recently Lily was away. The weekend was approaching and we were out of bread for my traditional Saturday morning grapefruit and toast.

So I took to the phone and got some instructions on how to use the bread machine, including the precise ingredients and the correct order to add them.

Then I got the machine all set and let it rip. I set the time to come on early in the morning so I would have piping hot, fresh bread by breakfast time.

I have to tell you, it was some of the finest toast I have ever had! The loaf itself was perfect in colour and shape. Really, for my first effort, I don’t think I could have done a better job. I mean I must be a natural. 

This may be one of my special talents in life. I wouldn’t call it a spiritual gift, but I think just maybe I’ve been blessed with the ability to make bread.

For sure I impressed myself and figure I’m a baker now. I may start listing my new talent in my LinkedIn profile and with my email handle.

There is a hockey player whose last name is Panarin and they call him the breadman. I don’t think there’s any reason not to refer to me as the breadman now too.

Here’s the thing: When we take a look at what we do well, we can give thanks to God since He has made us with the gifts and skills we possess. And those talents are not just for our own benefit, but also to benefit others. For those who have placed their faith in God, He also gives us spiritual gifts to use to benefit God’s people and His kingdom. Use your talents and gifts well to serve others.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What are your top talents and what is your spiritual gift? Leave your comments and questions below.

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It Was Flat But I needed It To Rise

There are times when you want things flat and times you want things to rise.

flat bread

Certain things are better flat – like paper outside in the wind. You want it to lie flat.

I remember doing a wedding outside when there was a bit of a wind. I just wanted the pages of my wedding notes to stay flat, but the wind kept causing them to rise up and turn on their own.

If you are going to have pancakes for breakfast, you certainly want them to be flat and not to rise like a muffin or a loaf of bread.

One of the things I’ve always liked about my MacBook Pro is that Apple keeps trying to make them flatter and thinner than big, bulky PC’s. 

It’s caught on because I see more and more PC companies selling laptops that are flatter and thinner every year. 

There are just some things we want to be thin and flat.

On the other hand, there are some things we don’t want to be flat at all – like tires for instance. 

I always feel bad for the person on the side of the highway with their trunk open, hauling out their jack to fix a flat rear tire.

I know the feeling. I’ve been on the side of the road fixing a flat tire, with the cars and trucks whistling by, creating a wind that shook my vehicle.

But for some things, the benefit of either flat or risen depends on the situation or the time period. 

I remember in high school having a pair of platform shoes made for me. The heel had about a three inch rise and the sole of the shoe a good inch. 

In the mid 70’s platform shoes were in style big time. Mine were awesome and I wish I still had them kicking around … just to show off; not to wear.

On the other hand, if a junior high boy likes a junior high girl, and if they are going to be seen in public together, it’s best that the girl wears flats … because she’s probably taller than the boy anyway. High heels would only accentuate the height difference.

Having said all this, some things need to rise. 

This morning I got up to find that my wife, Lily, had thoughtfully pre-programmed the bread maker so I would have fresh bread ready for my breakfast. 

However, when I checked if it was done, it didn’t look like there was anything in the machine. I mentioned it to Lily and when she looked, she realized that she had forgotten to add in the yeast.

There was a hockey puck shaped lump of bread at the bottom of the bread maker. 

So unless I was leaving Egypt with the rest of the Israelites, or celebrating the Passover, flat bread was not going to cut it this morning! 

Here’s the thing: In the Bible, yeast is mostly associated with sin or evil. The reason for the unleavened bread at Passover is that it is a symbol of the absence of sin. That unleavened bread also points to Jesus who is called the bread of life – that is to say, He had no sin. Because Jesus had no sin, He could save you from your sin so you can rise with Him to heaven one day. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What’s the yeast in your life that you need to be rid of? Leave you comments and questions below.

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It’s My Bread And Butter

This week I attended a lunch at our church for our Evergreen group – it’s a monthly meeting for those 55+. Centring a meeting around food is always a good idea … we all have to eat, so why not do it together?

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This week we had soup and bread. Now the soups were homemade and very good. I only had the one because the other was a butternut squash soup, and the problem with that was the word “squash”.

I don’t eat squash, and it doesn’t matter how you serve it, I’m not going to eat something that has squash in the name … except squash pie, but that’s only because my grandmother tricked me once and fed it to us as pumpkin pie. Only after we had eaten it did she tell us what she made it with.

I did smell the butternut squash soup and it actually, surprisingly smelt very good … but I still wasn’t about to let it touch my lips.

The soups were good and healthy, but the other part of the meal was bread.

I know the maker of the bread, and I’ve tasted his bread before and it tastes great. He makes a fine bread, and it’s a healthy bread, but you can’t eat bread without butter and that’s what was causing me the anxiety.

If I’m going to eat bread I have to put butter on it. Bread doesn’t taste the same without butter.  And don’t get me started on margarine! I don’t care what they call it. They can call it “I can’t believe it’s not butter”, but I believe it – margarine doesn’t taste like butter.

My mother spent years trying to fool me with different kinds of margarine in my sandwiches and she finally gave up. I don’t eat something that has squash in the name and I won’t eat margarine either.

So I had my bread at the Evergreen lunch and there were several different kinds so I had to try them all. Some of them I liked more than others so I had to try them a few more times.

And each time I tried a piece, I also laid down a layer of butter over the surface.

Even though the bread was healthy, the butter wasn’t. It contains saturated fats and salt … I could feel it going straight into my bloodstream and narrowing my arteries.

Yes, I know you can buy un-salted butter, but you might as well eat the bread dry. Why waste your time spreading something on it that doesn’t add to the flavour?

It was a bad combo: lots of bread (though healthy, it sure wasn’t in the quantities I was eating) and  butter … I’m sure I maxed out on my salt content and saturated fats for the next three days, or weeks!

This was a seniors’ lunch. I almost thought there was a devious plan behind it all.

Here’s the thing: There are things about spending time with God that we enjoy more than others. Maybe it’s the prayer, or Bible reading. It could be the devotional guide. All these are good and are part of a good balanced time with God. But too much spend time in one area breaks the balance. For many people prayer is what gets short-changed. We bulk up on the devotional reading and it leaves us full and out of time for much prayer. Keep prayer a main staple, you might have to cut back on something else that you like a little too much.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What gets in the way of you praying more? Leave your comment below.