breadmaker

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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.