Once and Done...

Oh my.🙄

I am a firm believer that laughter is good for the soul. That being said, this experience is humbling and funny. I decided a while back I wanted to learn to make bread. Now there is an art to making bread. I tried oven. Have done this in the past. Someone said buy a bread machine. It is easy, they said! I did. Well, no it's not as easy as you might think. The night before last I rushed home. Measured the ingredients and to my husband's amusement, we waited. Cycle by cycle anticipation grew. Finally, the final bell went off and we opened the machine. After turning the bread out on my board, it was small, thick, and very dense. My husband, the great sport he is, took out the butter, I cut and we tried some. Taste was great. I deduced the yeast was old and it did not rise.

Take 2! Last night I rushed home, measured ingredients with a new recipe, bread flour, and new yeast. All bases covered. All set, machine working, and I cooked dinner and waited. Mid evening, my husband went for coffee and sounded the alert. We have a problem! Come here. Oh my.🙄 The bread had risen to this point.

Take 2!

At this point, I could sell the machine and give up. Not s chance. As I tell my students, "I'm like a dog with a bone, I'm not giving it up!.". Again, we let it bake and the taste was good. But...lol. My husband said, "Well, we can put it in the yard and use it for a golf hole." Got to love him.

So what does this have to do with God and our Christian walk. I sent a shortened version to our Women's Group Me and we discussed things to change, redo, recipes, and laughter. My women. "Don't give up", was said.

Our Christian walk is so similar to this experience, we will fail, stumble, have setbacks, and disappointments. But, and I say again, But God, provides those experiences to assist our growth. Yes, I know baking bread is not major, but it is an example of the many obstacles and experiences that test our growth. Like David in the book of Samuel, each turn was a growth. Each person who opposed him was an opportunity for his strength to build.

Proverbs 24:16 "for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes." I'm hoping it won't take seven times to make bread, but if it does, my husband and Bible Study group are with me to laugh and encourage. Just don't feed it to the birds. 😳