“The scent of the baking of bread would flood out and fill the street. It was clean, slightly sweet with a yeasty aroma that somehow smelled warm like you were inhaling a blanket on a cold winter day.” -Anonymous
My mother and father have spent their lives teaching Gospel principles. Baking bread doesn’t seem to carry a heavy weighted spiritual concept, on the surface, but keep reading.
One of the Gospel principles they often teach is encouraging others to build strong relationships. There is not a shortcut to friendship. It will cost you time, effort and money. Unfortunately, today’s motto of “Faster is Better” confuses acquaintance with relationship. A quick hello as we rush from our busyness will not produce lasting connections.
I cannot tell you how many times growing up I heard, “If you want to build relationships, break bread together.” Food is a great equalizer. Put a bag of chips, and homemade salsa in front of people, and all of a sudden, conversation is endless. Pull ribs off the grill and put a roll of paper towels on the table, and watch social class go out the window. Make homemade ice-cream and people will gather around the machine shouting over the whine of the motor as if no one notices.
Our home, back then, was always full of people. There were scheduled supper guests, drop-in visits, and I cannot forget the summertime fish-fry’s (my mother made the BEST hushpuppies). She often said, “If you come to see me come on in; if you come to see my house make an appointment.” Not that our home was ever a disaster, but we did live there. That was just her way of letting others know people were always welcome in our home.
A few weeks ago, our Pastor, Ben Johnson, said, “The stickiness to church is in the relationships. Without them, you will never stay.” I immediately drifted back to my younger years and saw my parents teaching us girls this very philosophy. They taught us that church was invaluable to the success of our home and family, but Dad had a subcomponent to his teaching, just as our Pastor did. Dad warned us that just being a member of a church would not build the relationships we would seek as we got older. Those connections could only be found in our involvement, in our commitment, and in breaking bread with others.
Many years back, my father learned how to make bread from scratch. He learned after wanting a healthier diet and thought homemade wheat bread would be a good contribution. He enjoyed the process so much, but… the inconvenience of it made him stop. Other things took precedence. Then, a few weeks ago, someone brought my mother a Valentine’s gift bag. In the bottom of the bag was a loaf of homemade bread. This got my dad to thinking about baking bread again.
During his quiet time, he penned some notes. It impacted me so much that I wanted to share. I know you will enjoy his thoughts….
For centuries, people have been baking bread from scratch. The recipe is simple, but without the proper ingredients, a recipe is good for nothing. To start, I use stone-ground whole-wheat flour, yeast, salt, olive oil, honey, and water.
I love to smell the yeast as the bread goes through the rising process. Next comes the kneading. With my hands covered in flour, I pressed the bread back into itself. Doubling and folding until just the right texture has been reached. Then, after placing it in pans, I let it rest and continue to rise. Finally, it is ready to go into the oven. The baking process is the best part. The smell of fresh baking bread fills the house with an aroma that simply cannot be duplicated.
As I sat this Valentine’s gift of homemade bread on the cutting board and watched the electric knife systematically cut the slices from the loaf of flour, yeast, and love, I relived the memories of my own bread making. I watched honey soak into the fresh slice I had just pulled out of the toaster. I thought about it, how often do we settle to eat the bread others have baked rather than take the time to bake it ourselves? I’m talking about, “Every word that proceeds from the mouth of God stuff.”
Fresh bread can be found for anyone who will just take the time to sit in His presence and invest themselves in the moment. Don’t approach your baking time as a chore but as a pure pleasure. Sit in His presence and let the freshness of the Bread of Heaven fill your longing. We all long to be needed by others, but there’s nothing like being kneaded by the Master baker. He takes the ingredients we bring and kneads them together until every fiber of our being has been touched by his loving hands. Not only does He “knead” us, but afterwards He lets us rest in Him as we continue the process. It’s only because of the leaven He brings into our lives that we will rise to the occasion. An occasion is coming, the question is will you rise to meet it?
We smell of what we spend time with. Take time to go through the process of breaking bread with Jesus. Once Jesus bakes his ingredients into our lives, don’t be surprised if he offers your freshness to others around you. Relationships is what we are here for. There is someone out there that needs fresh bread more than you do. Only time with the Master bread maker will make us smell of fresh bread, with his goodness baked right in.
With my dad’s words still ringing in my ears I picked up the phone and called a friend of mine who bakes bread regularly. I told her of my interest to learn the art myself. She gladly accepted the challenge.
We quickly set a date to get together and learn. It turned into a complete family affair. Our little girls played, running inside and out while the men folk fired up the grilled. As for us ladies, well, we baked my first loaf of homemade bread from my Dad’s old recipe. She told me patience was the art of bread making, “Give it a little time. It will rise,” she said.
Broken bread between friends will be the sweetest aroma that will ever fill ones life. As my friend so genuinely put it, “Give it a little time. It will rise.”
Welcome Home
“And they continued daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their bread with gladness and singleness of heart.” Acts 2:46
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