Learning to bake is one of the many things I am grateful to have the opportunity to do. A lot of people do not get that. It is definitely one of my favorite things now days. But just like life, baking is learned upon trial and error. You either do it right or it turns out flat & hard to swallow. When you make something that doesn’t turn out, you have to learn to bounce back. Just scrap it and move on. For me that is tough. I have always wanted everything I learn to cook or bake to come out perfect the first try. Though I suppose what would the fun be in that.

When we make a mistake, we (should) try to learn how to fix it for the next time around. Unlike life when we usually don’t get a chance to try again. There are a lot of things in my life, where I wish I would have done better. Or where I wish things would have been handled differently. A lot of those things I won’t get back. A lot of lost relationships, or broken promises that cannot be made up for. Even though our mom tried her hardest to warn us about everything in life and tried to teach us from a young age how to make good choices. We still had a hard time remembering all of those recipes when it was time to “make it on our own”. Honestly, that is originally why I created this site. To aid in documenting some of the areas in which we could have, AND are currently trying to make better. I want, so badly, for life to be good for my kids. I want to teach them as much as I can while they are still little so it is imprinted in their minds forever. Cooking and baking is a passion the three of us share. We enjoy doing it together and trying/learning new things. One of my favorite times of the month, are the nights they get to choose and mostly make a meal for dinner.

We make mistakes, we drop things, we spill things, we make messes. But we also learn what not to do, what NOT to add, how to hold things better, AND how to clean up messes. If it was too easy it would be boring. If it was too hard we would just want to give up. It is that happy medium in which we get to live. Where it is a task in itself but the reward of a delicious treat in the end makes it so well worth it, that you just have to do it again.

It my attempt to compare baking with life I noticed a few things. God is our Father correct? He is also our Creator, our Helper AND, our Friend. Which means….. He gave us and continually gives us, the best of ingredients to make our lives successful. Not just some, not just a brief outline. The best ingredients and the BEST set of instructions to work with. From the beginning of time; He said “Here is all you will need, do this, focus and, STAY AWAY FROM THAT.” What did we do, this, that, then went to the place we were told to stay away from, listened to a thing that was NOT God, and ruined the whole batch.

All throughout the bible, He told people how to get from point A to point B, then how to keep going all the way trough to E, and F. All the meanwhile, the pattern of the people trying it on their own never ceased. There was always at least one guy, who was all, “oh that is a good idea, but I think I will try this way, or maybe that way, or I will just tweak your plans a little and try my own version. Each one ended in some type of disaster. Yet God never stopped helping us. Never stopped trying to save us. He EVEN SENT HIS ONLY SON TO DIE FOR US, just to make a way for us to be reconciled with Him. Gave us a DIRECT LINE to HIM. Yet we all seem to think we can do it better on our own.

You know what happens when you try to follow a recipe and you do not have exactly the right amount of each ingredient? It does NOT turn out right. Do you know what happens when you are reading a recipe and decide you ONLY need the ingredient list, but think you can do the steps or process without the instructions?? It might have all the right stuff in it, but whatever comes out as the final product is not always what it should be or what it should look like. Bread and cake have fairly similar ingredients, but without the process you do not know what you will end up with.

See even though I am getting into this a bit more then planned. I still believe there are some things you can not do on your own. Every great baker starts out with the basics. Every great chef learns all the most basic of instructions at the beginning. Life, starts out at the most basic of places. What we learn, what we absorb, what we engage with at the beginning will set our base for a great life. It hurts my heart when I see parents who are not engaging in a positive way toward their children. We were given children as gifts. They are our responsibility to steward as best we can. We are what they will learn from. But we should not try to do it on our own. God gave us His holy Spirit to help us through everything. He cares about the most basic aspects of our lives. He wants us to be able to live an ABUNDANT life. You know what that means??

Abundant:
1. present in great quantity; more than adequate; over-sufficient: an abundant supply of water
2.well supplied with something; abounding: a river abundant in salmon.
3.richly supplied, as with resources: an abundant land.

It means He wants us to have the BEST, most well supplied Life possible. He has given us an abundance of resources. He said to study the word, talk to Him, seek Him, and JUST ASK, and it WILL be done for us. When we are searching for more of Him, everything just works out. I have got to say, that is what I want. To learn, to absorb as much information as possible. To know His word in my heart so well. So when times do get tough, (because they will), I will be so well equipped, have all the right recipes imprinted on my heart, mind and soul, that I will be ready for any challenge that comes my way.

My apologies if not a lot of this makes sense. Have a touch of a cold so it has been tough to get my words straight today. I hope and pray you all understand. I love you all.

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Philippians 2:3-4 NKJV

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
John 10:10 NKJV