My daily bread

"Give us each day our daily bread" (Luke 11:3 NASB)

I'm a total carb addict, I admit it... I love bread. I've always loved bread. I'm not talking about the sickly-smelling slices of over-processed Wonder Bread... but real bread! Bread with a crust. Bread with substance, texture. The kind of bread you can get from an Italian bakery in the New York area.

Last week, I found an easy bread recipe and decided to give it a try. I thought it would be too much work or too difficult for me to master... but I was pleasantly surprised! You can make a batch of dough and keep it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, so you can make small loaves as needed... and that's what I've been doing. It isn't a lot of work, and the resulting bread looks (and tastes) really great! It also makes my house smell like a bakery :)

It's also been a neat object lesson for me. My "daily bread" is something I look forward to and thoroughly enjoy. It isn't just handed to me -- I do have to put in some prep time and make sure I pay attention while it is in the oven -- but it isn't overly complicated either. A few minutes more or less in the oven doesn't hurt it. And the results... are incredible. Freshly baked bread with butter or jelly is an amazing breakfast!

That's also how I feel about my morning quiet times. I look forward to those times now, although there was a time when I dreaded them... mostly because I thought it would be too difficult for me to do on a consistent basis. I have to put in a little bit of effort and stay focused... but what I get in return is far more than what I put into it!