Baking Bread, Ice, and other things

Today is day 3 that we have not left our house. I am not complaining. Even if there were no ice, we would still be here as there have been sickies going around, Mommy is one of them! We did not have PE today, we are sad about that as we love seeing our friends. Okay...MOMMY loves seeing HER friends!! (They are all about my height...except for one...sorry Nheree...and none of them ask me for juice or whine that they are hungry. Who could ask for better friends????)

I will get a repreive this weekend as I attend the OKC Homeschooling Mom's Summit. I cannot wait! I will be speaking also, but for the most part I will be a participant. Since I am in charge of the workshops at the yearly OCHEC Homeschool Convention (http://www.ochec.com/), I don't get to participate in those much. Have I mentioned how much I am looking forward to this weekend??? If you are interested, it isn't too late to sign up! http://www.homeschoolmomssummit.blogspot.com/

So...my kids played outside on the ice for approximately 6.3 minutes. We told them it was cold!!! Actually, Justin played longer and went back out later for more, but my smarter kids stayed in by the fire.

Bread. About 3 years ago, I was invited over to a friends home for a playdate. She has lots of kids like us, and baked her own bread. And when I say "baked her own bread", I mean, grinds the wheat, adds the ingredients, forms the loaves, etc. When I had HER bread with my sandwich, I knew then I never wanted to go back to store bought. So, we invested in all the equipment and while there have been momentary lapses and I have bought store bought bread, we prefer fresh, whole wheat, home made bread. We make 5 loaves at a time and it lasts about a week...depending upon whether or not my mom steals a loaf.

Sunday, I made bread. It was our Sunday to have the family over for lunch. (We rotate houses each week after church.) I was in kind of a hurry, though, because everyone was due back at about 11:30am. (We were home with sickies.) So, I might have rushed the bread a little. I didn't let it rise as long as I normally do, and I probably could have let it cook a little longer. So what did I end up with??? Kind of squishy in the middle bread. Now, nobody complained, as it was still pretty yummy. BUT...I knew...and I just don't enjoy squishy in the middle bread. So, I have 2 loaves sitting on my counter, untouched, because they just aren't as good. I am sure they will get eaten, but just not as eagerly. Maybe I should just toss them out and start over.

I was thinking about this bread in relationship to us and God. In our daily walk, we follow God. We are listening to His voice, His will (bread), obeying his commands (or ingredients, if you will), following Him (recipe). What happens when we try to "speed up" the process??? We get squishy bread. As I have said before, I don't like squishy bread. I want my bread completely finished, inside and out. And thank God that He doesn't just toss us out and start over when we get squishy!

"May the God of peace fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him." Romans 15:13

I don't know what kind of bread God is trying to make out of you, but I pray that you will allow him to use HIS recipe on you and bake you until you are not squishy!

Ashlee....she refuses to wear a coat...something about lack of "coolness" I am sure!

I think this is Bryce...he never stays out long...doesn't like to be too hot or too cold. But he can do an awesome load of laundry!

Noah...we found out his coat zipper is broken. That's what happens in Oklahoma when you only wear your coat 2 times a winter.

Justin is in the middle...our neighbor friends, Wes on the left, and Madeline on the right. Madeline and Justin were in Sunday School together at our previous church...how cool that we built houses next to each other and didn't even know it! I love our neighborhood!