How God's Working Through My Sourdough Bread

A few weeks after my mom passed I was surprised at how much sadness and restlessness I had, since I'd already cried, countless nights, months before she passed. A friend from Church, I hadn't seen in months, came over to walk and talk by the lake with me. 

What came from our time together surprised me completely. Now, in hindsight, I see God was inviting me into a journey I didn't expect but needed so badly. Matter of fact, it caught me so off guard I almost turned down her invitation, immediately. 

She invited me to attend her Sourdough Bread workshop at her house.

There were so many reasons I didn't have time and it wasn't a good fit in my mind but felt the Holy Spirit nudging me to go. I just assumed I was supposed to go to be social and not isolate during these dark moments. 

Let me explain why this logically didn't make any sense. 

My first resistance, is the season of life I'm in. It wasn't a good match for such a big commitment. My family and I spend 60% of the year living out of our truck camper, so feeding the Mother every day or storing it in our tiny fridge seemed like an unnecessary added inconvenience. 

Second, I try to limit my carb intake. Plain and simply, my energy levels and waist line don't like carbs. This was without knowing all the benefits of sourdough, but still high in carbs.

Finally, I don't enjoy baking or cooking outside of a bagged salad and ground turkey. I've said so often, believing it full heartedly, "I' don't have the gift of hospitality." I like to cook what's fast, easy, and semi-healthy. Baking something that requires 8 to 12 hours of rising, kneading the dough, and a big ol' mess with all the flour was not my style. 

With these reasons in mind, God was asking me to put those aside and trust Him, as He always does. 

Fast forward, over three dozen sourdough loaves baked, I have recieved incredible gifts of Gods love in this messy, inconvenient, yet beautiful journey. 

The first loaf was baked in our hotel room in Colorado Springs. Only two days after learning how to do this, we took the Mother in our truck camper and hit the road for two months. Yep, Gods grace was on this from the beginning. 

Initially, I was baking this delicious smelling food FOR love, with performance and perfection leading the way. After a few months, that sneaky "I have to bake this bread" resentful attitude crept in and I felt God nudging me. 

"Who said you have to? Who's making you do this, Whit?" I sensed God saying.

Ouch, it hit me. I'd allowed my natural tendency to live for His love, instead of from His love come back in. 

From that revelation, I leaned more into God, asking Him what He wanted me to do with this new sourdough hobby. The truth is, I actually enjoyed the process, commitment, and obviously, the end result was rewarding. 

I felt Him inviting me to pray over each bread - during the process and after it was hot out of the oven "God put Your Super on my natural."

As I did, I felt inspired to bake more and give them way. One loaf at a time, connecting and praying for one family at a time. Then the idea of giving a handwritten card with the bread came to mind, including the prayer I prayed. I was having so much fun co-laboring with God! 

The picture above is a loaf of bread I put in a neighbors mailbox. Her response was so sweet! A few days later, when walking by her house with our dogs and toddler, she ran out to give me a big hug saying how much she enjoyed it. 

Wow, teary eyed, my heart melted. This was a neighbor I've seen countless times over the years but haven't gotten to know due to busy conflicting schedules. The warm exchange between us was restorative, loving, and incredibly kind. 

God's been changing my heart in this process. I've been thinking of others more, praying for others, connecting with people I don't normally connect with, and God keeps putting more names on my heart. It's been a fun way to communicate Gods love to others I wouldn't know how else to show His love to.  

This inconvenient hobby, at such a dark time in my life, that didn't make any sense, ended up being a sweet invitation from God to connect more with His heart. 

I'm incredibly grateful that God knows more than I do, what I need. 

What is God inviting you into that doesn't make any logic sense?

Where is God calling you to invite Him into your process - to bless and experience more of His love?

Heavenly Father, 

Thank you so much for your grace, kindness, and love that passes my critical, small thinking. I pray you keep inviting me on these incredibly journeys that don't make any logic sense but it connects me deeper to Your heart. Help me to listen to Your nudges, be obedient, and patient for You to reveal Your power on my natural. When I need to slow down more, help me to do so, so I don't miss invitations like these from You. I love you. In Jesus Name. Amen.