And today we made bread.
Isaac is my helper in the kitchen. He always walks in and says, "Mom, do you need me to help you?" to which I always reply, "Of course I do!" (and yes, accepting his help is sometimes harder than others...) Today he came in and asked, "Mom, what are you makin?" He had pushed a stool up to the sink and was washing his hands before I had a chance to respond.
I make bread once or twice a week so I buy yeast by the pound. Today I opened a new package of yeast and put it in a Gladlock container. Isaac kept asking when it was time to put the yeast in. "At the end," I said, "right before the warm water." When we finally had all the dry ingredients in Isaac asked, "Now is it time for the yeast?" I was across the kitchen and answered, "Yes," as I turned around to see him pouring the whole container of yeast into the mixing bowl. "Wait!" I shouted. "We just need three of these," I explained, holding up the tablespoon. "Uh-oh," Isaac frowned. His shoulders slumped, he slid his hands between his knees, and his head fell to his chest. "Sorry." I took a deep breath...and then I took another deep breath. Dang! What was I going to do now? I said, "It's ok." Then I got a spoon. Then I took another deep breath. I decided rather than throw out the whole batch, I would try to salvage the bread by spooning out as much excess yeast as possible. Isaac was right by my side and we finished the bread together. He helped me knead the dough, form it into loaves, and put it into the bread pans to rise.
As I was spooning yeast out of the mixing bowl, I got thinking about mistakes. We all make mistakes. I make them every day. Sometimes we make mistakes because we are too anxious, or because we misunderstand or because there is a miscommunication. Some mistakes can be fixed easily, and some change our lives forever. Most mistakes, I think, though, are not that big of a deal. In the eternal scheme of things, most mistakes don't matter much at all. When it comes to mistakes, I think most of us are harder on ourselves than we need to be. As I finished making bread with Isaac today, I thought about my reaction to mistakes. It occurred to me that we can choose to learn from our mistakes without beating ourselves up or becoming discouraged. You'd better believe that Isaac will never dump the whole container of yeast into a mixing bowl again. He picked up on that lesson without me having to reprimand him or yell at him or fire him from bread making or even point it out to him. In Paul's first epistle to the Thessalonians, he gives this great "to-be" list for the saints - what Saints should be and do. One thing that he mentions is, "be patient toward all men" (1 Thessalonians 5:14). I think "all men" includes ourselves.
1 comment:
It's wonderful how the simple mundane daily tasks can bring peace and comfort. It's also a source solace to have the smell of fresh homemade bread in your home. I'm grateful you are able to get back to some of the basic tasks of mothering and housewife extraordinaire!
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