In The Mood For Baking

In the Mood for Baking 10/14/2009

Today we (& by “we”, Christ & me) spent the day relaxing. We relax often. Within relaxation, Christ decided to bake. I asked my kiddos before they hopped on the bus this morning if they’d like some treats when they came home & what kind of treats they would want. 3 out of 3 agreed; snicker doodles it was! Christ as us had a couple of cups of coffee (2 sugars & a cream) and we sat out the ingredients onto the freshly washed counter-tops…glass bowl, mixer, cookie sheet, spatula…flour, sugar, cream of tartar, butter…vanilla, baking soda, eggs, cinnamon. Into the bowl I tossed the ingredients stirring with a wire whisk….scraping the sides of bowl with the spatula. As I spun the whisk around I began thinking about how much I like to bake. Perhaps, I will make that banana bread while I am at it...the bananas are probably ready by now. I remember that I had seen some bananas in the fruit bowl & looked over to the counter to see if they were still there. Someone must have decided they were too bruised and battered to do anything with. I remember when God showed me something about bananas. Bananas last for a while. Think of their journey to our tables! (I love to hear of people’s journeys!!) Picked in foreign lands or climates much different than Portage County OH, they are picked well before their prime-green…so they will last the duration of their journey. Some people don’t like bananas that get beat up or dented. You will catch people discriminating against bananas in the fruit aisle because of the way they look & those that aren’t perfect will be passed over. If you wait too long to eat them, they begin to gather black spots and blemishes. Some bananas never are eaten & are tossed in the can. As bananas ripen, they become sweeter. They need to be sweet …and spotted in order to make great banana bread. Have you ever been the banana that had been tossed aside because you didn’t quite look like the others? Have you ever been a bit beat up by the journey you traveled? What about the spots? Do you have scars and imperfections according to this world? Christ doesn’t care a lick about surface…He loves it when we get squishy & sweet & full of His sugar….He pulls off those peels and smashes us up…adds a bunch of things we never knew we had…allows us to go through the fire…and Shazam!!! Banana bread. Delicious. If life gives you bananas, allow God to turn it into a sweet blessing to others.