I’d like to share an email I received from a friend the other night. It needs to be prefaced a bit. He and his family, like many of us, are feeling the waves of change in our economic climate. They are bravely following a dream, a vision, a new profession in a new place (recently moved). We had been discussing the need to rely on the Spirit of the Lord for support as to which step to take next. Also, the constant struggle to save money while making healthy meals, that take more time than the processed foods found in most grocery stores. And finally, the support we each need during difficult times. I found the email uplifting and full of wisdom. I hope you will enjoy it also. Oh, keep in mind that my friend likes to bake bread.

You need more than the designer, you need The Lord too, at a minimum. My wife and I were talking this evening and she asked me if I was felling discouraged with work. I admitted that I have felt it a little bit, not much, it’s more an annoyance that I haven’t brought anything in yet, than discouragement. The reason it’s so little is that we’ve both followed council and saved both food and $$, and I know that this is what we should be doing. If we are doing what The Lord would have us do, he will bless us. It’s that simple. I just need to remember that He will bless us in His way. As I’ve talked with people I get admiration for taking the steps into the unknown, but I see the other though attached to that is, “That’s too wild for me to try.”

When it comes to bread, maybe it is like a testimony. You need to share it. If I make six loaves, usually two or three, sometimes four, will end up on other peoples’ doorsteps. I would not be surprised if the reason one of our stake presidency got a wheat grinder and more interested in making bread was because we would drop a loaf by every so often (his wife was my son’s nursery teacher and we liked them). I had two of their kids thank us for the bread, on more than one occasion. I think a lot of people forget what good homemade bread tastes like. –OK, I have to share this story. We have a friend here who has two kids and is living with her aunt while she finishes up her BS. We had given her a loaf of bread when we made some a couple months back. About a month later another friend gave her a loaf of bread. She had sat that on the counter in the house. Her aunt got excited and cut herself a piece of bread off… and remarked, “Did his wife make him mad?” Apparently, the bread did not live up to her expectations of “my” bread. I made sure her aunt got her own loaf the next time I made it.

One thing that I think is important to the gospel or helping people reach a big goal is being able to see people along the way that are a manageable step closer to the end goal. I remember the first married couple, whom I met in college, that made me think, “They’re pretty cool, I could do this whole marriage thing.” I’m thankful lots of people that help me realize it’s not all or nothing. Bread can be that way too. Do it for a daily delight. My son loves to make bread with me. He especially likes beating the dough after the 1st rise. The wonderful thing is we can change the world around us if we let ourselves.

As for the we figure it out and then we die, I agree, but at the same time, I really don’t know how drastic a change things will be from earthly life and celestial life. I mean, there’s the whole thing about not having to deal with telestial issues, but will we still have to live by “the sweat of our brow”? I can’t imagine an eternity without work. Work that we will enjoy and will bless us, but work none the less. One last thought and then I have to go to bed. Have you ever noticed that in a lot of church videos, resurrected beings are old? We watched a video for our gospel doctrine class Sunday and Moses and Elisha were like 60. I always figured we’d be resurrected in our prime. There’s my deep thought for the night.

Don’t we all wish we lived by a homemade bread baker who loved to share his or her talents?  🙂  I loved the thoughts on work in the eternities.  How more responsible I feel to teach the kiddos how to love to work and serve others!  Do you feel you are taking steps into the unknown as well?  Where do you find your strength?