Last year for the Lenten season I came up with and made myself stick to (okay, I settled for an 85% success rate) a time budget. I got up each morning by a certain time, had particular tasks to do before work, and tried to get to bed by a decent hour. It was a good discipline.
This year, I want to focus on the idea of daily bread, as in "give us this day our daily bread". I've just moved to a new town in a new state. I don't know very many people. I don't know if our family income-source will remain stable. I'm not sure how long we'll be living here. But I know I can trust God to provide what I need, and for the next few weeks until Easter I want to consciously meditate on that.
By baking bread. Every day. Daily bread. I like language of asking God for daily bread. It's fresh that way. In the desert, the Israelites weren't supposed to gather any more manna than they could eat in one day because they needed to trust that God would send more the following morning. Can I have a simple enough faith that trusts God one day at a time, for exactly what I need that day? Not worrying about what I'll need next week or next year. Just thankful for what I have today.
Today I'm thankful for the house we live in, a neighbor who looks after our needs (letting us put our trash in his bin if we don't get ours by this evening), internet access at my in-laws', a good grocery store nearby, and a healthy recovering-from-chicken-pox baby.
Today's bread: chapati from the "Extending the Table" cookbook.
What a beautiful idea, enacted in a totally tangible way. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteOh, sister, you're killing me with this. The Pavlova and then the breads every day... can I just come live with you? I love your lent idea. its going to be an eye opening time and its a good reminder for me!
ReplyDeleteSecond Sister, you may certainly come live with us! We have some great little rooms upstairs that you only have to bend over a little to walk around in. =) Thanks to both of you for your encouragement.
ReplyDeleteA, the same day as your post, I was praying this same prayer while driving over a mountain, and realized in a new way the prayer's depth and breadth- how all the worries and objections that rose up in me could all be hung on its branches. I decided that would be my daily lenten thing. I too will follow your blog/act of worship with good appetite!
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