Bread of life

I continue to struggle with my bread making machine. It’s perfect – except that increasingly frequently, once I have all the ingredients in the container, I can’t seem to engage it with the motor mixer in the machine.

I practice before I put in the ingredients. No problem. Then fill the container and five minutes later, it refuses to slot together. So far, Don has managed to do it eventually, so we are still getting bread.

It remains a challenge to get the flour that I like, but I’ve found that Buchanan’s Bistro in Banchory is selling strong granary and whole wheat flour, so have ordered from them.

Bread. Basic bread, wholesome, nutritious, life-giving bread.

Jesus called himself the bread of life. I am grateful that it’s easy to engage with him, when I take the time. I am grateful that all I need is an open heart, a willing spirit, a teachable mind, and the faith to know that he is, indeed, fully risen, and he nourishes me completely.

Thank you, Jesus.

Pin Ball Wizard

I call it a pin ball machine; Don calls it bagatelle. I think they’re the same thing.

Yesterday I felt like the ball which gets knocked upwards on the enclosed board and then ricochets from barrier to barrier until it finally comes to rest somewhere. I got up thinking I was aiming to continue trying to identify a new residence for Mom.

An email arrived, offering a home and care to Mom from someone in the wider family. Suddenly I was pinging in a new direction, thinking of all the advantages to such an arrangement and minimising the disadvantages. Discussions seeking points of view from the rest of the family resulted in my coming to one conclusion; other messages arrived from other members of the family offering a variety of points of view. Before I knew it, I was pinging off again into a different direction.

All this seesawing was in the midst of praying for guidance and direction in this situation. What initially seemed like answered prayer gradually became a red herring. Now I’m dropping like the marble back into the decisions I was arriving at before that first email. Peace.

Jesus promises that he will never leave us; that his is the still small voice of calm, whispering, ‘this is the way, walk in it’, but it is very easy to assume, presume, and head off down a wrong path.

I continue to pray that every step, every decision, every booking will be guided by God, and that the next situation Mom is in provides the love and care she so richly deserves.