My Two Constants - Other than Death and Taxes

When people hear I lived in so many places, the most commonly asked question is which was my favorite.  (Read my blog post addressing that question here.)  A few months ago I finally got asked a new question. That person asked me what God taught me when I lived in different states.  I appreciated the question since it was thoughtful and one I had not considered before.  What had God taught me during those years?  I lived in five states over 10 years, met thousands of people, and worked and served in nine jobs.  Cool experiences - which I did have - were not my ultimate takeaway.  Personal growth was.  As I considered my answer, I realized that in all of these different places, God has always been present and has directed me along the way.  I had a lot of adventures, but I also had many setbacks in terms of feeling lost, lonely, and disappointed about how my life was going at different times.  Looking back, I can see people that God put in my life, people that God moved me away from, and circumstances He brought me through.  (If you haven’t read my post sharing how God worked in my life through small groups, find it here.  This isn’t the first post sharing my faith, and it won’t be the last!) 

As a Christian, I believe Proverbs 16:9, “The mind of a person plans his way, but the Lord directs his or her steps.”  I chose to go to all those places, but God opened the door and allowed me to walk through.  I was often in circumstances that challenged me and broke me - difficult work situations, relationships that didn’t go the way I wanted them to, and times I learned things the hard way and was mostly on my own to do so.  My mom and friends listened to me cry or complain over the phone about frustrations with students and coworkers, relationships, and big questions of “What’s next?”  (For one of those instances where my mom helped me in the aftermath of a broken relationship and pondering “what’s next?” read this post.)  Sometimes I didn’t tell the people in my life what I was going through, though, for whatever reason.  When that was the case, I spent more time in prayer instead.  I value looking back through my prayer journals and seeing what God has brought me through.  It wasn’t easy at the time.  Things didn’t automatically get better when I prayed.  Everything took time, but it helped me to know, that even if I was by myself, I wasn’t alone.  While Moses was speaking to Josuah in Deuteronomy 31:8 saying, “It is the Lord who goes before you.  He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you…” I believe the same is true for Christians.  God was with me when I had students who pushed every button and made me question why I was teaching.  He was with me when I had a curriculum coach who made me feel inadequate since my teaching style was not hers.  God was with me when relationships did not pan out how I wanted, and I felt disappointed and alone.  He guided me into new jobs in new places.  He put people in my path and allowed me to learn from others, not just from my own mistakes.  He was with me through doctor’s appointments and health issues, car trouble, and when the two almost converged (see my Small Group post).  God listened (Proverbs 15:29, Jeremiah 33:3), guided me (Psalm 32:8), and loved me (Jeremiah 31: 3, 1 John 3:1).

God used my experiences over the years to teach me several lessons, some of which I would have rather not learned by trial and error.  But through it all, He never left me.  I made plenty of poor choices, so He could have.  But it’s not His nature to leave even one (Luke 15).  I guess I needed several reminders through the years, and I am grateful for those reminders and God’s presence.      

Another constant through all these places was my love for baking and my opportunities to share that love with other people.  In my own version of Lamentations 3:28, “When life is heavy and hard to take…” I bake.  I value the control I have when baking.  If something doesn’t turn out, it’s on me.  If something is a success, I did something right.  Eating the “fruit” of my labor, while a perk of baking, is only a third of the fun.  Besides making the thing itself, the other third is sharing with others.  I recently heard on a Leslie Ludy podcast that the enemy wants us to turn inward and feel self-pity when we go through personal challenges.  Instead, we should turn outwards to other people.  She said that this is especially true since our own rejection and hurt can make us feel more sensitive to the hurts and needs of others.  I have tried to follow this prescription through the years.  In South Carolina, I baked for my small group, and even on one occasion my students.  When attending culinary school, I had the chance to share baked goods with family and friends when I visited Oklahoma from Arkansas.  In Connecticut, I brought different breads I baked from Artisan Bread in Five to the central kitchen office (read about how I baked all those recipes here).  Then in Montana, I brought baked goods to the three schools where I taught. This practice became more frequent during the COVID-19 pandemic when I had more time and a kitchen to myself for a month (read about my April 2020 quarantine here).  I made Danishes for the first time since culinary school without a laminator that I shared with staff members. I also conspired with our school principal and a para educator to put goodies together for all of our teachers and staff at the kindergarten school for Teacher Appreciation Week. I decorated a personal cookie for each teacher.

These were wrapped and put in a terracotta pot with a seed packet and a few drop cookies made by the other educator. Everyone loved them and immediately knew I was behind the decorated cookies after all the goodies I shared throughout the year.  The hours I spent baking were nothing to me since it was a fun activity and a way to practice my skills.  I enjoyed giving back to others, taking the focus off myself, and sharing treats with those I cared about.  

The Teacher Appreciation Crew with our cookie pots

While I won't be putting cookies in a terracotta pot again soon, I will be baking bread in one. Ken has a recipe for an Herb and Veggie Flowerpot Bread baked in a pot that turned out beautifully and deliciously.  The vegetables, herbs, and cheese gave it complex flavors that put it in bread-baking rotation, even without the terracotta pot.  Benjamin Franklin is attributed with saying, “Nothing is certain except death and taxes.”  Those are too depressing to me.  I’d rather focus on the good.  In my life, I will choose to continue to value my “sure things” - God’s presence in my life and my love of baking that I share with those around me. 

My friend Allison took more beautiful pictures for me of the Herb and Veggie Flowerpot Bread... enjoy!