In this most busy and demanding time of the year, many still have the hope and desire to pursue happiness, to savor the moments and find that special something that replenishes us, fulfills us.
How strange, that we must stop, pause, slow down at least, to find that which keeps us going.
I think that part of our problem is our push to do more and do it more perfectly. As I have aged, I have necessarily had to learn to appreciate the slow moments, the silent moments. Of course, that should have come to me earlier in life, but I have ever been a plodding and slow learner.
How many wonderful, special, unique moments has our Lord gifted me with throughout my life that I rushed past, never listening, hearing his call, stopping to savor, share, enjoy with him? Moments crafted by the Master’s hand with love, moments he intended for me, for us, moments he came calling, only to have me never pause in my headlong rush?
How many times did I give up the peace I longed for, the joy I hoped for, all the things I insistently begged him for, wondering why he didn’t answer?
This morning I was early up, and puttering around, tending my sourdough starter, dividing it up, feeding multiple bowls in order to grow enough to make my various recipes for Christmas dinner and friends.
I found such happiness, really joy, in this simple task. My heart has filled with gratitude and wonder in these quiet moments alone, seeing to a simple task that leads to work I’m good at, to a simple hobby of mine, a thing I long ago longed to learn as an outpouring of love to my family, and especially for my husband who simply loves breads.
I have never had a bread machine, and I treasure the many, many times I bury my hands in the dough, kneading and pulling, twisting and forming. Now I understand a little bit why those hands-on moments meant so much to me.
For a few minutes, I put away me, and all my racing thoughts, my long list of things to get done, my annoyances at even the people I loved, everything. I put it all down and accepted a special, precious time given just to me by the God who loves me and gives me untold graces in such magical, wonderful ways as kneading bread and feeding sourdough.
Today I learned something from my bubbly sourdough brew, and I hope to be more attentive to those special moments because of it.
Maybe you can find your special moments these next few days in whatever unexpected and wonderful ways our Lord offers you. Don’t look for it in perfection though. I think you’re more likely to find it in the simpler things.
Merry Christmas to you and all who share here on CTH.
Thank you for this. A gentle reminder of all we have to be ever so grateful for.
Merry Christmas.
Bread always reminds me of my grandmother. She made the best! I see her holding that 25 pound bag of flour under her arm, over her huge bread bowl, telling me this is how much and then start mixing and kneading.
Oh for those days again. Mom made bread and dad and I ate it as fast as she made the loaves. I still have that knife, though unused anymore. Those saw teeth are still very sharp! The memory of spreading butter on a hot slice will remain forever! I can still savor that taste in memory, 60 years later!
I helped my Grandmother make the butter from her cows too.
Wonderful
Ditto with respect to stopping and smelling the roses, savoring quiet moments, and not rushing through life.
I’ve rushed through life most of my life, doing, doing, doing, and being selfish and self-centered.
The Lord has been dealing with me these past months on the subject of peace. I’m not talking about the absence of war, I am talking about inner peace, peace within myself, and the peace that can only come from God.
The Lord brought me back to a church who believes in traditional view only a man and woman is the only and believes in the sanctity of marriage as taught in the Bible. I have now come home to the internal peace that placing my life in His hands brings! Christ is the Lord!
Dittos gunfighter. HE is working and has been working hard on me to relax more, Love more, appreciate more, listen more and see more of the blessings and peace that come only through Him. I’m not looking back to kick myself in the butt. Only to reflect by becoming a more prudent human being. In all that I do and that HE would have me do. Heart, Soul n Spirit. Merry Christmas to all.
Amazing thoughts, thank you so much! Merry Christmas!
I need to read this daily! I’m trying to teach the children at church to look for God in our world. I ask them, “Did you see anything this week that made you think of God.”
The sun, wind, rain, birds, laughing and smiling kids, all kinds of easy signs to see….
…if we have the eyes to see and the ears to hear.
At the end of the day, when He paints the sky is my favorite time to think of Him. Or later when the moon shines down.
Lovely! It’s the little things in life that can bring peace and joy. Be happy just to wake up to travel thru another day. Don’t allow negativity in, even for just a moment. Leave your world a little better than the way you found it this morning. Use your power for good instead of evil. Smile, feel, live, love. Feel your strength grow. You are a good person. Good people are all around you. We are a force to be reckoned with. And we are guided by a mighty power from above. Thank you Sundance. Beautiful start to a beautiful new day.
Thank you for this! I love making bread, and I yearn to make it, when I’ve gone too long without doing so. The Bible tells us a lot about bread. All goodness comes from God, just one more of his abundant blessings.
Me too but I always find the “knead” to test a loaf and then I can barely fit in my sweatpants!!
The secret is to share. I’m a firm believer in sharing the fat with a friend! 😉
I make three loaves, share one and then we’ll. You know. Butter, apricot preserves, bacon. They just call to me
Sweet and salty, yummy! 😋
Agree!
Me too!
Okay, y’all are making me hungry! Time to make a batch of those “never-fail” rolls from the recipe I’ve used for years.
Seriously, thank you so much, Menagerie, for your sweet, quiet thoughts. You keep me “level” in this crazy world. God wins – we all know it.
Much love to my Treehouse friends and family. God bless you all and I wish for you a very Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas, Sundance. Blessings to you and your family.
Thank you, Menagerie! Truly the simplest thing we can do this time of year, or at any time for that matter, is to fall to our knees and praise our glorious savior.
Thank you…:)
Thank you Menagerie for your gentle reminders to ponder the many ways the Lord gives us peace and surrounds us with what is good, true and beautiful in a chaotic, broken world. Your words urge us towards quiet reflection in busy and uncertain times, salve for the wounds.
Throughout this week, I too will seek a special, precious time given just to me by the God who loves me and gives me untold graces in such magical, wonderful ways.
Big picture / understanding well laid out
https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2023/12/21/the-greatest-gift-of-all/
I really enjoyed that!
I didn’t know what the picture was.
My Woman mixes Cake in a coffee cup, then microwaves for about 1 minute and it actually comes out pretty good.
Mug cake. Mmmm, it is so good when you add cherries and chocolate chips before sticking it in the microwave. The cherries and melted chocolate make it a fancy treat.
The picture — it’s what a sour dough starter looks like — it is fresh yeast bubbling in a jar. It is what yeast looks like when you start it fresh from scratch, without a packet of yeast, and with just flower and water. It is a project where you have to baby a bowl of what looks like baby muck for a few days, and suddenly your efforts are rewarded with the delicious smell of yeast, and the delightful sight of bubbles — bubbles that will soon make light and fluffy home made bread.
Mmmm sourdough,
Merry Christmas!
What lovely thoughts, Menagerie. Thank you for taking the time to share your musings. I love sourdough, but have yet to make a sourdough loaf myself. I make bread too, and it is an adventure. Maybe this year I will work on creating a sourdough starter, myself.
Merry Christmas to all!
Menagerie has written us a beautiful letter. Thank you.
Lovely essay Menagerie! I always enjoy your contributions…
This one made me think of this Della Mae tune, hope it’s okay to post it on this thread. (If you’d rather not waste the bandwidth, please feel free to delete. The song is called “Blessed Hands” and it’s available online.)
Thank you, Menagerie! Thank you for the peace, joy and blessings in your posts. A big THANK YOU to Sundance for your amazing work and your devotion to making our Treehouse the oasis that it is against a world of madness. I so love to come here each day and sit it the branches and learn so much from you. Thank you fellow Treepers for your thoughtful, inspiring and often funny comments. You are all such a blessing. A Merry Christmas to all of you, and may our loving God be with and keep all of us together, always!
So we’ll said! Thanks and Merry Christmas to all. This 🌲 is such a blessed place to be! So thankful I found it so many years ago.😊
“well said”😁
That is so true. Thank you, Sundance. It is good to remember the simple things.
I pray our Lord protects and Blesses you and your family.
Thank you for such a lovely reminder. Merry Christmas 🎄
I led a fast paced corporate life, raising kids, buying houses, paying for college, with little time to pause. Now, I am long retired and much older.
After years of hustle, I have moved to live in rural America, where peace and quiet are at my doorstep. Each time wander out of sight from civilization and find myself surrounded by unspoiled nature, especially in solitude, I am overwhelmed at the detail in the simple beauty around me.
My advice to all young men and women: Take the time to appreciate the simple things in your life, especially with and, in the presence of, your family. The payback is priceless, much greater than more hours at the office.
Merry Christmas to all.
It is still dark out here and I just waved good-bye to my husband, who is on a mission to pick-up a large lot of flooring for our friends. He will be driving for hours to get to where the flooring is, then drive it back — 30 miles from home — drop it off, then head home. He will be gone all day, which means I will be alone all day in a house that is very quiet, and very lonely.
I plan on taking advantage of the many hours I’ll have to focus on getting stuff done, but will never not feel the absence of the better part of me being away.
As I walked back into our house after waving good-bye I thought about all the friends I have who are alone, and have been alone for years. Whether they’ve been alone by choice, poor choices, death or divorce, I know many women who are lonely, fearful, cautious, and hungry for human interaction — for human interaction with people they know they can trust in this sin-filled world.
Throughout this day, a day I will be praying for the Lord’s protection and guidance in my husband’s travels, I will also be thinking of friends who do not have the mountains of blessings God has given me in the form of my husband, and take time to slow down, call them, and find out all their latest news.
It is a blessing when God gives us glimpses of His glory that spark in us the desire to do “more,” even if that means we will be doing less.
Thanks Raven, for the reminder that as we age many of our friends are all alone on a daily basis, usually for the reasons you listed. Whatever the reason, a call or a short visit can help make the day a little brighter, helping them to get through the day.
Thank you for those thoughts. I can relate, this will be my 7th straight Christmas alone. For several of the reasons you cited. But I am still thankful for what I have. including a job which pays the bills and a roof over my head. It isn’t much but it’s all I have to hang on with.
Amen Brother. Peace to you.
Such a beautiful expression of the inner life manifesting outward.
Tomorrow I will be baking a homemade carrot cake for Christmas at my son’s house. Cooking and baking is a peaceful and joyful pursuit as long as I’m not rushed. At the same time can watch the birds and critters at the backyard feeders. In the warmer months my wife and I sit out on our lawn chairs and watch the birds feeding and listen to the geese and and Sandhill cranes sound off. A nice refugee from the negative things.
Take a smile with you wherever you go; if you’re looking for good feelings and smiles you’ll get them.
If you go out looking for rudeness, rushing, and no smiles that’s what you’ll find.
Both are out there depends on what you’re shopping for.
Stick to your list.
Reading this reminded me of many mornings years ago, sitting in a duck blind after setting decoys by moonlight, drinking coffee from a thermos and rubbing the dog’s ears, waiting for sunup. Those beautiful quiet sunups over a decoy spread with a wonderful companion who desired nothing more than my attention always made me ultra aware of God’s presence and hand in everything peaceful and beautiful; a time when everything slowed down, or at least a time when I did.
Those are moments you cannot truly put into words, but I must say, you did an incredible job of it. You took me back to those breathtaking moments.
Thank you for that gift during a very busy time of the year.
May God bless all Treepers during this Christmas season. And, in spite of all we know we will face in the new year, may He bless you with His peace, wisdom, comfort and joy no matter what you are faced with.
The victory is His.
Reading your stories makes me smile. It feels more like Christmas.
If I may, someday try the Poolish Focaccia recipe from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart. When I make this, friends and family tell me it is the finest bread they have ever tasted. Not the finest Focaccia bread, but “The Finest Bread” they have ever tasted. The way it smells when you use fresh herbs in the herb oil is unbelievable.
Thank you, I just looked that up and saved it.
merry Christmas to all
A sourdough aficionado? My wife is just starting out on her sourdough journey, she’s already named some of her starters …
She will have years of pleasure from it.
As our summer trip souvenir a few years back, my husband bought Wheat Montana AP and started two sourdough starters for me. “Lewis” and “Clark” are still going strong! The bread is great, and he loves making pizza dough!
Merry Christmas to All.
Sourdough…. just a few simple ingredients, patience and time. It’s a slow process that took me over 2 years to master. Patience and time is what it takes to master anything! Merry Christmas, Sundance! Thank you for your insight and reflections!
You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them. St. Therese, the Little Flower
Have a blessed Christmas fellow Treepers. Always reminded to keep living the good life despite those in darkness who would bring us down. I’ll be making salsa for family and friends. I continue to cherish the freedom we enjoy in this great country of ours.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Conservative Treehouse and Followers. Be safe
Thank you Menagerie for the inspiration you provide with your stories. Lately I’ve been getting great pleasure and comfort by simply and quietly observing my loved ones. I can’t explain the joy I feel from watching them go about their daily activities, even as they do something as simple as eat, read or watch TV. No talking….just quietly watching them be themselves and realizing how blessed I am to have them in my life.
The Lords wonders surround us each and every day! From that tiny yeast to the awesome community here at CTH!
Merry Christmas All!
Amen!
The Joy of living is working and giving.
Beautiful message Menagerie! I am enjoying my moments of being in the presence of my CTH family, drinking my coffee and celebrating all of you. As Dekester says, cheers. Blessings to all.
Four years ago I would have looked at that first picture and figured it must have been the last of somebody’s chocolate shake.
🙂
Now I know the joy of seeing those yeast gases bubbling out of the dough…another of God’s little miracles!
Thanks for sharing these wonderful posts and this one is especially important…..to all of us.
Have a blessed Christmas, Menagerie and family.
Give us this day our daily bread. Merry Christmas !
“never had a bread machine” = I was given an exceptionally nice bread machine for Christmas once. I was gobbling fresh baked bread covered with butter, until I was inspired to write a proverb, that easily could have become my epitaph. … “Give a fat man a bread machine, and he’ll eat fresh baked bread with butter, until he pops!” … I decided to give the now used bread machine away.
Proverbs come from human experience, or directly from God.
I’m not a Luddite or someone that thinks bread machines are the work of the devil. … But, sometimes things can be too easy. God wants people to work for their earthly bread.
“There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink and provide themselves with good things from their toil. Even this, I saw, is from the hand of God. For who can eat or drink apart from God?” The Goodbook, Ecclesiastes.
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” The Goodbook.
Amen!
Well, maybe…but.. I wanted a bread machine for Christmas, so I ordered it. And planned to wrap it up for myself for Christmas. I left it in its box in the dining room thinking no one would go in there because it was a total wrapping disaster.
Well, I could not be more wrong. The next morning when I got up my husband and son were baking bread in my bread maker. After six years, I still have not made bread in that bread maker. My husband no longer uses it, and makes amazing breads without it,
Someday, I will use my bread maker for my original intent.
In the meantime, I am thrilled to not only received a bread maker, but also a bread maker for Christmas!!
Words of wisdom to always try to live by for sure. The priest at our parish has often spoke about the importance of taking time to slow down or alone time so that we can focus on hearing and feeling God’s presence. It’s just as important to be quiet so we can hear Him as much as it is to pray and praise Him. As I’ve grown older and no longer am consumed with raising young children, my job etc. it’s much easier now to have time to spend quietly with our heavenly Father. There’s nothing to compare to feeling His immense love for us. For this alone, we are all truly blessed beyond measure.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Bread of life.
Menagerie, nice post.
Merry Christmas to all.
There are such moments. We all have them. They are enough to sustain us through the harshest winters and the darkest nights. At the end of the day we can look back and say, proudly, “at least there was that“. The little cubicle-bound numbers counters never get it. Little do they know the more earnestly they count their meaningless metrics, the less human and meaningful they become. Cling to your moments and cherish them, for they truly are the wealth of the world.
After countless hours over many years studying, digesting, enjoying, and yes, praying whilst visiting here, and somehow never deciding to take a little more time out of a busy schedule to comment, here is my first. Thank you Sundance for the inspired research and sharing. And having just read the above, thank you to Menagerie for helping me realize that one needs to slow the pace and appreciate God’s daily gifts, of which you ALL are. So thank you all. Have too much fun these next few days celebrating with your loved ones our Lord’s promised arrival! All the best.
I thought my heart was dead…but this made me tear up unexpectedly. Beautifully written, thank you.
Yesterday my Bible reading was in Act 3, and I saw a couple of phrases I hadn’t noticed before…
“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” (vs. 19-21)
I don’t know about you bit I’m sure looking forward to a big helping of refreshing and restoration!
The Lord’s is a still, small voice. He is the Lord of Hosts; He doesn’t need to cause His voice to boom. I suspect that He talks to us that way so that we will slow down, “be still” and listen.
There are several events in my past where He was speaking to me quietly, but because I was in some other mode, I missed it. After the event, I could recall, “Oh man, that was the Lord telling me…and I fouled up.” I wonder sometimes how much different and better my path would have been if I’d been listening! That might be especially important in these days we are entering.