The Bread of Life

Learning by doing: It's the foundation for so many things in life.

When do I learn more? Is it when I am reading an article about photography or is it when my finger presses the button and the shutter captures the moment in time? Is it perfectly captured with that very first click? Or will I have better results when I change the angle, change the shutter speed and try again and again?

When do I learn more? Is it when I'm sitting in a chair, reading a cookbook? Or is it when I am up to my elbows in bread dough?


We all learn in different ways. Some experts say there are as many as seven different ways to learn. Others say learning styles fall somewhere in three broad brush strokes - listening, seeing and experiencing. Maybe the best learning takes place when there's a little bit of all of those things involved in our educational experience. I think it's that way for me.

When my son Brent was interested in 4-H photography, I added photography leader to my "resume." I am the first to admit I don't know everything there is to know about photography. I took one photography class in college. When I first started my job as a reporter at The Hutchinson News, I often had to be my own photographer when a "real" photographer wasn't available to go with me to cover a feature story I was writing. I learned by doing.

As a 4-H parent, I probably learned as much or more than my kids did. I learned from other parents, leaders, extension agents and from workshops. I also learned by doing activities with Jill and Brent.

I began serving as a 4-H foods leader when our daughter, Jill, was a 7-year-old 4-Her.

As a 4-H cook myself (many, many years ago), I wasn't a successful bread baker. I didn't do it often enough to get proficient at it. Baking once a year for fair competition is not the way to get better at something.

I didn't get better at baking bread until Jill and her friend, Holly, began exploring bread baking in 4-H. We all learned together. We started with homemade pretzels. We put together a demonstration called "Fit To Be Tied." Their pretzel-making expanded to a little enterprise during our Stafford community's Oktoberfest one year. Believe you me: When two girls and two moms are making hundreds of pretzels, there's plenty of learning going on.

It continued when Jill & Holly did another demonstration on shaping rolls. I don't think I'd ever shaped a dinner roll in my life before that endeavor. We all learned together.

I became the leader because I wanted Jill to benefit from 4-H cooking, just like I had years before as a child in Pratt County. An adult spent time with me and my friends. We learned by doing. We learned by being together. I wanted to pass on that gift.

I think that's why I am still a 4-H foods leader, even though my own children are grown up and I'm no longer doing it for my own family.

But am I under any illusion that I know it all? Absolutely not. That's why it's so important to ask for help.

This summer, I asked a fellow Stafford homemaker and farm wife to lead a 4-H cooking meeting and show my older 4-H foods members how to shape bread loaves.

When I make yeast dough, it's usually shaped into dinner rolls or cinnamon rolls.

But Sharon makes bread for her family every single week. And she is a shining example of what I have been telling my 4-H cooking kids for the past 15-plus years.

You only get better with practice.

The three girls who were at the cooking meeting in June took that to heart. All three of them practiced and all three of them did well in the 4-H foods division during the Stafford County Fair.

But if they wait until next July to start baking bread again, they will lose any proficiency that they gained this summer.

And I will personally never get any better at shaping bread loaves if I don't do it myself. It won't be without obstacles. It doesn't just happen because I want it to happen. There will be disasters and mistakes along the way. But there will also be rewards.

It takes practice and perseverance. I know I won't get better at bread baking unless I practice it. The same goes for my Christian walk.

God's Word - the Bible - gives us an instruction manual. If I want to make a quality loaf of bread, I will start with a quality recipe and quality ingredients.

If I want to live life as Christ would want me to, I can't just leave God's Word sitting on the book shelf. I will have to open it up and find direction.

But just like I asked for help from a more experienced bread baker, I don't have to make this Christian journey alone either.

I frequently hear people say, "Well, I don't need to go to church. I can worship on the golf course. I can worship while fishing at the lake. I never feel closer to God than when I'm tending my garden."

I have no doubt that we can worship at any time, at any of life's intersections. I personally do some of my best praying and thinking and listening for God's voice while walking down our country roads.

But I also know that I can learn and I can grow by being with others. I teach an adult Sunday School class at my church. I learn when I'm preparing for the lesson each Sunday. But I learn just as much as I interact with the other people in the class. The message God wants me to learn may be revealed through what someone else says during a class discussion.

I learn from our minister's message every week. I am blessed by the lyrics and melodies of the worship service, whether the songs are the old hymns from 200 years ago or more contemporary praise songs.

I can study my Bible at home, and I will grow in my knowledge and faith. But I can also learn from the insights and interaction with other women in a Lovely Branches Ministries Bible study. This fall, the Bible study will be titled, "Get a Grip," and we'll be studying a book called "Manage Your Moods" by Women of Faith. The study will give us Scriptural reinforcement for focusing on our heart, or our emotional well being. All women in the area are invited to participate in this study. If you're not in this area, you can find a Bible study at a church near you.

In the Bible, Jesus used everyday items, familiar to his disciples, to teach the lessons he wanted them (and us) to learn. For the disciples, bread was central to every meal. It was literally the staff of life, one of the things that gave them their daily sustenance.

Jesus said: "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread of heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." (John 6: 32-35)

There's nothing more fragrant than the aroma of homemade bread baking in the oven. There's nothing that adds more depth and dimension and fragrance to our lives than the Bread of Life - Jesus Christ.

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If you click on the colored words in the text above, it will link you to recipes. On the Fit to be Tied link, there is a recipe and step-by-step photos of making pretzels. The other link gives you two tasty bread loaf recipes - along with the knowledge that not everything coming out of my kitchen is perfect!

Tending the Garden

I probably will have to turn in my Kansas farm wife title, but here's a confession: I'm not much of a gardener. I am an indoor girl and always have been.

While my little sister had a worm collection, I had a collection of Trixie Belden mysteries. Give me a choice between curling up with a good book and getting covered with sweat and dirt? I'll choose the book every time.

But that's not to say I don't love fresh garden produce. There is nothing like fresh tomatoes lightly sprinkled with salt and pepper ... unless it's the perfectly ripened cantaloupe ... or a raw cucumber sliced into a sweetened vinegar mixture. It's the very taste of summertime! Is your mouth watering yet?

Yes, I love the garden produce. I just don't want to do the work.

Isn't that true of most everything in life? I want to lose a few pounds, but I'd sure like to be able to do it without giving up anything I love to eat or adding something different to my hour-a-day exercise routine.

I want to declutter my house, but I can't ever seem to move it off the TO-do list and actually DO it. (Check out Suzanne's blog Home Matters here on the Vine Press. She has lots of practical advice for doing this. Just click on the red words, and it will take you right there - after you're reading this, of course!!)

I want closer friendships. But do I call someone up and invite them over for coffee or supper? Do I make a date to go for an out-of-town window shopping excursion? Or do I instead log into Facebook or send someone an email? There's nothing wrong with cyberspace friendships, and it's been a great way to reconnect with people. But do those "relationships" take the place of true, face-to-face connections?

I say I want to grow in my Christian walk. I want to be a "lovely branch of righteousness." But do I really invest the time I should? Do I do more than read my daily email devotional? Do I commit time and effort to Bible study? Do I spend time in prayer? When I say I'll pray for someone, do I do more than just "throw" a prayer upwards and call it good?

Just like gardening, all these things require work. They require an investment of time and effort. They may require us to get a little sweaty and dirty.

"Their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law, they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper." Psalm 1: 2-3

It takes time, commitment and "weeding" for our garden to grow, whether we're talking about a summertime plot in the backyard, housekeeping, a friendship or Bible study. We can't expect to grow "fruit" overnight or without water, nourishment and cultivation.

Fruit grows when we spend time doing the hard work, getting out in the hot sun and hoeing the weeds, watering the plants, tying up tomato vines so they can grow.

It also takes some work to build friendships with others. I think it's more than "commenting" on someone's Facebook status.

It takes effort to truly grow on this Christian journey. Fruit grows as we spend time in Bible study, prayer, devotional reading, worship and fellowship with other Christians. It grows as we work at living our faith in service to others, becoming the hands and the feet of Jesus.

And it's OK that I'm not a gardener, despite the stereotypical image of the farm wife bringing bushel baskets of fruit and vegetables to the kitchen for canning. We all bring our special God-given talents and gifts to the table.

I love the imagery of I Corinthians 12.
"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men." I Corinthians 12: 4-6.

It illustrates the different gifts given by comparing the body of Christ to our human body, something we are all intimately familiar with.

"The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ." I Corinthians 12: 12

(I encourage you to click on the link above to Bible Gateway and read the whole chapter. This is just a "taste.")

Yes, to be a gardener I have to do the work. To be a friend, I have to do the work. To have a clean house, I have to do the work. To be a Christian growing in my faith, I have to do the work.

Find the work you are called to do. And then do it well and abundantly.

And you can always enjoy the fruit of the other laborers in God's world. I didn't grow all the vegetables I used in the illustration at the top of this post (I do have a few tomatoes this year, but that is the extent of my gardening.)

But I do enjoy visiting farmers' markets when I have a chance or even choosing from the array of produce in the grocery store this time of year.

And, despite the joke about avoiding your gardening friends this time of year when they are pawning off sacks of zucchini "gone wild," I never turn down fresh produce from my green-thumb-blessed friends (hint, hint!)

I asked one of those friends for some recipes she and her family enjoy as they celebrate the bounty of their large garden. Of course, fresh garden produce is wonderful prepared simply as well - in a fresh salad or cooked crisp-tender in a nonstick skillet (with or without a little olive oil!)

But if you're looking for a little variety, here are some favorite ways Kim Volker and her family enjoy their abundance of squash at this time of year. I tried them all, and they are yummy! Enjoy!

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Squash Casserole

2 lbs. squash, peeled and cut up (yellow or zucchini: I used yellow)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup sour cream
1 8-oz. pkg. seasoned stuffing mix
1/2 cup butter or margarine

Cook squash and onion in salt water for 3 minutes. Drain. Combine chicken soup and sour cream. Stir in shredded carrots, squash and onions. Mix well and add salt to taste.

Combine stuffing mix with butter. Spread half of stuffing in bottom of 12- by 7-inch baking dish. Spoon vegetable mixture on top. Then put rest of stuffing on top of vegetable mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Serves 6 (generously!)

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Baked Chicken and Zucchini

1 egg
1 tbsp. water
3/4 tsp. salt, divided
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 cup dry bread crumbs or cracker crumbs
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
4 tbsp. olive oil, divided
5 medium zucchini, sliced
4 medium tomatoes, sliced
1cup (4 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
2 tsp. fresh minced basil

In shallow bowl, beat egg, water, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper. Set aside 2 tablespoons of bread or cracker crumbs. Place the remaining crumbs in a large resealable plastic bag. Dip chicken in egg mixture, then place in bag and shake to coat.

In a skillet, cook chicken in 2 tablespoons of oil for 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown; remove and set aside. In the same skillet, saute zucchini in remaining oil until crisp-tender; drain. Transfer to a 13- by 9-inch baking dish. Sprinkle the reserved bread crumbs over the zucchini. Top with tomato slices; sprinkle with 2/3 cup mozzarella cheese, basil and remaining salt. Top with chicken.

Cover and bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Serves 4.

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Zucchini Carrot Muffins

1 pkg. (18 oz.) carrot cake mix
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped pecans

In large bowl, combine the cake mix, applesauce, oil and egg for 30 seconds. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in zucchini, raisins and pecans.

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: About 16 muffins (I got 18).