I love bread dough. There is something instinctively comforting about warm, rising dough that is as fluffy as toddler cheeks. I love the ppfffffff sound of punching the dough down after the first rise and then dividing it into little loaf portions and tucking them into their pans. I love folding in mozzarella and sauteed onions and so many herbs that they fall out when you lift the dough into the big loaf pan.
I love watching it rise.
And…I really love eating it. Hello, my name is Shannon, and I love, I adore, I highly esteem, I less-than-three carbs and gluten. Don’t tell our naturopath.
Baking bread used to be so intimidating to me. Silly, hmm? It was unfamiliar territory and seemed like a big process. I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to tackle it.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
– Philippians 4:6
I learned to make new things, and discovered the love of stretching strips of pizza dough over calzone filling, rolling long thin triangles into crescent rolls, and layering other strips of dough together with a ridiculous amount of cinnamon sugar in between. Nothing fancy, just comfort food…but I’m harboring a longing to try homemade hotdog buns soon. We’ll see.
Recently we learned to make doughnuts, and I loved cutting out floury circles, and – the best part – little floury doughnut holes. Oh, joy! Oh, bliss!
Oh, dentist!
Playing is messy but so necessary. We need it from the earliest of ages. When we are little and don’t have enough play and touch and interaction, many things that should just be routine are anxiety-provoking, unfamiliar territory.
Anyway, we’re doing lots of play. So many things are new and intimidating, and we focus on making new things familiar so they lose their fear. Messy play, creative play, textures, temperatures, movement, sound…sensory play. Of course, we never called it that before. We just called it…play. The only difference is that we don’t take it for granted anymore.
…My object is to show that the chief function of a child – his business in the world during the first six or seven years of his life – is to find out all he can, about whatever comes under his notice, by means of his five senses; that he has an insatiable appetite for knowledge got in this way; and that, therefore, the endeavor of his parents should be to put him in the way of making acquaintance freely with Nature and natural objects.
– Charlotte Mason, Home Education
Tonight after bedtime, Chamberlain came downstairs with a splinter in her fingertip that, while certainly painful, somehow magically did not become so until after we tucked her in. Vince and I took turns poking with the tweezers amid her shrieks and tears, but to no avail…we can’t pinch the splinter out, the tweezers can’t grasp it, and it’s unavoidable…the dreaded implement must be used.
You know the one.
We look at it together. Out in the open, it’s just a tiny little thing.
There are owies and impurities inside me, and He is calmly, carefully, quietly pulling them out as I jabber on and on to Him about the pups that I’m holding. Things that used to intimidate me are almost normal now, and I don’t even cry over other things that used to scare me, and I’ve hardly noticed because my attention has been focused on these pups.
He sends us toddling off, free, showing us new ways to play so we can be anxious for nothing…because He loves to watch us rise.
love the beauty of making donuts together. Wonderful memories of doing the same with my brother and warms my heart that y’all share it as well <3
I read this before – and then life exploded. But, wherever I turned, there was that same verse. And, look, after a crazy week – here I am back again – and there is God’s beautiful promise. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing this bit of your life and how the Lord speaks to us though our trials and challenges.
Love this post! Your expression of God’s process of freeing you from fear and giving you an understanding heart towards the little ones in your life. It’s great when we can see (sometimes) God’s perspective and the joy that gives.
Oh, this reminds me of a couple summers ago when we made doughnuts. I need to do this with my kids again.
Wonderful story and how you intertwined it all together. The Lord truly has His hand on you and your pups!
Such a beautifully written and encouraging post!! Thank you for sharing this :)
Just recently had a “revelation” of the like – we are “children” in His sight – and He teaches us, instructs us, disciples us, nourishes us, cherishes us, forms us, trains us……………all the while we are hardly even aware of it – ’til it’s all over and He says “____ is what this is called”. And that characteristic is formed and we’re ready for the next…
I appreciate you’re sharing about the one He created just for you.
What a brilliant post! And what God said about you holding Pup is really encouraging!
Such a powerful story, thanks for sharing.
Oh, awesome, Carol! Thank you for telling me – I will be praying!
As always, there is so much truth and refreshment here, Shannon. Thank you. Last week my son’s pediatrician recommended we pursue a diagnosis of autism because there were multiple things about our boy that worried her. I agree that a diagnosis would be appropriate, but by God’s rich mercy I am not worried. Autism was one of those things that really scared me when I first started researching adoption, but without me even noticing God has lifted that fear. I’ve just been busy loving and caring for our four children who each have their own unique needs, including a sweet little boy who happens to have Down syndrome and is very likely on the autism spectrum. Hearing the doctor voice her concern while having such a peace and joy in my heart gave me a small glimpse at how the healing love of God has been busy silently vanquishing my fears. Thank you for clarifying my experience with your eloquent story of Pup and the sliver.