Morning comes early in our house. Usually by 6 am everyone is awake and ready for the day. When it's a good morning and we're working in the way I'd like to as a family (which is less than I'd like to admit), we have some kind of bible story time together. I so miss the sunday school program that I was involved with getting going at our church in Vancouver, but I now have the book and some resources here, so we're using a couple of the Young Children and Worship stories in our morning times together.
Because we set such a routine during out Bible times together in the past, when I get the story box out and have something prepared, the kids really enjoy it and now, after over a year of practice, they listen intently and ask lots of wondering questions, digging deep into the parable themselves. I think that's one of my favorite parts of this curriculum, is hands-on storytelling and something physical to hold on to.
A couple days ago I was inspired to take the parable of the leaven to the next level. To REALLY see what yeast does to flour and water and oil..... The kids are young so I'm not sure if they completely grasped the metaphore of yeast being like the Kingdom of God, but they did get their hands involved (and eyes and taste buds!)
We made bread. (again)
Will it rise?
In the meantime, on a more practical level, it's time to replenish the peanut butter supply. These ingredients seem to do the trick quite nicely. Raw peanuts, salt and sesame oil.
Simply roast in the frying pan...
And pop into the blender/grinder for a couple of minutes being sure to blend into a smooth paste.
Did the bread rise? You bet! Because strawberries are also out in season and priced well, I bought a bunch in the market to make some jam. I don't have pectin here but I found that using equal parts crushed berries and sugar, adding a finely chopped green apple for pectin and a lemon's worth of juice to boil together for a good long time produces some pretty good strawberry jam!
At least it's a hit with the fam.
I don't know if I'll have the stamina to produce from scratch all of our bread, jam and peanut butter all the time, but I enjoyed this recent experience:)
And so did they. Maybe someday the story of the leaven and the flour will make sense about how the Kingdom of God grows, but for now, they might understand what miracle happens when all these things come together under the right circumstances. Something sweet indeed!