Annie, what are you doing?” asked Maxi as he walked by the kitchen. He happened to catch a glimpse of Annie putting some flour into a bowl. This caught his attention.
“I’m going to help Mother make some bread” explained Annie. Flour was all over her hands and face.
“All by yourself? Can I help?” Max also wanted to put his hands in the flour, it looked like so much fun.
“No, I can’t do it by myself because I don’t know how. Mother went to go get one more ingredient from the store, something called yeast. Sure, you can help, you can bring some oil and I will get the salt. Mother said she would show how to make bread with only four ingredients.”
Mother was back from the store, and in her hands she had a small bag, “Hello children, I’m back, I see you have the ingredients ready, so let us begin. We will first need to wash our hands.”
The children ran to wash their hands. Mother had also bought them some aprons, so each one of them put an apron on. This made them very excited. She than began placing some flour into the bowl; Max had the chance to add some salt and Annie added the dry yeast. Mother then mixed the dry ingredients and then made a hole in the middle of the flour where she placed some oil and gradually began adding warm water as she mixed all the ingredients together. Annie and Max also had a turn in mixing in the ingredients. They then kneaded the dough for a good couple of minutes until the dough was smooth and elastic.
“And now, we leave it to rise” said Mother as she put a little olive oil on the round dough and then wrapped the top of the bowl with plastic wrap. After about an hour, the dough had doubled in size.
“Wow, how did that happen, Mother?” asked Max as he looked at the large piece of dough.
“Yeast is what allows the dough to rise, it is important to make bread. Without yeast, bread would be flat., however, with yeast, bread is big and fluffy,” Mother explained as she unwrapped the bowl and divided the dough into four parts. The children helped to put them in bread molds. Mother then put the bread into the oven. As they waited for the bread to be ready, they sat at the kitchen table with a cup of delicious pineapple tea. Mother brought the family Bible.
Jesus once compared the kingdom of God to yeast. Listen to this: “He told them still another parable: The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.” Matthew 13:33
“What does that mean, mother?” asked Annie as she watched the bread rise and begin to turn a golden brown.
“Well children, presently the kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom. It exists in the hearts of those who believe and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. When someone believes in Christ, their faith begins to grow slowly in that person’s life. Each day greater changes are seen in that person’s life. Look at our bread, for example; we only put a small amount of yeast, but it has spread and has made this beautiful large bread. When we have Christ in our hearts we will grow spiritually, and even our outward appearance begins to change. It is impossible to hide our faith because like the yeast, we make visible something that began in our hearts.”
“I understand Mother,” smiled Max. Annie nodded in agreement.
“Oh look children, the bread looks ready,” Mother put her oven gloves on and made her way to the oven.
“Yay!” said the children in unison. They couldn’t wait to try the bread they had made.