There are simple pleasures we miss because we can “buy” it. Last night, we were watching the traditional Christmas movies that bring so much joy. One of the advertisements was for a brand of cinnamon rolls. The instantly brought back childhood memories of Sunday mornings. My mom would pop those in the oven and when they came out, icing would run down their warm sides. It was a big hunk of goodness. Just looking at the commercial made me want cinnamon rolls again (so yes, the advertiser was completely successful). Wendy started to look up recipes for me. As a vegan, it is challenging to find pre-made food that doesn’t contain dairy. The search began. It wasn’t long before she discovered an easy recipe with simple ingredients we had at home. Baking as much as I have lately does lend itself to having the right ingredients. I decided I would get up this morning and make them.
Now, I could have simply gone to the store and bought the product. It would have taken much less time. But I would have missed the simple joys of the process. I would have missed watching the yeast activate. I would have missed rolling out the dough and sprinkling on the sugar and cinnamon. I would have missed cutting them and placing them in the container. But mostly, I would have missed the joy of just seeing it all come together in such an exciting way. I would have missed the process.
There are so many things we can just buy. We don’t have to put much of any effort into anything. Someone else will do all the work for us. But we miss something when we buy it in the store. We miss the experiences that our parents and grandparents had. We miss watching dough being formed right beneath our fingers. We miss seeing the success of something we had a part. I do understand that we are all time crunched. And there are some amazing bakers that are local we should absolutely support. But maybe, just on occasion, we take the time to do it ourselves. We may find simple joys in the process we would have missed. And we may find goodness waiting right around the corner that we didn’t even have to buy.
Focus Scripture:
Genesis 1:29-31
29 God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery. Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery
SEEING THE EXTRAORDINARY 