Question Marks

Question marks fill my life right now. How can I make this bread more moist? What do I need to do to make this bread rise? Where can I buy these ingredients? What needs to change to make this the best granola ever? How am I going to arrange my baking and selling this summer to make it manageable? How can inventory become less of a hassle?

Needless to say, all these question marks drive me a little batty at times. Often times when one question mark gets answered, a new challenge and question mark appears. Yet, they slowly do get answered and there is a feeling of satisfaction and success.

Take Black Pepper Seed Bread for example. The question marks with this bread were how to make a more appealing loaf both in size and flavor. Even though I loved it as it was, I knew it could use some improvements. Thus began the process of baking, tasting, taking notes, hearing my family's opinion, etc. Once I had gone through the process, it was time to start all over again, this time making a slight adjustment to the recipe. This merry-go-round process continued until I settled on all the right adjustments - adding half a pound of dough to each loaf, shaping it as a sandwich loaf rather than free-form round, adding a bit of honey and extra virgin olive oil for flavor and moisture, and cutting the amount of black pepper. Result - a loaf with complex, subtle flavors (until you get an extra large piece of black pepper), beautiful size and shape, and lovely moisture. Success!

Though this process gets long and tedious, the end result is one that brings great joy and triumph. A loaf that has had much sweat and frustration over it yet is enjoyed when eaten is much more satisfying than one that has been thrown together and sits around getting stale. Come to think of it, this holds true throughout all of life - parenting, relationships, ministry, work, home-making... What question marks and challenges face you right now? Don't give up. Work until you get the wonderful end results, even if it isn't until heaven.