Pet comes to our home

We have a new pet in our home; we call it Pet.  One of the interests that our whole family has is cooking; much of it because we love the taste of good food.  Pet is a fledgling sourdough starter.  Pet was resurrected from a small amount of crumbs in an envelope that has slowly started to grow and grow and grow, faster and faster and faster with each feeding.  Pet eats a cup of flour and a cup of water every four hours or so.  Some of the saddest moments are that with each feeding, I have to pour most of Pet down the drain and save only a 1/2 cup (which concentrates the bacteria).  The interesting thing with this resurrection of Pet is it takes 72 hours... 3 days.


Jesus was recorded saying:

"He [Jesus] told them still another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.""  Matt 13:33 [bracket mine]

Sourdough Starter, AKA, Pet

Pet is really like this, it not only works through the flour, but soon through the dough.  Today, we had pancakes from some of the starter that was to be thrown away.  It was good and sour and the smell filled the house of the yeast/bread fragrance, so much so that it stimulated memories of 30 years ago of growing up in the Ukraine for a friend who came to the house.  Smells often times bring back strong associated memories. 


Jesus was comparing the kingdom of heaven and yeast and again I can testify that though it starts small, the yeast is a mighty worker.  No, Jesus isn't as ordinary as an Iron Chef, but He is the Creator of bacteria and everything else.  He knew that the people listening to Him understood yeast and His effort was to show that from a little start, the kingdom of heaven, like yeast, shall grow until all the earth has been influenced by it.  

Everyday, advertising pounds into our minds that we need something else to make us happy; a new car, a new phone, a faster computer, a better bike, whiter teeth...... I have to admit, it might make us happy for a moment but then we forget "it" and want something else.  Often times we like our idea of  "it"or our dream of what "it" should be or do; but "it" often fails to reach our expectation, whatever "it" is.  But with God, "it" will be exceeded way beyond our dreams or expectations, when "it" comes to Heaven.  It is a real place that God has been and continues to prepare for those that truly love Him. 


There are people that do not understand the kingdom of heaven because they are not part of it; as with making sourdough starter, you do not want to add anything that isn't suppose to be in there (flour and water).  The kingdom of heaven is the same, don't try and make it what YOU think it should be or how you become part of it..  


So, to close, we might like OUR IDEA of being some one else or buying some object, but the reality is "it" never stacks up to reality, we are almost always disappointed.  We might like OUR IDEA of what the path looks like to enter the kingdom of heaven, but the reality is Jesus Christ made it really clear. 
"Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth , and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me".  John 14:6

In a couple of days, Pet will be officially ready to use.  I'll put a little into the bread ingredients and let it rise, punch it down, put it in a pan and let it rise again, then to the oven for the last rise or spring.  When finished, I'll know that the path to make our own San Francisco Sourdough Bread was long and rewarding.  Just follow the directions.