God Used Baking to Teach Me A Valuable Life Lesson

It wasn’t about the bread.

It was never about the bread.

It was about the process of baking the bread.

A lesson about intention. More specifically, true intention, and my lack thereof.

To understand intention, and the importance of it, we must understand exactly what it is.

Intention is defined as “the determination to act in a certain way for something you plan to do or achieve. True intention is having purpose in mind, a belief with sincere honesty, that comes from your ‘heart and soul’” (Melchizedek’s Pearls of Love).

And, until Jesus showed me a new way of living, “the way” (Acts 24:14), my life had been very UNINTENTIONAL.

Instead of telling myself “I can”, or “I will”, I told myself the opposite…without even realizing it.

Thoughts such as “I don’t know if I’ll be able to do that, but I’ll try”, created doubts, walls of limitations (Melchizedeks Pearls of Love), within me and in my life, ultimately creating failure long before I ever took action.

I learned that our thoughts hold so much power. What we tell ourself matters. The difference between the words “I will” versus “I’ll try” is so Important.

We must tell ourselves what we WILL do; what we CAN do. A few examples: “I will wake up and have a great day today” vs “I don’t feel like going to work”. “I am going to sleep so great tonight and wake up refreshed” vs “I hope I sleep”. The difference is critical.

As for my lesson about bread, in the past I always told myself “I don’t know if I can bake bread, but I will try and see what happens”. “Try”. That sneaky little word created doubts within me, without me even realizing it, ultimately creating exactly what I feared: an unsuccessful, dense, gummy, flavorless loaf.

So this time, I did a new thing (Isaiah 43:29). I changed my thoughts to be INTENTIONAL. I filled my mind with thoughts such as “I WILL bake a tasty loaf of bread”, and “I CAN make a tasty loaf of bread”, and “I am excited to eat this tasty bread that I will make”. When the negative thoughts would try to derail me, I would bring in my mantra, and bring myself make to my desired goal.

And you know what happened?

I was successful.

I baked the bread. The tastiest, softest loaf of bread with the most perfect, crunchy crust.

I just needed to change the process; the process within me.

My sisters, our thoughts either build us up or knock us down. We have the power to choose which one.

To learn more about intention and making real changes in life, read the book linked here.

May God give you peace and blessings,

Taylor