These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (NIV)
The earthy scent of yeast fills the kitchen. Puffs of flour can be seen on noses and floor and counter. Sunlight streams through the window catching “flour dust” still in the air from all the kneading and pounding my daughters and I have just inflicted on our dough. The kneaded and shaped batch is now rising in the oven for the last time, and we feel satisfied with the bulk of our task behind us.
We untie aprons, and I put on the kettle for tea. We know counters need wiping and dishes need washing, but first we’ll sit and talk about our plan for those hot cross buns. I make cambric tea* for the girls, ages five and six at the time, and we talk about their British grandmother. We talk about how hot cross buns are made each year in our family households on both sides of the Atlantic. I talk about unleavened bread and the haste of the Israelites readying themselves for flight from oppression. I remind them that we are free. We can eat slow-rising breads without fear of suddenly having to run for our lives—and for that we should be grateful.
We decide which neighbors to visit with our gift of hot cross buns still warm on paper plates and with cards wishing them a Happy Easter from our family. The cards have been made and are waiting to be placed on top of the plates. At Christmastime we are often away, so we settled on Easter for declaring ourselves as Christ-followers to the neighborhood in this friendly way. Our neighbors look forward to their annual delivery, and we quietly inform them that we are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus.
We clean the kitchen together with the yeasty warmth of baked bread still permeating the air. We frost each bun with a cross and talk about Jesus’ death and resurrection that has led to our forever freedom from fear of death and punishment. We each eat a bun, frosting smeared across lips and smiles on faces. Our Easter tradition grows sweeter each year, and the annual rhythm underlines that Easter matters in this family. It’s a high and holy celebration of Christ’s victory over death.
Not all teaching comes from schoolbooks. Not all lessons are learned sitting with pencil in hand. Some lessons are learned as you knead bread and talk, as you knock on doors and smile, as you learn to give. Some lessons happen as you simply “talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” These may well be the best lessons of all.
* Cambric tea is described by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “a hot drink of water, milk, sugar, and often a small amount of tea.”
May God bless you and your family with great abundance and a train load of his fantastic love !!!!!!!!!!!! Doyle & Elaine—— Celebrating 67 wonderful years together !!!!
Congratulations on 67 wonderful years!! Praise God for His faithfulness … and yours. <3 A blessed Easter to you as well. Love, Sharon