Strangers and Friends

Sunday is the day I share a little of my soul...enjoy. 

This week I traveled to the Los Angeles area, specifically Rancho Cucamonga, to teach several classes. I love traveling. It is always a grand adventure and a chance to see friends far away. It is also a time when my kids get to play exclusively with my husband. I generally fly on an airplane and usually I want to just sleep on the airplane...even if it is just an hour flight, planes have that lulling effect on my eyeball sockets.  However, this last trip, as the plane was boarding, I found myself sitting next to a lovely couple from Tucson. They had two teenage boys with them and of course, with a teen of my own, we started talking.  Lisa and Troy explained to me that they travel often with their ministry and work with God's children in Africa at a school for orphans. We laughed at so many of our similarities of heart and home. It is always brilliant and also humbling to see the Hand of God moving in one's life.  I saw it on that plane.

 I explained to them a little bit of what I do with preparedness meals and teaching bread making. We somehow got on the subject of how easy it is to make the bread in a bucket using four ingredients and not needing a kitchen.

Then I said, "I think it would be a remarkable thing to teach the people in Africa." Lisa got chills. I got chills. Immediately she asked for the recipe and how to do it. Lisa...doesn't bake. She, however, said she she was willing to try, and if it was as simple as it sounded, she was going to take this idea along with the everlasting yeast to Ethiopia. "They have ovens there," she said. I know they would love to have bread.

 As the plane landed, it was as if I was leaving  friends on the plane, though we had just met an hour earlier. It reminded me once again that the thin threads of the tapestry the Lord is weaving of our lives will sometimes shine with golden threads of pure inspiration. Connections will happen, because He, more than anything, loves His children. I don't know if the bread will ever make it to the African villages, but I have a feeling that it probably will.
When I stepped off the plane,  this thought from the sermon by  Neil L. Andersen came to mind,  "In this turbulent environment, we rejoice in being disciples of Jesus Christ. We see the Lord’s hand all around us. Our destination is beautifully set before us. “This is life eternal,” Jesus prayed, “that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” John 17:3. Being a disciple in these days of destiny will be a badge of honor throughout the eternities."

Never be ashamed of what you have, and are. God will work in your life for good if you listen to that Spirit that leads you to speak, trust, and move on. I know God lives and that He loves each of us. We should no longer be strangers, but friends, and followers of the Lord. I pray for that gift of friendship every single day. When God sends these friends to my life, I am ever honored. Thank you Cherie Call...for putting into glorious music, how God could bring people together on a plane...



There it is.

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess