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Montage Moments is a page of blog postings about a variety of subjects, thoughts and opinions..

Is God 'proofing' You?

11/25/2014

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I have always (it seems) enjoyed baking; especially bread, dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, and anything else that requires yeast. Most people think anything with yeast is difficult to make; they try a few times and if the results are less than spectacular, they abandon the effort.
It isn't so difficult; there are just a few rules you have to remember. Yeast is a living element and you can kill it with temperature; either too cold or too hot. When I baked bread every week for my family, sometimes the dough would rise quickly and sometimes it would take much longer. It really didn't matter too much to me; as long as it did eventually become the size I wanted it. There were just a few times when it didn't rise at all and hours later, the dough was still just a lump in the bread pan. Ugh.

Then came the job at the convenience store; not as a cashier, but as the 'doughnut maker.' I worked during the night so the doughnuts would be fresh the next morning. As much as I knew, or thought I knew, about baking; this was a whole new ballgame.
The doughnuts came as frozen little 'tires.S I placed them on the trays and waited for them to thaw.
The person training me said, "Then you put the trays in the proofer, okay?"
I nodded and smiled and secretly withheld the information that I had never used (or seen) a proofer in my entire life. If you aren't familiar with this term either, this is what it looks like, although they come in various sizes.




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It is basically a metal cabinet with slots for trays. The temperature and humidity can be set at a certain level. The dough 'proofs' or expands to the desired size and then it can be utilized (baked or fried). It is certainly a timesaver when you are making 50 dozen doughnuts.

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OOPS. Sorry. It looked so good, I had to take a bite.

Since I don't own a proofer, it is always a challenge at home to find the perfect temperature and humidity for the dough. Recently I discovered the perfect place. I have an old house with wall registers.
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One of those registers is directly behind a small kitchen cupboard with open shelves. I placed the covered bowl of dough on the shelf. Voila! It raised in short order. (Somehow, I don't believe this is going to work in the summer when the AC is coming through that vent.)

   The point of this whole post is this: We, like the yeast, are living organisms. Jesus told us to be like the leaven, or yeast, and multiply his kingdom. (Matthew 13:33) Sometimes we allow the conditions in our lives to keep us from doing God's work, just as too much heat or cold keep the yeast from working.

Do we only follow Jesus' commands when the conditions of our lives are perfect? Perhaps we need to be 'proofed' so we can expand our knowledge of God's word and reach our full potential. Sometimes it is painful to be expanded, but the alternative: remaining a 'useless lump' is not very appealing either.
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Don't Smack the Pancakes

11/17/2014

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This post is about pancakes, a grandchild listening and what we do to other people; children, spouses, friends and acquaintances.

Many years ago, I managed a small restaurant. If you have ever been in the restaurant business, you know a good grill person is worth their weight in gold. They don't get paid that way, but they can make or break your business; especially the breakfast business.

The grill cook at this restaurant was a young man, quite adept at his job and f-a-s-t, which is a necessary skill. The one thing he insisted on doing was 'smacking' the pancakes; presumably so they would cook faster. I continuously told him, "Don't do that. You break all the bubbles in the batter and the result is a flat rubbery pancake instead of a light, fluffy one."

He would comply for a few days and then I would see him take that spatula and give each pancake a whack. Finally, after many warnings, I told him if I saw it one more time, he was fired. So he could take his choice: employment or 'do it my way.'

I have told that story many times, especially when teaching my children and grandchildren how to make pancakes. I was never certain if they listened or if they did it my way just when I was watching.

When my granddaughter had her first job, it was as an assistant grill cook at a national chain 'sit-down' family restaurant. She came home and told me this story:
"Ooh, Grandma, you will never believe it but the breakfast cook was making pancakes and when I saw him flatten them, I said, 'My grandma would have your hide if she saw you do that. That isn't the way you make pancakes.' I told him they would be much fluffier if he didn't 'smack' them."
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I was beyond impressed that she had not only listened, but obviously understood the reasoning.

After I enjoyed that thought for a while, I had another. How many times do we 'flatten the bubbles' of our children, our spouse, friends and relatives? They may have bubbles of hope, laughter, enjoyment, excitement, anticipation and delight that just fill them up. But especially with children, we can, with one word or a look, smack those bubbles right out of them. We can ultimately make their lives flat and 'un-light'; just like the pancakes.

God tells us to be encouragers and blessings to people just as he encourages us.
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My Latest "God" Story

11/5/2014

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I have had many instances in my life when I can clearly see God's answers to my prayers. Occasionally, I only see them in hindsight, but they are still evident. This week, I saw not only God's answer, but the humorous and convoluted path I took to reach my destination.

In the spring of 2014, I found myself without a vehicle. A relative works at the auto auction and found a car for me. I paid cash and happily, had no car payments. It was a 1994 Chevy Cavalier, with a little over 200,000 miles on it. It drove pretty well; the wipers stayed in the 'up' position unless you turned them on High and the other little details Kalisha and I discovered after we drove it home were 1) the trunk would not open and 2) the glove box didn't open either. I jokingly mentioned there might be a body in the trunk, but there was no smell so I was okay with it.

Recently, my little Cavalier developed a water leak; not just a leak, but the kind you have to carry a gallon jug of water with you at all times. Put a gallon in when you leave home and add another when you are ready to come home and don't drive too many miles in-between. What fun. I took it to a repair shop to get a price on repairs. They found more things wrong and said it would be $600-$800 to fix it. Okay...I only paid $500 for it to begin with. I called Take-a-Part and asked for a scrap price.

In the meantime, someone wanted to buy it for the scrap price and said their husband could do the repairs. Great. Sold. Now I have no car again. I perused Craigslist every day. I asked God to please lead me to the right car in my price range (which had not increased a whole lot since I bought the Cavalier.) I love Craigslist. If you want a bit of humor in your life, just read the car descriptions for low priced cars. They may something like: "Great car, good tires, no rust...bring a trailer, no motor." OR, they sound pretty good and then you see the pictures...
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There are a lot of laughs on CL in the vehicle section.

I did find several I liked, but they were in Ohio or southern IN; too far. THEN, I found one that was only a few blocks from my house. I was thanking God for making this so easy for me. WooHoo. Kalisha and I walked to the car lot; it didn't look exactly like it did on the website. I was pretty sure God wasn't leading me to this one. Two days later, there was another one at the same lot. We walked there again. This was better but needed an exhaust system. (That part wasn't mentioned in the ad.) While we were there, I found another, asked if I could take it to a mechanic to check it out the next day. Yes. Great. I called the mechanic shop and made an appointment. Now I was getting somewhere. I prayed about it every day and knew God would find the right car (But I did remind him I really needed a car by this weekend)

It was raining on Tuesday, I didn't feel like walking in the rain (yes, I do own an umbrella) so I cancelled with the man at the car lot.

Hang in here with me...it gets better.

I was too lazy to look up the mechanic's number in the phone book, so I checked my recent call numbers in my phone and was sure I chose the right one. The voice that answered said, "Hi Gloria."  Whoa...a garage that has caller ID?

Obviously, it wasn't the correct number, but it was the number of a friend. We laughed about my mistake and then he said, "I have a car for you. It's in Whitley County but I'm already in Fort Wayne. I will pick you up, take you out there and if you don't like it, I will bring you back home."

I went, I drove it, I bought it, I drove it home. It is a '98 Mazda Millennia, in perfect condition and I am absolutely thrilled. More thrilled, actually, by God's answers to my prayers and the paths he led me on to the final destination. What are the odds I would mistakenly dial a phone number and that person would have a car I could afford? It's a GOD THING.
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November 05th, 2014

11/5/2014

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    Author: Gloria Doty

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