Are you Spreading your Leaven?

Sunday as I was home for Mother's Day, I attended the First United Methodist Church of Winchester. Reverend Randy Brown gave the most wonderful sermon in which I would like to share a few thoughts:
The sermon was titled "Spread Your Leaven." I'm sure many of you are thinking spread your leaven? Leaven is not a word you hear very often unless you cook a lot, which I do not. Webster's dictionary defines leaven as a substance, typically yeast, that is added to dough to make it ferment and rise.

We live in a society where we want everything to happen right away. Most of us are impatient and when we want something we don't want to wait. It's usually a click away or an app away. Instead of being grateful for each day and being thankful for our daily blessings, most of the time we find things to complain about or get discouraged about the things we don't have. As the saying goes, "good things come to those who wait."

Just as leaven takes time to make bread rise, God usually takes time to mold us into who He wants us to be. We go through struggles, heart breaks, divorces and losses that generate a faith in us that helps develop each of us into who we are. We often want a quick fix, quick answer or quick result. We must have faith that God's timing is perfect and in that we must strive to let our light shine not only in good times, but in bad times as well. A kind word, believing in someone, listening or a quick smile can change the  mindset and the way we live our lives.

So don't get discouraged when things don't go as you had planned. Just as leaven takes time to rise, our lives take time to transform into who and what God has planned. Do the little things for people that honor God in your daily lives. Leaven is one of the most important ingredients in making a tasty loaf of bread. Kindness and Generosity are 2 of the main ingredients that Honor God and it's the little things that help transpire into the big things that help bring about a positive change in this world.

So Spread Your Leaven to those in need.....Be persistent for sometimes it takes more time for wonderful situations to fall in place. Have faith that with God's love we will all eventually "Rise to the Top."