German bread is not like American bread. It tastes wonderful the first day, good the second, marginal and leathery the third and gets moldy on the fourth. Now I know for a fact, that there are people out there who never get to eat fresh bread. Not because they don’t buy any or bake any, no, they do. It’s because there is always still a tiny leftover of yesterday’s bread and someone has to eat it. Now in our family that someone was always my Mom. Having grown up during the war, she could never throw away any food as long as it was still edible. That meant, we kids got to eat the fresh bread straight out of the oven, while she made sure, none of the old bread went to waste. She is still that way.

Now it would be my turn to eat the old bread- I refuse. I try to match my buying habits to our eating habits but not always successfully. So the other day I threw away the dry leftovers and enjoyed a scrumptious, freshly baked slice of buttered bread instead-not without a twitch of guilt, of course, as I tossed them.

Then it occurred to me that eating old bread is not necessarily a godly trait. I remembered the Exodus 16 account of God telling the Israelites through Moses to just gather enough manna for one day (therein lies my fault) and not keep any for the next. Fresh bread every morning except for on the Sabbath. God wanted to teach them to rely on Him every day because He is the One Who Provides. That would have been a good reminder for my feeble soul, as I was quivering over when God would provide for us. Looking back, I can tell how His timing was perfect, not only in providing for a house but also a job.  Thank God for my new job and I shall continue to eat fresh bread and try not to quiver so much.