BAKER- Majors David and Susie Erickson

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I am Chris Benjamin, the producer of words of life and director for sound cast and finally, welcome back to the studio predict man, it's good to be home. Thanks Chris you doing okay over there. I am happy to return the reins to you. So, welcome back to Cheryl again. Children shall be with us in a few weeks and enter next series yeah but right now we are in the middle of a series called crafted and each week we've been interviewing different artists of all types of mediums, learning about the passion, their history and how they found this art and then also how they use their art as an act of worship. And today, and today we are hanging out with our friends. Salvation Army officers David and Susie Erickson, and most will recognize her voice because she was actually with us in a previous series called barefoot, Cinderella, and this was based on a book that she had just written so they welcomed Stephen who is our media editor and myself to their house.

Make us some delicious bread and make us lunch jealous so were talking about as far as their art is probably a little more David's passion and Susie's baking as a craft, but even more so specifically for them and I know you can vouch for this hospitality. They have taken to an art whenever you want someone to feel like there welcome. Call Susie Erickson. She knows how to make people feel like a million bucks, so I hope you enjoy this conversation with the Erickson's and join us again next week for me. It actually began science project for our daughter in six grade she had chosen. I don't know why she had chosen what different reactions or what different reactions used has two different theaters for food, so I helped her on that project may try things like sugaring grape juice and apple juice and orange juice and just be without anything and compared the results of gotten me a little bit interested in and then I just started to get from that to just starting to apply to bread and I learned so much.

As I went through that process with her in those first attempts at making bread that it just it just kinda hooked me on the science of it. The precision of it that is needed for breadmaking labeling to find ourselves as a scientist and an artist in the kitchen because we cook that way. That's really our personalities and I learned how to cook and with my mom in the kitchen and then in a farmhouse and so we cut to the little bit of this in a little bit and that said that is really our personal styles and so I don't do anything with the East and he does everything with the recently over the last six years, began experimenting with sourdough only really recently in the last two years, 2 1/2 years had much success at it and so it's been a lot of fun in our favorite ones to make is a brioche bread simply because of the design in the pan that it comes and comes in a fluid type pan that you make it in in just a pretty bread once it's made, I think that for me and I see every time we gather people at our table as a re-creation of what I believe the wedding feast is can it be like when we all gather in eternity.

And so I tried it or not. When people sit at my table. I want them to feel that sense of lives that we will fill when we are there with Christ's at the wedding banquet. And so I want every little detail to be intentional and special so that the people to sit at our table.

Know how much they are loved not only by the Erickson's but by God himself and how special they are to him and for me it's actually just that.

Making people feel special, giving them an unexpected gift. I usually boat bread bake a loaf of bread usually every Saturday that were here because that's what my Saturday habits is baking bread either Saturday or Sunday and Sunday or Monday. I usually give at least three out of four loaves away and is just a way of making people for special very often. I don't want bacon. I don't know who I'm baking it for. I'm just bacon it to enjoy the process of myself and then to give it away and many times those individuals reduce blessed you know there's a billboard out there that says the secret ingredient is caring. The truth of the matters in our grandchild children know the secret agreement ingredient is love and everything we make everything we do we host people in here is just a gift of love from us that we are able to give back to people and share with them so for specifically ingredient is simply sharing Christ's love and constant hospitality. This is totally useless for you school in order to allow it to expand decorative storage attempt to do school to expand more rest is really new and however you find that renewal defined rest that regenerates you from time to time for the days that you have ahead and I enjoy baking bread and the experimentation of this summer scientist as she said, but the experimentation of different recipes in different techniques bread baking is relaxing to me. It takes my mind off of the problems of the world takes me my mind off the task I have to do it just allows me to just rest my mind and that in turn renews me for all the aspects of what God has called me to do the creativity of it is is also renewing in the sense again that my creativity is not in the bread itself in the mix.

You know that is fairly straightforward, but in the final touches of making a sourdough scoring of the top of playing with different designs to see how they come out in many of them have been very beautiful. Some of you have been failures but it's just been the fun, exciting time of seeing how it's going to develop because when you cut it you should know that you've cut but until the bread expands in the oven and really reveals the scoring that's been done.

You don't understand how it's gonna look is I guess you could say the Julian baking bread is that a failure still taste and back pain to make Failures along the way and the that's okay because to enjoy. You can still come back from it and not affect the last couple of sourdough's but haven't risen as much as I would've liked to live in a flat but okay we can keep trying different techniques to better and it will improve as you go along Shawnee Cross, all I I'm inspired by the way, Jesus did life around the table and he ate with every person you can even imagine centers Pharisees and he engage with people and so I fully learned that we can learn a lot about people.

When we invite them to our table. People that maybe we wouldn't necessarily find and our circle of friends that food has a way of bringing us together and brings cultures together and so I've learned to be more accepting of people outside my culture and to bring people to my table that maybe I wouldn't invite necessarily into a close circle of friends that that shared mail and shared experience really. I've learned to embrace people and all of who they are and on think that food has a way of doing that and people really open up their hearts.

When you break a loaf of bread. You know it's the shared experience around the table and that might take several mills around the table before you get to the real heart of what's going on with people. But that's okay. We all like to eat and we've gotten to know our neighbors and surround us in our home here simply by having news together. Either will it be just crackers and cheese or having a sitdown meal around the table just fellowship and in talking and it's is evangelism because you are showing somebody that you they are loved or cared that their story is important to someone else other than himself and we try to live the life that we share in the sense that we may be the only Christ. Some people oversee and that's just one way that we can move that is hospitality through the gifts of food and bread and just loving on people and they don't have to have a crisis going on just in everyday life. It's a lot like golf, and that all have seven failures and about ready to give up on a recipe and I'll have a success and it keeps me coming back to the Salvation Army's mission doing the most good means helping people with material and spiritual needs to become a part of this mission every time you give to the Salvation Army visit Salvation Army USA.org to offer your support and love to hear from you.

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