Yesterday I
won a great victory. I really accomplished an historic achievement – in the
kitchen! For the first time in 47 years I was able to bake something
successfully! Actually this was only my second attempt to bake in my entire
life. The first time took place 47 years ago as I had left home and was travelling
as an evangelist.

Together
with an elderly evangelist I was staying in a church building at the northern coast
of Sør Trøndelag. One day as I was preparing our daily porridge I happened to
see a recipe for oat biscuits on the packet of oat I used for the porridge. I
decided to try to make some oats biscuits the very same afternoon. After having
put all the ingredients together I realized that I needed a rolling pin to roll
out the dough. But at the flat for visiting evangelists in the church building
no rolling pin was available. Then I got the bright idea to make the dough into
bread instead of thin biscuits and put the bread dough into the oven. When my
oat bread had got the right golden colour I took it out and let it cool down
for a while. My precious oat bread turned out to be hard as a brick. It could
not be eaten at all. What a failure. I realized that baking is not my calling
in life, and never tried again for 47 years!

We have a
saying in Norway going like this: The need teaches a naked woman to weave. With
Solveig in bed and Christmas approaching, this is really a time of need.
December or the time of Advent is the time for Christmas cookies. Solveig is becoming
desperate to prepare for Christmas, but can do nothing. The need forced me to
overcome all the hurts from my failure in making biscuits 47 years ago. With
the encouragement from Solveig, I took courage to decide I that would try to
make some cookies.

I found a
recipe for glutenfree chocolate chip cookies which seemed to be quite easy to
make. I followed the instructions very carefully. However, I had not read the
recipe properly. As I was far into the process of putting the ingredients
together in the right order, I discovered to my despair that one ingredient,
soy flour, was missing. I search all the cupboards in the entire kitchen. I
went through the store room in the basement. But no soy flour could be found.
But by the grace of God I found some rice flour, so I substituted the soy flour
with the rice flour. Happily, I continued to put the all the ingredients
together, and finally the dough was ready to be put on the big plate in small
portions to be put in the oven.

To cut the
story short, it was a great success! The cookies tasted fantastic. What a great
achievement! A record of 47 years of failure in baking has been broken! God is
so good! What a victory! What an historic event that took place in the kitchen
in the house in the forest yesterday, the 23^rd of November in the
year of the Lord 2009.

I have had no need to make any cookies or cakes before. Solveig is making the best cookies and the most delicious cakes in the world. I have had no need to learn to bake before now when she is in bed.