Easter and Baking Powder

Originally posted April 1, 2017

So how do you buy baking powder in a country that does not have ovens in homes? We only have two very hot burners for woks. (We happen to have a toaster oven as well, which I think is a small concession to foreigners' needs.) We looked up how to say "baking powder" then went to the store. Nope, no way that our pronunciation was going to result in anything. The lady behind the counter called over a man she evidently knew and thought could speak English. We looked at the English and the Chinese pronunciation ( I did not have it in characters.) We talked back and forth between the man, his wife, and me.Finally he said, "To make cake?" "Yes!" Well the store also had a bakery as part of it, so we went to the bakery counter and the baker went to his kitchen and brought out a sandwich bag with about 30 cents worth of baking powder. Mission accomplished.

Update:

Only of course it never is even that simple. I took the "baking powder" home and tried to make brownies with it. They were awful. A few weeks later when I was packing to move to Beijing, I happened to taste what was in the baggy of "baking powder", There was no tingle on my tongue like you get with the bitter baking powder/baking soda feel. And as I thought about it, it was a tremendous amount of baking powder, about 2 cups! I have decided that we never truly did communicate and the baker had given me cake flour rather than baking powder. 

Easter

Aren't we glad that our communication is not hampered like this was when we want to cry to God? Scripture even says our "groanings which cannot be uttered" are understood by Him. On this Easter Sunday  I am tearful in thinking about the Gift He gave and the unbelievable privilege it is to sit in His lap and be loved on...without the trappings and aggravations of culture, or society, or language. And these feelings I understand better than most.

He is risen, He is risen indeed.