Millions of people have rediscovered the joy of homemade bread making. A quick search on Pinterest or Instagram brings up step-by-step instructions and captivating photos for everything from sourdough to naan. Bread satisfies our bodies, but our spirits cry out for even greater sustenance.
208 pages.
Introduction
Chapter 1: Why This Book Has Nothing and Everything to Do with Your Diet
Recipe: Artisan Bread for Beginners
Chapter 2: From Scoffer to Baker
Recipe: No Fuss Focaccia
Chapter 3: Full Yet Famished
Recipe: Not Your Average Zucchini Bread
Chapter 4: Our Wilderness Means His Provision
Recipe: Weeknight Naan
Chapter 5: When the Manna Isn’t Quite What We Were Expecting
Recipe: Cheese Bread
Chapter 6: A Little Leaven for Good or Ill
Recipe: Rustic Sourdough
Chapter 7: Better a Crumb from the Right Table than a Feast at the Wrong One
Recipe: Perfect Popovers
Chapter 8: Baking in Discipleship
Recipe: Everyday Cottage Bread
Chapter 9: Kneaded and Shaped by Every Word
Recipe: Chocolate Croissants
Chapter 10: The Hunger That Remains
Recipe: Better Biscuits
Chapter 11: An Abundance of Glory
Recipe: Holiday Babka
“Bread of Life gave me the tools and motivation to get my hands covered in flour and my family feasting on fresh-baked bread. But Abigail’s words go far beyond baking—she compels me to eat and enjoy the bread of life himself. This book is for women who are hungry for something this world hasn’t been able to provide—who want to cultivate an appetite that can taste the Lord’s goodness without an undertone of cynicism, scoffing, and suspicion. I’m so grateful for the words of this sage older sister in Christ.”
Emily Jensen, coauthor, Risen Motherhood: Gospel Hope for Everyday Moments; Cofounder and Content Director, Risen Motherhood
“I admit I know almost nothing about making bread. In fact, since being diagnosed with celiac disease years ago, I don’t eat any bread (I mean delicious bread with gluten in it!). But I do know good writing and good thinking when I see it, and both are here in Abigail’s book. Her devotional meditations are thoughtful, engaging, biblical, and wise. And maybe even better for you than gluten.”
Kevin DeYoung, Senior Pastor, Christ Covenant Church, Matthews, North Carolina; Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte
“God has used his word to show me the beauty in the ordinary work I do to serve my family. He has also used the journey of baking bread to show me more of the beauty of the gospel and his kingdom. It is ordinary work, but it is also extraordinary. What is there that is like it? Matthew 13:33 tells us that God’s kingdom is like leaven that a woman hid in flour. Ordinary things, ordinary work, ordinary food, ordinary faithfulness—they all work together to accomplish glorious things. This book is a lovely reflection on this rich intersection of the ordinary and the glorious. I hope it inspires many women!”
Rachel Jankovic, author, You Who? and Loving the Little Years
“This book is such a lovely reminder that God’s word speaks truth and that his world also speaks truth. The physical gift of baking does more than sustain us physically and give us great pleasure—it tells us something about our own sweet Savior, Jesus. The spiritual metaphors of baking are many, and Abigail calls them up masterfully, one by one. It’s so rare to find a book that is both physically beautiful and theologically weighty. In her prose, Abigail brings us something true, deep, and lovely to sink our teeth into. But in her recipes, she’s given us something worthwhile to sink our hands into. What a gift. This book will end up blessing my whole family.”
Tilly Dillehay, author, Seeing Green and Broken Bread; cohost, Home Fires podcast