What Sourdough Taught Me About Purpose

Have you ever wondered if you’re truly on the path to finding purpose as a homemaker?

I have.

For a long time, I thought finding my purpose would only happen if I was busy doing something beyond the walls of my home.

But God began teaching me that I could discover purpose right where I was, and He did it in an unexpected way.

Sourdough.

Mathew 7: 7-8

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Initially, I could only see the physical work of homemaking.

And, of course, I knew that this work was just as important as “ministry.” But little did I know that while the physical work of homemaking is ministry, there was also a deeper purpose God was calling me toward.

And I believe He is calling many women toward a deeper purpose that He wants to reveal.

Your work at home matters a lot more than you think.

For me, homemaking led to a sourdough microbakery, which eventually led to a deeper calling to share my faith through writing.

Does Homemaking Have a Purpose?

I believe faith-filled homemaking is a training ground for discovering your purpose.

It can be easy to look at the everyday responsibilities of homemaking such as :

cooking meals
washing dishes
folding laundry
caring for children

And wonder if any of it is connected to a greater purpose.

But what if these ordinary responsibilities are preparing us for something God wants to do through us?

Homemaking teaches us faithfulness when no one is watching.

It teaches us patience when the work feels repetitive, humility when our plans are interrupted, and creativity when we have to make something out of what we already have.

These are not insignificant lessons. They are qualities God can use far beyond the walls of our homes.

Purpose doesn’t always arrive as one big, life-changing assignment.

Sometimes God reveals it little by little through the gifts, interests, and opportunities He has already placed in our lives.

For me, that lesson began in my kitchen.

What started as baking sourdough bread for my family eventually led to a microbakery, which has now led me to share my faith through writing.

I’m grateful God began showing me how something I was already doing could lead to provision and purpose.

Homemaking isn’t a distraction from purpose. It can be the very place where God prepares you to discover it.

What Sourdough Taught Me About Purpose

For years, I thought purpose could only come through external affirmation and validation.

It took me years to lean into and appreciate what God was doing in my life through my natural love for homemaking.

I didn’t discover my purpose all at once.

It unfolded slowly through years of homemaking, and the rhythm of sourdough in my kitchen became the place where God began to reveal it.

At the time, I thought I was simply learning how to bake better bread.

Looking back, I can see God was teaching me much more than that.

Sourdough has a unique process. You mix a few simple ingredients, but you can’t rush what happens next. The dough needs time to rest and rise, and learning to bake a good loaf takes practice.

The more I learned, the more I began to recognize spiritual lessons woven into the process.

Three lessons, in particular, have stayed with me:

1. Preparation

Preparing for a bake day is one of the best investments of your time.

Before the oven is ever turned on, there are several steps that need to happen. Ingredients need to be measured, the dough needs to be prepared, and the process needs to be planned.

When everything is prepared ahead of time, the actual baking becomes much smoother and less stressful.

That’s a lot like purpose.

There may be seasons in our lives when we wonder, What am I doing? Where is this going?

But God may be using that seemingly ordinary season to prepare us for something we haven’t stepped into yet.

Years of homemaking and learning my way around the kitchen felt ordinary.

But looking back, I can see that God was preparing me through those years for what He would eventually put in my hands.

Don’t view your season of preparation as unnecessary.

Instead, recognize that your preparation season may be one of the most precious, valuable, and pivotal seasons of your life.

You may not understand what God is preparing you for specifically, but preparation is not wasted time.

2. Patience

One of the hardest things about sourdough is that you can’t rush the rise.

After you mix the dough, you can’t simply put it in the oven and expect it to become a beautiful loaf. The dough needs time to rest and ferment. During that time, changes are happening that you can’t necessarily see.

You have to wait.

Purpose can work the same way.

We often want God to show us the finished picture immediately. We want to know what we’re supposed to do, where we’re going, and how everything is going to work out.

And we often want it now.

But God may be doing work beneath the surface that we cannot see.

Mark 4:26-27

He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.“

We need time to develop into the person God is shaping us to become.

Just like dough is changing while it rests on the counter, God can be preparing us during seasons that appear as if nothing is happening at all.

The waiting isn’t necessarily a detour from purpose.

It may be part of the preparation for it.

3. Practice

Purpose is developed through practice.

Sourdough has taught me that you don’t become good at something by doing it once.

You practice.

When I first started baking sourdough, I had plenty of questions.

Why didn’t my bread rise? Why was the dough too sticky? Why did one loaf turn out beautifully while the next one didn’t?

I had to keep baking, paying attention, making adjustments, and trying again.

Eventually, something changed.

What once felt complicated became familiar. I began to understand the dough by its look and feel. I could recognize when it needed more time, when it was ready to bake, and when I needed to change my approach.

I think purpose can develop in much the same way.

God doesn’t always reveal our entire purpose before we begin. Sometimes He invites us to practice faithfulness in the small things first.

The ordinary responsibilities of homemaking can become practice for something greater.

Cooking teaches us to serve.

Caring for our families teaches us patience.

Managing a home teaches us responsibility.

Using our gifts teaches us confidence.

And doing these things over and over develops us.

We may look at our everyday lives and think we’re simply repeating the same tasks. But perhaps God is using that repetition to develop something in us that we’ll need for what comes next.

So let’s wholeheartedly embrace our role as homemakers!

When you’re new to sourdough baking, it will be a season of practice.

Some loaves turn out beautifully. While other loaves teach me what to do differently next time. But with each one, I become more prepared for the next loaf.

Maybe purpose works the same way.

We don’t have to have it all figured out. We simply need to faithfully practice what God has placed before us today as we prepare for what comes next.

Allow God to Use Your Ordinary Life

Andrea Felder holding active and bubbly sourdough starter

Your ordinary life will look different from someone else’s ordinary life. And just as our lives are different, your purpose as a homemaker may look different, too.

This isn’t about comparison or competing with what you see around you or online.

You don’t have to measure your homemaking, your gifts, or your purpose against someone else’s.

God isn’t asking you to live someone else’s story.

Ephesians 2:10

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

And your purpose doesn’t have to compete with your homemaking, either.

The two can grow together.

For me, I didn’t set out to discover some huge, dramatic purpose.

I was simply learning, practicing, serving, and growing in the ordinary rhythm of my home.

And somewhere along the way, God used something as simple as sourdough to show me that what seemed ordinary could become something much more.

That’s what surrender looks like: opening your hands and allowing God to work with and through what He’s already given you.

So don’t despise the ordinary season you’re in.

Don’t assume that because your life looks small, God is doing something small.

Seek Him. Trust Him. Be faithful with what is in front of you today, and allow Him to increase, grow, and expand whatever He has planned for tomorrow.

You may not see the whole picture yet.

But you don’t have to.

Because sometimes purpose isn’t found by searching for something bigger.

Sometimes it’s discovered when we allow God to take what’s in our hands and use it in ways we never expected.