Baking A Difference: Baklava With A Bigger Purpose
By Julie Keltonic, Sweet Armenia
baklava bakery founder
You can either build your own kingdom, promote yourself, think about yourself, post the perfect pictures, gain the followers, make the sales, get the invitations, position yourself in the center of the world’s world, or you can “throw yourself into the work of the Master, confident that nothing that you do for Him is a waste of time or effort.” (1 Corinthians 15:58 MSG).
We are all building kingdoms.
You can build a kingdom of riches or fame or finding worth in followers…or you can build God’s eternal kingdom, seeking to make Him famous. Choosing to be His follower, I am experiencing the kind of riches only heaven brings.
I spent my whole life trying to earn awards for myself. It’s no shock, I’m a 3 on the enneagram-- The Achiever. God designed me to reach to be my best and love a good trophy. I don’t quit easily. Fifteen years in the music industry has proven that.
In my day, I performed for three presidents (Bush, Clinton, Bush). I sang back-up for incredible artists including BB King, Christina Agulera, Usher, Jewel, Reba, and Tony Bennett, just to name a handful. When I moved to Nashville after college, I worked day in and day out writing, collaborating, recording, pitching, rewriting, and playing out in local shows. There were some great blessings along the way -- mostly the people (people last…charting singles don’t). But I didn’t find life there, even though it was music for the Lord, and even when accolades of a GMA (Gospel Music Association) nomination and JUNO (Canadian Grammys) came my way.
Honestly, I found striving there.
I’m not saying it was wrong to write music -- I still do. It's a part of me and I love it. But my perspective has drastically shifted from pursuing worldly accolades to making a difference in the lives of others who are suffering and showing them the life-transforming love of Jesus.
It was the news I learned in November of 2020 that God used to touch my heart with new purpose. I come from Greek/Armenian heritage, and our beloved motherland Armenia was under attack. Again.
The history I learned of the 1915 Genocide, when the Ottoman empire (Turkey) sought to wipe out the Armenian people – my ancestors – was now being repeated. Some of my great-grandparents, and my great aunt who was buried as a baby on the road of a death march, were among the 1.5 million Armenians who were executed for being part of a Christian nation. (Watch the exquisite movie The Promise on Neflix. You won’t be disappointed).
What, exactly, is genocide? As defined by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (ushmm.org):
Genocide is an internationally recognized crime where acts are committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.
America has just this year, 106 years after the 1915 massacre of Armenians, called it what it was: genocide. (It has even been documented that it inspired Hitler to follow through with his horrendous plans for the Jewish people).
So, when I learned in November 2020 that Azarbaijan, aided by Turkey, had attacked the Armenians again, it was a turning point for me. Some 100,000 people lost everything as they were violently pushed out of their homeland. Many made their way toward the capital city, Yerevan, where God met them. He already had a plan in place for them: a Young Life camp just built near the capitol city. Even (I'll say, especially) in the face of evil, God is on the move!
This Young Life camp is referred to widely as the Hope Factory. Armenian soldiers, young men in their twenties and thirties who have lost homes, friends, families, limbs, and hope...are meeting Jesus, some of them for the very first time. They are hearing that they are not abandoned. Newly single mothers are being cared for and counseled. Children who have lost fathers or brothers in the war are being taken care of. God is so good at making beauty from ashes. I see that these sweet people lost everything, but gained the one thing their souls needed.
God gave me an idea of how I could do something to make a difference. Finally, I took the chance to give my life away, and Oh, how I have FOUND MY LIFE in all of this! I launched Sweet Armenia Bakery at the end of 2020, supplying my treasured family recipe of homemade baklava to various places around the city of Nashville. A portion of proceeds goes directly to Young Life Armenia. Sweet Armenia’s baklava is now at Greko Street Food, Caliber Coffee Co., and is also available for custom, local pickup orders at my Mount Juliet, TN location.
I have absolutely loved every minute of baking baklava for this important cause!
I regularly video chat with the Young Life staff in Yerevan. I join with them through their challenges and difficult prayer requests. For example, how do you lead a joy filled camp when you’ve just lost five best friends to war? What do you do when the company of young men you were put in charge of during the war all died and their parents are calling you and blaming you for their deaths?
We rejoice with them over their praise reports. For example, the love and comfort and peace found in this community of believers. And also, the newness of life people are finding as they step into real relationship with their Maker!
Girlfriends and soul sisters, I urge you to think about what kind of kingdom you are investing yourself in building. Are you caught in a season of striving, or ensnared in the idea that you need to build your own kingdom to fit into the world?
Consider that you were never meant to settle for this world. Don't give your life to gaining followers, find your life by becoming one. Be a true follower of the ONLY real influencer, Jesus. He will never steer you wrong.
Look at the world around you and find something that breaks your heart. You will find so much life when you give it away in that direction.
Jesus said it like this-- give your life away and gain it. We will never be more satisfied than when we are satisfied in Him!
About Julie Keltonic
Julie Keltonic is a wife, mom of 3, and a singer-songwriter who loves the Lord. She also loves sharing her treasured family baklava recipe passed down through generations, a passion that recently led to her founding SweetArmenia.com. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where her baklava business is “baking a difference” for Armenian families in need. A portion of the proceeds from every order goes to Young Life Armenia to help thousands of Armenians who have lost loved ones and their homes in recent attacks on their homeland. Follow the Sweet Armenia Bakery on Instagram and Facebook.
Julie’s reSOURCEs:
Check out Sweet Armenia Bakery here:
See our mission here:
https://sweetarmenia.com/mission/
Would you like to join me in directly supporting Young Life in Armenia? Click here: