Our new Guest Posts series is a celebration of the blessings God gives us through the act of sharing a meal and is an open invitation to join us at the table.
Special things happen when people gather together around a meal. Eating together allows people to let down their guard and creates avenues of connection. It breaks down walls and opens up lines of communication. Sharing a meal nurtures relationships and sparks the flow of understanding. It nourishes the body as well as the soul.
Hosting can be an act of service and provision…and it’s entirely possible that in the same event, the host might feel just as served and cared for as the guests.
The guest post series will start soon! Please check back for posts shortly, or sign up for more information about guest posting for the Stories from the Supper Table series and to be notified when the submission window opens.
Sign Up Here
Even though we live in a culture of busyness and isolation, we were designed for connection and relationships. Just like I’m an advocate for the benefits of purchasing locally-raised food, I also want to encourage you to be in the habit of regularly enjoying it in the company of other people. I believe that God can and will bless that time together beyond our human expectations. Do you have a story about a positive experience you have had while eating with others? I want to hear about it! Every week (the start date is still TBD), I will share a new story so that we can all celebrate it and be encouraged by it.
So many of my childhood memories involve eating around the table and the value of those experiences was not lost on me. We ate at the table together at night and frequently had Sunday dinner with extended family:
Sundays are for roast beef. The savory smell fills my nose as we walk through the door of my grandparent’s house. As it turns out, the perfect cooking time is the same as the length of a church service-including Sunday school, of course. Popped in the oven on the way out the door and it’s tender and delicious with enough time to mash some potatoes into creamy perfection. Green beans I can live without. Maybe my uncle will annoy my mom enough today that she’ll forget to make me eat them. We can’t have a meal without dessert, probably pie. Peach, pear, cherry, strawberry rhubarb. All are made with homegrown filling, fresh if in season or preserved if not. It won’t be until years and many failed pie crusts later that I will truly appreciate the art of homemade pie.
We gather around the dining room table and we all bow our heads while Grandpa asks the blessing. As we eat to contentment, the room is alive with stories from the week and laughter. Grandma gets tickled over something and laughs until she starts wheezing. Her lungs just can’t keep up with her spirit. The grownups talk about church, the weather, and the price of apples; the staples of conversation in our farming family.
After dinner, I help my mom and grandma clear the dining room, do the dishes, and button up the kitchen. We gather again in the living room and half nap half watch sports on tv. More than likely it will be Mariners, Seahawks, or Sonics depending on the season. Sometimes we listen to the games on the radio. Ever since I learned to read, my favorite way to spend my free time is to be lost in a book. Unfortunately, I forgot my book when we left the house in a rush this morning, so I will have to settle for pouring over the grisly pictures in my grandma’s first aid book.
Late afternoon, we pack up the layers of church clothes we’ve shed around the house and grab some leftovers before heading home. The contents of the Tupperware will make supper tonight easy for my mom to get us fed and in bed. I don’t understand it yet, but we’ll start the week rested and refreshed after filling our souls with love and rest.
Have you resolved a disagreement, mended a relationship, changed your mind about a big issue, or learned to compromise over the disarming power of delicious food?
Maybe you had a noteworthy experience at a cafeteria table, potluck event, or hotel continental breakfast. Maybe you resisted the urge to punch someone in the nose waiting for your turn at the waffle maker and then that person turned around and saved your life when you choked on a sausage.
Did you receive a meal after childbirth, the death of a loved one, or another life-altering event that nourished your heart as well as your body?
Maybe it was as simple as having your basic needs met. Were you hungry and without food when someone fed you?
My grandpa frequently told a story about his family during the Great Depression. There wasn’t much to eat, so his mom put everything they had into the pot to make soup for dinner that night. Everyone ate and ate until they couldn’t eat anymore. His mom looked into the pot and there was still plenty left. She decided to take the leftovers down the road to the neighbors’ house. When she arrived, everyone was sitting around a set table but there was no food–until the soup arrived. The family had decided to set the table and ask the blessing, trusting that God would provide. And He did, in the form of a half full soup pot that should have been long empty.
I’m so excited to dive deeper into these experiences and I can’t wait to start sharing your stories!
While you’re here, take a look at these other posts about “Beginning.”
Learning to Begin Again by Amy Cobb
Begin Moving Toward Your Soul’s Lifework by Lisa Crowder
How To Begin a New Career by Ashley Olivine
