Tina, Come Get Your Food!

The above title was the name of one of the workshops that the girls went to at the L'Abri conference. I'm still trying to get Candace to sit still long enough at the computer to blog about it, but since she's about to leave for a month to L'Abri, I'm doubting she is going to get to it.

The lecture was about the importance of eating together and inviting others into your home to share a meal. Apparently she gave examples from her own experiences of having people to dinner, even if it was nothing more than bean burritos. The joy and benefits of fellowship that come from connecting with others is worth a little bit of trouble and the sacrificing of pride when you know that you possibly have less than the people you are inviting over to your house.

Yesterday we had a family from church to dinner and I remembered how much fun it is to do that. They blessed us by driving an hour to come to our house. And with all of the help I have around here, it was not a burden at all to prepare for. Everyone pitched in with cleaning and cooking tasks. Candace made dessert, her famous chocolate chip cookies, Priscilla made a beautiful salad, Hope peeled the potatoes, Kezzi took charge of making sure the basement was in order, the boys worked outside to pick up the grounds and get firewood ready for the bonfire. They all helped with a lot of miscellaneous stuff too.

There was a lot of joy in the preparations. Nothing fancy, just some roasted meats and vegetables with some bread from the bread maker and cookies with ice cream for dessert.

Having people for dinner seems to be a lost art in our society. I guess since most people don't eat together as a family, it's even more ridiculous to suppose that they would invite guests for a home-cooked meal. It's something I think we need to recapture. It's amazing how a week slips by and then another and another. I'm determined to stop long enough to re-incorporate this tradition into our lives. It really is a lot of fun.