From an article originally posted March 7, 2013
I know I will always be writing about cancer, church planting, suffering, and life with kids, but what I really love is sharing my table! I love what I have seen happen to hearts around a meal. Love it! I always looked for a home where I could have a giant table. This house, well, we took out a wall, and Jason built the table. Build the table, cook the food, and they will come!
“If you share a meal three or four times a week and you have a passion for Jesus, then you will be building up the Christian community and reaching out on mission.”
I love our giant table. Our kids can join us and our family guests all around one table. This week we have had many full tables and even enjoyed the dinner table of another family. We are so encouraged by what we see happening in our community. I purposely sat at the front of the church service so I would focus on the message and not on who came. At the end, we had communion and everyone came forward. I saw so many new faces. I simply thought, We need a bigger table; 12 feet isn’t big enough.
The amazing thing is so many other families in our church plant understand the power of a shared meal, a shared home, and an honest conversation.
What I hope to do is share my love of hospitality with you. Challenges to build community, ask hard, heart questions during your meals, how to include children, and some ways to keep cooking simple a delish will be included in this weekly post. I want to debunk the idea that hospitality is a gift and explain how it is a call for us all in community building.
Think about Jesus. He was either going to, at, or leaving a meal. The table was a significant ministry for him.
I have been thinking about this question the last few days. If you could invite anyone, I mean anyone—living or dead—to dinner, who would it be? What would you serve them? And what question would you ask?
