I believe that food is a ministry. I love to invite people over for desserts and appetizers and dinners and barbeques and crepes and snacks and mochas and tea and a glass of wine. Sometimes it’s planned and sometimes it’s spontaneous. Often it’s spontaneous. There’s something about feeding people that ministers to stomachs and souls and hearts and keeps them coming back.
As a mom, I like to keep my fridge stocked. For my kids and when my kids have friends over. I get a kick out of when my twins’ friend Tyler comes over and opens the fridge to see what’s in there. Then there’s my twins’ friend Ryan who does the same.
They both call me mom.
My twins’ teenage friends walk into our home and meet in the kitchen which is bordered by a large island with comfy bar stools and they plop themselves down while I grab various snacks and sustenance from the fridge and cabinets. Simple items. Cheese and crackers or queso and tortilla chips; or ice cream from the fridge. In my past, it’s been home baked chocolate chip cookies, but lately I 
haven’t had the energy to bake much; if they’ve spent the night, I try to whip up easy-as-pie-but-oh-so-good crepes with Nutella and whipping cream and lemon and powdered sugar. I place the food on the counter in front of the kids and watch them devour the food. If they are downstairs playing X-Box, I sometimes remind them of the food in our house. It’s nothing fancy.
Though my mom is not big on entertaining much these days, I do recall an evening when I was in an undergraduate at the University of Portland that I invited all my Campus Crusade for Christ (now called CRU) friends over to my parents house to play the UNgame. My mom made homemade donuts for us as a refreshment, and all my college friends were so impressed and filled, and this young man there, whose name was Chris, made sure to thank my mom for making homemade donuts for us all and for inviting us all over. I would later marry that young man, and my mom, to this day, talks about that time.
And I thank her for making us homemade donuts.
In the Bible, Jesus often talks about feeding people. Such a simple thing. I love that passage in Luke 9: 10-17 about the feeding of the 5,000. The disciples wanted Jesus to send the crowds away. But He said to them, ‘You give them something to eat.'” (Verse 13). His disciples saw an obstacle (not enough food), but Jesus saw an opportunity (miraculously feeding 5,000 folks from five loaves of bread and two fish).
Then there’s the passage about doing unto the least of these simple tasks, like giving them something to eat and drink (Matthew 25:35).
And one of my favorite passages is when Jesus was having dinner “at Matthew’s house, and many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?'” (Matt. 9:10-11). Jesus saw an opportunity to minister to hungry people via such a simple thing as feeding them while the Pharisees focused on the letter of the law.
Getting to eat — and fill our stomachs — is a blessing. What a great ministry to have our homes associated with that goodness.
Food. Eating together. Meals. Snacks. Sustenance. Smiles.
On being a parent: Stock the fridge and feed them.
[Previous in my A Thought a Day on Parenting, for 31 Days series: Day 17: Get to know their friends]
You so have the gift of hospitality Megan, and you are so right, that we are the ones who are blessed, when we give in this way. You are such a giving person. Thanks for reading and commenting.
You so have the gift of hospitality Megan, and you are so right, that we are the ones who are blessed, when we give in this way. You are such a giving person. Thanks for reading and commenting.
I love this Cornelia. I’ve always tried to do the same, and found that by blessing others, I was the one who was blessed. Thanks for sharing.