Food for the Heart

Last night was the last meeting of our Monday Night Bible Study.  This is the Bible study where Nick and I were officially introduced.  This is the study where we got to know one another and began to flirt.  Where we dated.  Where attended through our engagement, first months of marriage, and both of our pregnancies to date.  It was observed last night that we were not only the longest attending members but also that the study had seen us through several stages of life, and that is very true.  I'm going to miss it more than I can say.

To celebrate our last night together and to enjoy one another's company, we all brought food.  Of course!  Christians really can't meet together without food, right?  Wrong, but it is a fun way to celebrate.  One brought cake, another chips and salsa.  And I made dessert. 

This is what I've discovered.  It would have been easy for me to just pick up a carton of ice cream and call it good.  Everyone would have been happy to enjoy it and it is certainly less work with small children and dinner to get on the table.  But it wasn't enough for me.  Instead, I made a Russian cream dessert and a salted caramel sauce to put over it (and anything else anyone might fancy).  Was it a little stressful trying to get it done after a long day of laundry, workers banging on our roof and a late trip to the grocery store for a few necessary items?  A little.  Was it fulfilling?  Definitely.

There are lots of blogs and articles waxing eloquent about what it is about food that feeds our souls as well as stomachs.  I don't know that I have anything new to say about that.  But I can say this: that making something special for people I care about feeds my heart.  It is an outpouring of love.  To know that I made something delicious and maybe even delightful for others to enjoy brings me satisfaction.  It isn't that I want praise or recognition (though I admit I like to know it's good so I know people enjoyed it).  I like to give people the pleasure of good food, and hopefully good company.  This is the reason that I and an enlisted friend made almost all the food for a dear friend's wedding shower, much of it rather fancy or special.  This is the reason I busted my chops last night to make a rather uncomplicated dessert that required more time than I maybe had.  This is why I invite my parents over for soup and wish I had a slightly bigger kitchen (I'm a messy cook) and a much bigger dining room in order to entertain more people.  There's a guy at church I've owed a dinner to for too long, and I may never pay it to him (though I think his girlfriend can make pretty good meals, so he's not hurting).  Still, I want to show him my far overdue appreciation sometime. This might be why, when we moved into this apartment and I had grander hopes for entertaining, I made a list of menus to serve, which have all now gone missing.

It is also why I would love to start a dinner club or cookbook society or something of the sort.  There is a great deal of satisfaction and joy to be gained by sharing good food with good friends, and even more in the conversations that take place around the table.