When I was a child, I remember regularly sharing meals (especially Sunday dinner) with other families in our church or community. James remembers the same thing from his childhood. Does that even happen anymore? Am I just not seeing it?
While living in Northern Virginia we were invited to our friends' home regularly. Beth is a great cook and I always looked forward to whatever she put on the table. Sometimes it was a formal invite for dinner, but most of the time we were there before or after her son's football games. We invited them to our home one time to watch an NFL game (I'd like to say we invited them more often than that, but I don't remember). We simply ordered pizza, but Beth mentioned to me that in the years that they had been living in Virginia (probably 2 or 3), we were the first to invite her family into our home for a meal. She regularly serves tables full of people, but had not been invited to another's home? She attributed it to the size of her family. I wonder if the problem is deeper. I wonder if people are intimidated by the thought of hostessing. It IS intimidating to find a time that works for both families, plan a menu, do the shopping, clean the house, teach the kids to behave, pray for nice weather, cook the meal and serve it while EVERYTHING is hot, etc. Not to mention the gazillion or so websites that show beautiful tabelscapes and decor that we feel the need to live up to.
OR are we just too busy to be bothered?
When was that last time you were invited to another family's home for a meal?
When was the last time you did the inviting?
I know people who are good at it. It's their spiritual gift. It's a gift I want to find in myself. I've been reading books and collecting (and trying) recipes. I hope to make them for more people than just my family. If I invite you to dinner, PLEASE be patient with me. I'm a work in progress. I'm not the best cook, but I don't tend to burn everything. I might leave the chicken in the slow cooker a little too long. I might not have the children in their best dresses. You might have to step over toys and overlook some clutter, but I'd love to have you come enjoy our company and our fresh air.
So, who's coming to dinner?
1 comment:
me! me! I'd love to get our families together for dinner sometime... too bad we are so far away :( I get what you are saying though - it really doesn't seem to happen much anymore - people having others over for meals.... it's sad. We tried last year and often had people over but haven't much this year. It's something I would like to be better at - to have entertaining be less stressful...
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