A Birthday Feast
Exodus 23:16 NIV
"Celebrate the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field. "Celebrate the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field."
The past week my life has been bookended with vacations first in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and now Orlando, Florida.
The time in-between the visits with friends and family has unfolded in stark contrast to the carefree days of sitting on a balcony on the beach watching the continual rise and fall of the tides of the Atlantic or playing hide-n-seek in the hotel pool with my daughter and nieces.
I lost a dear friend this past week, and I was unable to attend his visitation and funeral due to our Orlando trip. At a loss to know what to say or do for his family, I delivered food to their home before the trip.
I asked my mother-in-law for help with the meal as she prepares the best "comfort" food I know. She cooked two purely Southern dishes: Chicken-n-dumplings and peas and butter beans with white rice.
Granny didn't blink an eye when I asked her to fix the meal for me. She is this way. She loves people and helps out in times of need.
When family gathers, in addition to her other dishes, Granny is most famous for her macaroni and cheese. Southern chefs could learn something from her about how to prepare macaroni and cheese. No Southern, home style restaurant I have ever visited has come close to the creamy, cheesy richness of Granny's concoction.
Comfort food makes me feel like a child again. It offers solace when I am emotionally weak. Comfort food speaks to the soul.
God's words are comforting and lift us up, and I have recently noticed there are many feasts mentioned in the Bible. The Passover Feast, the Feast of First Fruits, The Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths are all mentioned in the Old Testament. The Last Supper is found in the New Testament as well as dozens of other meals, including the loaves and fishes served at the Sermon on the Mount.
God understands one of our basic needs is to replenish our energy through food. Furthermore, through the socialization of breaking bread together, Jesus was able to spread his comforting message of hope to the world.
Comfort food delivered to an ill or grieving family is an attempt to let them know we care about them. Our message is one of hope during difficult times.
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Lord, thank you for understanding that the comfort food of life can also feed the soul.
I am so very sorry for your loss. What a lovely mother-in-law you have to help you prepare such a meal. I'm sure that your gift of comfort food was appreciated by the family of your friend. I am not good at cooking, so I admire those capable of providing comfort through food.
ReplyDeleteThank you, DogMom. I am blessed to have such a wonderful mother-in-law. I can't hold a candle to her cooking. :)
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