Unplanned, sacred moments happened in our home this last week around the kitchen table.  I don’t always know what’s going to come out of creating a meal and sitting down at the table, but I make the effort any way and I don’t always have time to cook healthy – from scratch dinners, but I do what I can, when I can. My husband and I manage our small business during the week, keeping the routine pace of a work week.  It’s very much a blessing to be able to work together after nearly 40 years of marriage.  We are fortunate to have a stellar staff whom guests are constantly raving about and whose company we enjoy.  But this is my second career, being a stay at home mom to 4 awesome kids was my first.  This blog is an expression of the passions that remain: passing on our faith, preparing vibrant, healthy food,  and the value of life around the dinner table. At My Kitchen Table is about passing on the legacy of a healthy home in body, mind and spirit.A delightful group of young mom’s were here last week for a bread baking class.   Bread baking classes are hand’s on so a smaller than usual group is in attendance.  Getting the feel of the dough is a necessity in bread making, so we all have our little space of counter top to work on.  It was an intimate group.

Our daughter Erin also was here to take photos and participate.  We made Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread, Whole Grain Gluten Free Sandwich Bread and Whole Wheat Chapati’s, an Indian Flatbread.

Let me be honest with you, my week had been so busy – that come Saturday morning all I wanted to do was relax. But these delightful young women were totally engaged in the experience and made the time so worthwhile.

Afterwards we enjoyed a bowl of soup and fresh bread while visiting around the table. Conversation was comfortable and light-hearted.  They spoke about the high’s and lows of parenting.  It was one of those serendipitous moments that one can never plan for. These women so blessed me with their vulnerability and ability to laugh and listen to each other, some having met for the first time.  I felt full hearing their stories and concerns and was reminded once again how life-giving time spent together around the dinner table can be. 

Later in the week we shared dinner with our grands and their bright smiles spoke the words, “Thank you Nana for a delicious dinner” in the cutest little voices ever!  Dinner gave way to rambunctious play with me and the grands, while my hubby and daughter sat talking  in more serious tones of the pleasure of meaningful work, especially the meaningful work of raising healthy, godly kids. I can’t leave out one of the best parts…the hubs did all the clean up.

I agree with Shauna Niequist in her inspiring book Bread and Wine,” It’s about the people you love and have welcomed around your table.  It’s about loving the people in your life by gathering them close into the private space of your home, about giving them soft places to land in hard seasons, about meeting their needs for food, for listening, for peace, for rest.”

Linger at the table, my friends.  You won’t regret it.

Amy