Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Community Brew | Community Around the Table

Like everyone else did about a year ago, I'm finally reading Shauna Niequist's Bread & Wine.   It's definitely different than any other book I've ever read & I wasn't really sure how I was going to like it.  But I've found myself underlining parts, & reading other parts out loud to Grayson.  Last night I followed Grayson around Home Depot & found boxes to sit on to read while he was getting what we needed.  


This book has been everywhere with me the last week or so.  I've found myself always making sure it's in my purse when I go to work, though that makes no sense.  Never once have I found a reason to read at work.  (Okay, at my old job when the power went out or the fire alarm went off, which seemed to happen frequently, I would read.  But never at my current job.)

I'm still only about halfway through (probably because of all the stopping to underline or read out loud...) but I've already made one of the recipes (more on that later this week) & have plans for many more.  

But it's about so much more than the recipe.  Shauna isn't even a "recipe girl," so clearly it's about more than the food.  She starts off by noting how many stories in the Bible are set around a table.  Jesus was very much a part of the community He lived in.  He shared meals with people.  He was a part of nourishing not just their bodies, but their souls.  There's something intimate about sitting around the table with a group of people, and Shauna captures that so well in the book.  

As I started reading this book, I started to think about the meals that stand out the most to me & why. The first that came to mind was our rehearsal dinner.  At that long table of family that night, I was very aware that there will probably never be another time when all of our family & closest friends are in the same room together.  There will never be another time when everyone we love most shares a meal together.


I'd dreamed about this food since we first tasted it months ago.  And my mother-in-law did such a beautiful job with the decorations.  Everything was perfect.  But it wasn't about the great food or gorgeous setting; it was about the people gathered around the table.

Another "meal" that stands out to me is from college.  When I lived in a townhouse we affectionately called "Ruby Holler," we always had people over.  Especially Thursday nights.  Thursdays were about friends, pajamas, Grey's Anatomy, The Office (which we recorded upstairs on a VCR while we watched Grey's downstairs...), Betty Crocker Cookie Brownies, hot chocolate, & coffee.  There's nothing at all fancy about that, but those are some of my favorite college memories.  I loved living there because our living room was pretty big so there was always room, & friends were always welcome.


When I was a kid, blackberries would grow in the woods at my grandparents' house.  Every summer, my Papa would take us to pick blackberries.  We would sit at barstools at the counter & snack on them while he made blackberry cobbler.  There is never ever a time when I put a blackberry in my mouth that I don't immediately think of him.


I love how taste is a sense that so easily reminds of times we've shared with the people we love.  These are just a few of the stories of meals that come to mind.  There are many more, & many more waiting to be made


P.S. Linking up today at Community Brew [Wetherills Say I Do + Oh Simple Thoughts]

6 comments:

  1. When I was in college my friends and I got together for dinner every Sunday night and I have such amazing memories from that time! There is just something about gathering around a table and sharing a meal together

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  2. I have been wanting to read this book for a while....I've got to get on that!! :)

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  3. I love that bookmark...where did you get it?! ;)

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  4. Lindsey...so this is weird... I came across your instagram on the "explore" tab & checked out your blog! I read this post & noticed that you had that adorable Kentucky print in your Etsy shop...AND there was a girl that was wearing what looked like an Alpha Gam shirt...is it so?! ha! I am from KY & was also an AGD! It's a small world & couldn't help but say hello!

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  5. I loved Bread & Wine so much! I love your description of your rehearsal dinner, it's really true that that was such a special time to have all of your closest friends and family together! :) Thanks for linking up with us!

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