by Kelly Minter and Regina Pinto | A Place at the Table Podcast
Episode #8
In this final episode of Kelly and Regina’s A Place at the Table podcast, they touch on using our gifts and abilities for the sake of serving others and serving God. This act of service oftentimes can be as simple as inviting people into your home and allowing comfort and intimacy to make them feel loved.
Kelly also highlights Jesus’s illustration in Luke 14 when he chose to heal a man on the Sabbath rather than follow the rules of His day. What this represents for us, in today’s society, is that we need to keep people as most important, making it our goal to welcome in anyone who needs to feel the love of Christ.
The key highlights of this episode:
With many of Jesus’ ministry happening around the table at meals, He models for us that opening up our doors and inviting people in is a key means of showing Christ’s love to them.
People matter more than the food itself, the decorations, or how your home looks, so we can’t allow the desire for those elements to be “perfect” to hinder us from inviting people into our homes.
Barriers break down when people sit around a table. This is how community is built, intimacy occurs, and true friendship can begin.
Quotes from Kelly, Regina + Teresa:
“Cooking for others is ministry at its core.” – Kelly
“God gives us gifts, but not only for us alone, but to serve Him and to serve people.” – Regina
“The time spent with people is more important than anything.” – Regina
“There is something that happens that is softening to people’s hearts when they sit around a table.” – Kelly
As we seek to turn our hearts to the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ, I pray these devotionals will be an encouragement to you, an anchor in a season that thrives on busyness and activity (and materialism while we’re at it.) For some of us the Christmas season is truly one of our favorite times of the year, yet we can blink and miss everything that matters about it. For others, it’s a challenging time when we’re reminded of what we don’t have or all the ways our Christmas can’t measure up to our ideal. No matter how you’re entering the season, we can all find hope and refuge by turning our hearts to the Christmas story and the life-changing message of Jesus.
We often think that Jesus’ birth begins the Christmas story, but there’s a story before the story. Luke 1 opens with a couple named Elizabeth and Zechariah. Both were from distinguished Jewish lines and both were righteous people who earnestly followed God’s commands. What’s more, Zechariah was a priest in the house of the Lord. In modern terms these are the people who can trace their ancestors back to missionaries or church-planters, who teach the kids in Sunday School, who always have a casserole ready for the neighbors. We love these kinds of people, and if we’re honest we expect that the really good guys should enter Christmas blessed in all the ways we think of as blessed.
But there was a problem. An ache. A prayer that had long gone unanswered. Luke 1:7 tells us that Elizabeth and Zechariah had no children. Elizabeth was barren, and both of them were old and past child bearing years. Not being able to bear children in first century Judaism was a deep grief not only because of the obvious void, but also because it cost you your legacy in Jewish culture. You were unable to carry on your family name and line. In many ways, it cost you your status in society and even your standing in your religious circle.
We’d expect Luke to write that because they were righteous God blessed them with a large family, filling every room in their home with children. But that’s not what the verse says. Something that’s always stood out to me about this story is the way Luke puts Zechariah and Elizabeth’s blameless walk before the Lord right up against their barrenness (Luke 1:6-7). I think Luke wanted to tell us many things here, but one is that just because you’re going through a trial doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong. And just because you’ve prayed a prayer that hasn’t been answered yet doesn’t mean God has abandoned or forgotten about you.
Scripture Reading and Questions for Reflection:
Read Luke 1:1-7.
According to verses 3-4, why did Luke write the way he did and what did he want his readers to feel confident about?
What two reasons does Luke give for why Zechariah and Elizabeth couldn’t have children (verse 7)?
Are you going through something that seems impossible for more than one reason? What are they?
Does it encourage you or discourage you to see that two really good people who were following the Lord also were experiencing a painful void in their lives? Explain.
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Entertaining during Thanksgiving and Christmas can be stressful but a lot of pressure can be eliminated with a little planning and by keeping our daily focus on Jesus’ command to love God and love others (Matthew 22:37-39). Here are a few tips to get organized and prepared so we’ll have room to do what Jesus calls us to do.
Plan Ahead
After your guest list has been decided, settle on your menu. Once your menu is set, make a list of all the ingredients you need at the grocery store or farmer’s market, as well as which stores you’ll need to visit. Pro tip: the holidays are not the time to try out a new grocery store. Stick to what you know or you’ll be wandering the aisles frustrated that you can’t find the vanilla extract or chopped pecans. This will put you in a very bad mood, and you can’t be in a bad mood when you’re about to possibly encounter sometimes-challenging relatives you haven’t seen in a year (we’ll get to relatives in a moment). While you’re shopping, cooking, and cleaning, pray as you go. Thanking the Lord for His many blessings and praying specifically for those you’ll be encountering is a great way to prepare your heart.
Do As Much As You Can Ahead Of Time
After you’ve bought your ingredients, whatever you can make ahead of time, make it. If you’re serving a salad, have your vegetables chopped, nuts toasted, dressing made and stored appropriately. If you have casseroles that can be chilled in the fridge, make them a day or two before. Appetizers like a charcuterie board can be put together ahead of time as well. Have your bread sliced, asparagus trimmed, lemons squeezed beforehand—you get the idea. Also, clean as you go. There’s nothing like waking up to a spotless kitchen on the day you’re hosting a large meal or party. Instead of running from room to room with your hair on fire, you’ll be able to enjoy your guests. You’ll have the capacity to ask good questions, listen, and watch for opportunities the Holy Spirit gives you to encourage or pray for someone who needs it.
Delegate
[click_to_tweet tweet=”“Be intentional to thank God for who is present with you.”” quote=”“Be intentional to thank God for who is present with you.””]
Every year I have this ideal that I want my guests to be able to simply show up and not have to do a thing. But the older I get and the more people I host, the more unrealistic this becomes. Friends and relatives really are happy to bring their specialty dessert, or pick up that artisan loaf of bread, or come with an overflowing bowl of salad. I find that for every dish or drink that someone else handles, a surprising amount of pressure is taken off on the big day. When others pitch in not only are you, as the host, more at ease but also more people get to share in having a part in the celebration.
It’s Not Your Responsibility To Fix Your Relatives
If your guest list happens to include difficult or awkward relatives, it’s freeing to remember that it’s not your responsibility to fix them. I know what you’re thinking… but I know exactly what’s wrong with them and have so many good ideas! Let Jesus decide what He wants to do with those great ideas and then ask Him to help you walk out the gifts of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness… (Galatians 5:22-23). Think of how less stressed you’ll be if you don’t task yourself with having to change all your loved ones over Christmas. This is very freeing news. The day may come when you have to gently confront a loved one, or deal with a perpetually difficult problem. But the holiday season typically isn’t the time to try to solve decades-old issues. Throw off the responsibility of having to fix everyone, pray, and pick up a piece of pumpkin pie. You’ll thank me for this one.
Focus on What’s Right This Year
[click_to_tweet tweet=”“While you’re shopping, cooking, and cleaning, pray as you go.”” quote=”“While you’re shopping, cooking, and cleaning, pray as you go.””]
Every holiday season has a cultural ideal that none of our holiday experiences can live up to. Our Thanksgivings and Christmases will never totally measure up to the standard we read about in books or see in the movies. Someone or something will always be missing. Disappointments will happen. But make a decision to focus on what is right this year. Be intentional to thank God for who is present with you, for who He is, and for all the blessings He’s given you. A thankful heart will be a salve for whatever disappointments linger. With a little planning ahead, a few people to help, some delicious recipes, your loved ones around you, and most importantly, the presence of Christ Himself, this holiday season is sure to be the most wonderful time of the year.
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by Kelly Minter and Regina Pinto | A Place at the Table Podcast
Episode #7
Food stylist and photographer Teresa Blackburn joins Kelly and Regina again to talk about the significance of finding what you are passionate about and using that as a tool to serve those around you.
This episode, she shares with Kelly and Regina about the highs and lows of being a photographer and working in the food styling business, along with some tips on what it takes to get started in that line of work. The trio also discuss the therapeutic nature of cooking and how, even if it doesn’t come naturally to you, cooking can bring you joy if you look at it as a way to love and serve others.
The key highlights of this episode:
Whether it’s photography or cooking, both arts are about serving the people that you are working or cooking for. Learn their needs and see how you can have a role in serving them.
Cooking does not have to be seen as a chore. When you start to see cooking as a means of serving others and spend time learning how to cook, it makes it joyful for both those you are cooking for and for yourself.
Fostering traditions in the kitchen is extremely important in teaching the younger generation the art and beauty of cooking.
Quotes from Kelly, Regina + Teresa:
“Nobody’s an expert necessarily when they walk into the kitchen. It’s really just about saying, ‘I’m going to do this, and I’m going to learn.’” – Kelly
“Try not to be perfect in this world because you’ll be so disappointed all the time. Embrace what you have and what you can do with it and find a passion.” – Teresa
by Kelly Minter and Regina Pinto | A Place at the Table Podcast
Episode #6
Kelly and Regina are joined today by food and photography stylist Teresa Blackburn, who was the stylist of the photographs found inside of A Place at the Table. As an artist herself, Teresa has an eye for beauty, detail, and uniqueness, especially when it comes to imperfection.
In this episode, Teresa highlights how imperfection around your table, in your home, and even in the food you make can provide a sense of comfort and ease to those you invite into your home. Teresa also shares how she likes to prepare for guests, particularly in how she uses meaningful items from around her house to set the table when she has guests over. Teresa’s hosting tips and tricks are key to a dinner party of any occasion!
The key highlights of this episode:
Imperfection is what makes life interesting. Your home, table, and meal does not need to look perfect when you have people over. It can actually be the imperfections that make your guests feel more comfortable.
Every item you have around your house holds a story, so whether you have a souvenir from your travels or a special family heirloom, it can be fun to use those items while setting your table or preparing your home for guests.
Have fun with arranging your house for guests! Everything doesn’t have to match, so go with what looks and feels right to you when arranging your home and your table.
Quotes from Kelly + Regina:
“Life is not perfect. Life is beautifully imperfect.” – Teresa
“It’s about creating a space of belonging.” – Kelly
