So much of life is centered around a meal. We are either preparing for, eating, or doing something just after the meal is over.  

Good things happen at tables laden with food.

That's what my life has become recently: centered around meals with other people.  The past three weeks, there has been some sort of social event on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings.  It has left me feeling slightly overwhelmed, until last night when I started connecting the dots.  All of those times were around the dinner table.  

Monday evenings are house dinner nights.  We rotate who cooks and it is a guaranteed time where all of us in the Grove House come together, slow down, and enjoy a meal in each other's company.  This week was my turn to cook and I made butternut squash soup, a salad with assorted chopped vegetables, and spinach-feta rolls. I felt very accomplished, and making food for people is one of my new favorite ways to give, though I'm still developing my culinary skills.

My last three Tuesday evenings included the following: dinner with the entire CGA class at the home of Bob, one of the members of the Servant/Senior Leadership Team for the organization.  He and his wife wanted to have all of the apprentices over.  The following Tuesday, I was able to have dinner with a young teenage girl who is so far ahead of her time when it comes to recognizing that there is more to life than social media and technology.  Tuesday of this week involved going to the home of a couple from First Presbyterian Church, where several of us have recently been attending.  It was incredible to be with them in their home and we felt so blessed.

Wednesdays have followed a similar pattern: one was a house dinner because that Monday there was a going away party at the Grove for a beloved staff member.  Last week, Taylor, one of my housemates, had her birthday so we went out to celebrate with her.  This week, the Peninsula (house of the men of CGA) invited the Grove over for a "Pass the Plate" dinner.  Last semester, one of the apprentices, LeAnn, created what we call "Pass the Plate", which is where one house invites another house over for dinner, and then the guests become hosts the next time until all of the CGA houses have been included.  

All meals.  All with other people.  All wonderful experiences.

I'm learning that more life happens around a table.  When I say life, I don't just mean existing.  I mean the kind of life that is full of rich, deep, small moments that can only be experienced by doing life around a table.  People feel freer to speak, to dream, to love, to live, to cry, and to be when they have good food in front of them.  

Here's something interesting: the ministry of Jesus was also centered around many meals. Not only that, but His dining companions were often what got Him "in trouble" with society.  Meals must be important because He took His last remaining free time to dine with His disciples.  Seriously, before He was arrested, His evening was spent dining and praying with the people closest to Him. 

I want to be the kind of person who makes space for the table.  
Go ahead, pass the plate.