The Family Dinner Hour: A "Recipe" for Building Strong Relationships

The family dinner hour is that precious time when we stop the frantic pace of life and focus on our loved ones. During this time, ignore the phone, television, the knocks at the door, and the stuff of the world, and listen closely as your loved ones share about the events of their day. Connect. Pay close attention. In so doing, we pay value to those who are the most valuable to us.

Life can get really frantic, and the level of stress in a family can soar out of control very quickly. Children are the most vulnerable to the stress levels in the lives of their parents. The family mealtime can be a time of quieting down and re-connecting. This time of connecting and relationship building is vital to the well-being and health of the family.

Prepare a simple meal, focus on your loved ones, and strengthen your family. Blessings...

Hospitality

"Essential to hospitality is the open heart which results in an open home... be it a small room, a modest apartment, or a mansion- in which we can practice hospitality." Karen Mains

I love this quote, and I have had the privilege of practicing hospitality in all locations but the mansion. There was a time in our lives when we lived in a small rental, and because of unemployment most of our furniture was sold and we were eating our meals on a card table. When we had guests in for a meal another utility table was added to accommodate the numbers, but we always had guests, no matter what the circumstances. The meal might have been very frugal, but the fellowship was always wonderful and uplifting.

Sadly, hospitality is becoming a lost art. But I do believe the most important hospitality we will ever extend will be to our family at the end of a long day. This time is so important to the well-being of the family, especially to children. This is a precious time for each member of the family to share about the events of the day and draw close to one another after long hours of separation. The gift of love and laughter and the sharing of feelings as we talk about the day satisfies the soul like a bowl of warm soup on a cold winter night. May you and your family have many wonderful meals together in this new year. Blessings...

A Cup of Tea, a Warm Muffin and a Friend

When was the last time you got together with a special friend for some catching up and something yummy to eat? I must confess that the last time I did was when we went home for a vacation in July. Right now that time seems like a lifetime ago. I have a very special friend that I haven't had lunch with since February of this year and another friend that I haven't been able to connect with on the phone in weeks. We play phone tag. My point? Life gets way too busy and relationships suffer.

We brought a puppy home with us when we went on vacation. My life has been turned upside down and my clean home, is no longer. My husband and I rarely sleep through the night because of crate training, and stomach and intestinal distress. Three visits to the vet in two months; we are almost on a first name basis with her. And the bank account is sorely lacking in funds, at this time.

It seems my relationships have taken a dramatic turn away from my lady friends toward a precious female Labrador Retriever, for the time being. I long to spend time with my friends to do all the catching up, but puppy training doesn't wait and we will have a good puppy-citizen, which takes lots of time. This is also the reason that I struggle to get more than two posts done in a week. It's frustrating, but a very real part of my life for right now. I'm looking forward to the time when she is old enough to go out for walks with me, and when my time is more my own again.

Never in my life did I think I would be "parenting" again, but I am. There will be time for lunch with a friend again soon, but in the meantime, we email one another and I will continue to use the phone to stay in touch the best I can. Relationships with our friends and family are so important, and the stuff of life does tend to get in the way of our time together. Thankfully, the Lord willing, we will have another day and time to connect. We must be careful that not too much time goes by though. We simply don't get the time back. Blessings...

Family Vacation

Since my husband and I moved to Idaho a few years back there have been many changes in our family. One of these changes is our niece and her family living on the other side of the world due to military service. One of the great blessings in my husbands life is the fact that one of our niece's daughters was born on my husbands birthday. Last year when we were all together for our summer mini-family reunion my husband invited this little niece out for an ice cream date to celebrate their mutual birthdays. They had such a good time together that he is hoping to repeat the celebration when we go home this time. These precious times together are the things that childhood memories and traditions are made of and, as we get older, we treasure them as much as the children do, if not more. We will be away building more family memories over the next 10 days. I'll be back to my "post" in about two weeks. Blessings...

The Humble Gift of Welcome

Hospitality is the humble gift of welcome, while entertaining is prideful, showy, wants to impress, and as my husband and I have experienced personally, very hurtful for those being "entertained". The most important part of hospitality is conveying an attitude of welcome, care and love toward those who are coming into your home. Our guests couldn't care less about the size of our home, kind or condition of the furniture, how the table is set or even what is being served, as long as they feel welcomed, loved, and cared for. Hospitality does not say, "hey, look at me", it says, "I'm glad you're here and I'm caring for you".

People are longing for relationship, connection, and a sense of acceptance, none of which are being supplied on Facebook or any other form of social media. Inviting people into our lives and our homes is where connecting takes place, especially around the table and a meal. The meal need not be elaborate; simplicity is key to easing stress and a feeling of being relaxed, for us and our guests. Our guests have come into our home for fellowship and an enjoyable time, and I have found that guests always ask what they can contribute to the meal, which causes them to feel more apart of the meal.

Recently we had some friends in our home to help celebrate my birthday, hence the picture of the lovely cake my husband purchased for the meal. The evening was filled with laughter and good food. There is no better way to connect with friends and family than to share laughter, conversation that includes everyone, and good food. Blessings...

Grandma's Dishes and some Family Memories

These lovely dishes belonged to my paternal grandmother. My cousin asked me if I would like to have a few pieces for memories sake, but I could not even remember my grandmother's dishes, so I asked her if she would send me a picture. Bless her heart, she simply boxed them up and sent them to me. This lovely gift arrived at my door a few months after my father's death this past spring. Her thoughtfulness touched me deeply, especially because of the timing in my life.

I spoke with my mom about grandma as a cook because I honestly could not remember having meals at my grandparent's home. I remember going regularly for visits, but not for meals. I had always remembered my mom telling me that my grandma was not a cook. She simply did not enjoy the kitchen. Mom shared some family history with me that helped me better understand my mom as a young bride of 17 just starting out.

One of the things that Mom readily recalled was the fact that Friday was Chef Boyardee spaghetti night and that this was what my father new of spaghetti. (My thought was, yuk!). So when Mom found a recipe for the real thing from scratch and put it in front of him one evening for dinner, my father's words were, "what's this?" and wasn't very happy with his new bride. This kind of response happened a great deal in my parents lives. Mom said that one of the things she heard often was, "this isn't how my mom made this". These are words that will take the heart right out of a young brides desire to cook.

There were a few other things that Mom remembered, but I won't bore you with those tidbits. The thing that is most important to me is that my mom loves to cook and is one of the best cooks in the world. She is a fighter and did not quit trying. She taught me that simple food that tastes good is what matters, that there is no place for snobbery or status in the kitchen, or at the table, and to make sure that there is plenty of food on the table. I still make some of the things that were a part of my childhood and that I learned to make while working with Mom in the kitchen. I have many happy memories of those days, and I can tell you that my father was my mom's greatest fans. Blessings...

A Recipe for "A Happy Marriage"

I found this very clever "recipe" in an ad some time back. These words of wisdom, done in a very sweet way, are very appropriate to marriage at any time. Blessings...

Take two happy people - one male and one female - and separate them from their parents. Add the following ingredients in generous proportions:
  Love
  Acceptance
  Respect
  Communication
  Patience
  Kindness
  Gentleness
  Self-Control
  Commitment
  Faith
  Hope
  Truth
Mix together, then thoroughly sift in daily life. Strain out jealousy, arrogance, selfishness, provocation and accounting of wrongs. Bake in the trials and tribulations of life for 50 years, then celebrate when golden.