Refreshing my Purpose

Planning a family meal on Easter was a lot of work – it usually took most of Saturday, and another hour or so Sunday morning. I made the same menu for many years from Southern Living Party Cookbook: Leg of lamb in pastry, a rice casserole, fresh asparagus, and a salad.  Some years were more successful than others. When I cooked, Doug dutifully dyed eggs with the kids – and hid them in the yard early next morning. 

Trusty Kitchen GUIDE

Just like the memories of orchestrating so many Thanksgiving dinners, these recollections of Easter dinners make me want to remember who was there:  For several years, it seemed like we had a minimum of 10 or 12 for a leisurely lunch. My mother was a guest most years, Doug’s father came occasionally, Doug’s aunt and his cousins, and other friends also joined our family and were later drafted into hunting eggs, and then re-hiding them. Every so often, I’d find an especially well-hidden one when putting in plants later in May. (No rats!)

Clean up often carried over until Monday.

Freed now from so many responsibilities, I wonder what being a grateful guest means.    

Heather Holleman in a recent blog gave me a concrete task: Be the Spoon. 

No matter how tasty a dish looks, without a serving piece, who can properly sample it? For many people gathering around this holiday's table, Christ may be as perplexing to them as access to appetizing food is without spoons. 

“Christianity feels this way to so many people; they can't get into the Promised Land because they're missing a way to access it. They hover about it all, but they don't know how to enjoy it. They need spoons.”  Live With Flair

So, here’s one serving spoon:

But from this earth, this grave, this dust,
My God shall raise me up, I trust.  ~Walter Raleigh

What would yours look like?

I Peter 3:15