Most of you don’t know me.

If you did, you’d know that what I really wanted to say there was, “Y’all don’t know me.”   You would also know that I love to cook, talk about, think about and even sometimes write about, food.

I may, or may not, also be a little bit of a stickler for nutrition‘¦but we won’t talk about that quite yet, for fear it could ruin my street cred.  I’ll try to tone THAT down until you know me a bit better.  We’ll just say that, while I do have a certain fondness for all things in the “-ito” family of foods (Doritos, Cheetos, Fritos, etc.), I can also do things with a block of tofu that previously existed only in your dreams (OK…no one ever dreams of tofu…but I think you know what I’m getting at).

If you knew me, you’d also know that I was thrilled to be asked to collaborate on this blog by writing (when I feel like it) on food, nutrition, kids, etc, etc, etc.  Jesus AND food?!  Put together?!  Be still my heart.

The truth is, Jesus and food have just about everything to do with one another and you don’t have to be an English major to connect  real-deal, melt-in-your-mouth, explode-0n-your-taste buds and fill-your-stomach-FOOD with Spiritual Food.

Besides, God created us to DINE, not just FEED (despite what a recent incident between myself and a box of Cheez-Its may indicate).  DINING implies fellowship.  Community.  Camaraderie.   Don’t you agree?  Experiencing a peaceful meal, around a beautiful table, filled with soul-satisfying laughter and conversation and body-nourishing food reminds us of how we were meant to feed ourselves.

If you know me, you know that the last sentence in no way describes meals in my own home. I felt like a big fraud just writing it. Meals in my home aren’t peaceful.  In fact, they are rowdy affairs and sometimes on the run.  They are loud and sometimes the “conversation” sounds suspiciously similar to bickering between siblings.  It is also possible that said meals occasionally include chicken nuggets and tater tots (but I’ll never tell).  Sometimes no one, the cook included, likes what has been prepared.  There are nights (and mornings, for that matter), when the meal doesn’t even take place around the table.  More than once, the meal has ended with someone being sent to their room.  We sometimes forget to bless the food…and it seems there may be a genetic disposition among the children we’ve created to be less then reverential during table blessings, at least in their toddler years.

But, you know what?  Sometimes we get it right.

Sometimes, we bless the food beautifully and it tastes better for the sound of sweet preschool voices lifted up to Him around the table (or kitchen counter?).  Even if they do mess up the words or shout “HURRAY!” at the end instead of “Amen.”  Sometimes, I get it right and make a meal that satisfies the nutrition cop inside me AND satisfies the immature palettes of our three children.  Sometimes I budget the time just right and pull off homemade dessert.  Sometimes we laugh and cut up and reminisce about our day and desire to stay at the table for way too long. Sometimes we have so many extra faces around the table that no one remembers to bicker.  Don’t get me wrong.  These “get it right” meals are still rowdy, but they are also still soul satisfying and body-nourishing in the same way that I imagine a peaceful meal alone with my husband or a friend might be, someday.

I used to be obsessed with getting mealtime “right.”   This is probably because I felt I got it wrong so much of the time.  Most of us have had the experience of spending hours preparing a meal, only to have it devoured in minutes or eaten with bitter words spilled over it.  Many of us have eaten a meal we’ve prepared in solitude because the schedule just didn’t work out the way we envisioned it would.  I, for one, have spent a few meals counting down the minutes until bedtime.

However, (and listen up here, because this is where I’m going to bring it home) the people we’re eating with are similar to Jesus in their desire around our table.  They appreciate the fluff: the desserts, the beautiful presentation, the Food Network worthy recipes, the sincere and even heartwarming prayers.  Those are all great, and they certainly speak of our devotion to those we did it for.   But really?

They want YOU.

Let that soak in for a second.

Or a minute.

The people you dine with want YOU more than anything that’s on the table.  It’s as simple and as incredibly, mind-bogglingly difficult as that.

They want YOUR company, whether it’s over pizza or chicken nuggets or homemade lasagna or leftover sub sandwiches.  I know this to be true when it comes to my family, and I know it to be true when it comes to dining with friends.  I have a lot to say about this.  I have a lot of cautionary tales, because I’ve gotten this sort of thing WRONG a huge number of times.

But, I’m getting better, and better, at getting it right and nourishing my family and friends in a way that also feeds souls and allows me to give them what they want most from my table, and I have a lot to say about this too.

I’m so looking forward to sharing some of these tales and tricks and tips and recipes with you, and hopefully getting some tips and tricks and recipes back from you as comments.  So, be thinking of your best slowcooker recipes, entertainment horror stories and tales of meals gone RIGHT.  If you knew me, you’d know I still need all the help I can get.

Smooches until next time,

Mississippi Mama