The kitchen, is the heart of the home. It’s typically the gathering space that we associate with family, fellowship and food. It’s where decisions are made, homework is done, it’s where amazing meals are planned and cooked. It can also be the place of not so great, sometimes very messy meals that are ultimately tossed in the trash and replaced with takeout. Whatever it is to you, I suspect that at the center, is love.
Pretty much from the moment that I knew that I was going to have children, it became my priority to improve my cooking skills. It was the idea of life growing inside my body that made me want to challenge myself to create the most wholesome meals, I could imagine. In my mind, I channeled Rachael Ray and Bobby Flay when I made anything, salad, soup, salmon, whatever it was, it had to be just right. When my daughter started daycare at the age of one, her teacher would comment often on how she had the best meals in her class because they were homemade, not prepackaged or ready to eat. Those compliments meant the world to me, because although I worked full time, I still do by the way, my daughter had real food everyday. I continued that tradition when my son was born, because to me food nourishes and it restores.
In this season of coronavirus, where the dictates have been isolation and separation, I have often wondered if more time at home has given families the opportunity to return to the tradition of family meals together or to create new traditions where the kitchen has become the soul of the home once more. Perhaps, with the children learning to cook, spending time at the table discussing all the things. Maybe doing school and work side by side. Or maybe it has become the place to sit and talk and reconnect. It is my prayer that more connecting or reconnecting is happening in the room that is known for gathering.
Open up your homes. Invite your extended family, friends and neighbors over to eat, have a cup of coffee, laugh and fellowship. Our kitchens can and should be once again, the heart and soul of our homes and the place to remember that we are connected and that is a beautiful thing!
With love,
AngelaChristine
One Mom Growing in her Faith with Grace 