Community through Cooking

For the past few weeks, I've been feeling lonely. It's a busy season for people, and my family is far away. I love spending time with my husband, but we both agree that sometimes it feels nice to have a girl call and want to hang out (we all need girl time and boy time).

After sharing with a few friends that I was having a rough day, I got a really sweet email from a friend in my Bible study. She was very encouraging, and she asked me to spend the day with her. After some mall walking and lunch, we went to her house.

She had a really great idea that ended up being super fun! We made a full cake together, and then we split it and each took half of it home for dessert that night. We did the same with dinner. We made a huge batch of soup, and split it in half. It was a great experience because we had fun talking and cooking, but then I had dinner and dessert for that night already made!

So - taking her cue - this week I was planning to make stuffed shells. The process is fairly long, but it makes a ton. So I called another friend. We made the shells together, and divided them up. Again, we had time to talk and encourage each other, and then we both had dinner prepared for that night.

Two birds. One stone.

I have heard of meal sharing, and it's really beneficial! However, the process is more about making the food on your own and then splitting it up. The reason I enjoyed this was that I was getting a great meal while spending time with a friend.

I feel like community is built in so many different ways. This is just one way to do it that God recently revealed to me, and I have really enjoyed it.