Bringing it to the Table

Food has this magical property. I’m convinced of it. Somehow it can make the most different of people come together in community. Jesus used this tactic, and I consider Him to be quite smart. Well, I got to enjoy the magic of a meal recently when I went over to a Bellflower neighbor’s home. Every Tuesday, Adam and I head over to Bellflower Manor to hang out with a couple of really great women who are interested in impoving their English. Adam and I aren’t professional teachers, by any means, but we enjoy working through the English books with our “students.” I was so honored when one of the individuals in our class, named Hue, invited all of us over to her home for Vietnamese food. Of course we immediately said YES!

We ate some of the most delicious Vietnamese food I’d ever had. Actually, I don’t know that I had ever had Vietnamese food, but man was it good. I now know why it was so good – she spent the entire day preparing it! We asked about her techniques and she explained how she would start hours before and prepare different portions of the meal at different times, just so that it would all come out just right. I felt so blessed that she took such care and pride in the meal that she was preparing for us. Well the food was great, but the company was greater. While at lunch all together, we shared about the different traditions that we all have, being that we came from a variety of countries and customs. Hue even took the time to show us her Vietnamese calendar and inform Adam and I of what animal sign we would be considered in that culture! This was actually the first time I had been inside a Bellflower neighbor’s home, being that I am not from around here, and I felt so incredibly welcomed. It was truly such a privilege to get to spend time with amazing people, eat delicious food that I had never tried before, and have quality conversations. I left that afternoon feeling so full, in more ways than one.