By Luann Anderson
My grandmother Filomena lived to be 89 years old. She lived in my neighborhood most of my life, so I enjoyed the time spent and the many meals I shared with her. I didn’t realize it then, but she taught me a lot about food, family, and fellowship.
As a kid, Sunday dinners were a big deal at Grandma’s house. My dad tells me it was expected that our whole family show up to eat together. Those dinners carried over to my adult years, when I’d stop by during college, and later, when I brought my own young family over to Grandma’s house to enjoy her terrific Italian cooking.
Filomena was widowed at 69, and so spent countless evenings cooking for one. Still, even when she was alone, my grandmother made conscious decisions to fuel her body healthfully, regardless of whether anyone else was around. I remember many afternoons, stopping in to see Grandma for a quick visit. She already had spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove, or a piece of meat thawing on the counter, or zucchini being prepared in the sink. And no, she was not entertaining that night. She was preparing a feast for herself.
When we come humbly to the Lord, what do we bring to the table? Are we feeding on His Word healthfully, taking time to let it infuse us with fuel for the day? Are we gathering others around the table, heartening them with words and deeds and prayers that will be life-giving? Even when we are alone—and this includes those feelings of loneliness that sometimes accompany a trial—are we feasting on the knowledge that our God is able to do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us?
If you find yourself hungry, even starving, return to the table Jesus had set for you. There you will find a feast of spiritual encouragement, healing, and hope. There you will eat well, live well, and be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen (Ephesians 3:17–21).
