This past month I had the privilege of reading an advanced copy of Shauna Niequist's third book, enriching and creatively written, Bread & Wine: A Love Letter to Life around the Table with Recipes.
As I have followed Shauna on her blog after savoring her first book, Cold Tangerines, I enjoyed journeying with her on the process of this book's completion. I loved reading her passion of food and entertaining and her true foodie status :-). Shauna's expertise of cuisine is far more extensive than mine and I looked forward to being challenged to expand my culinary abilities with recipes of risotto, goat cheese, or prosciutto. But what I love most about Shauna is her ability to tell a story. Stories that matter. I resonate with Shauna that stories of life, love and faith matter. They matter to you and to me and to all who hear them. Honest and transparent stories draw us into community unlike anything else, for we see ourselves in one another. As we do that, and especially around the table as Shauna invites us to, we more often than not find hope, encouragement, love and connection - the very things our God has created us for. Shauna boldly and challenges us through the stories of life written in Bread & Wine to take a risk and open our lives one more time to others. To use the setting of the tables in our homes to be a place where relationships flourish.
As I read through Bread & Wine, I was immediately reminded of my first place at a table, my family's. Memories of the seven of us growing up at a round table in a kitchen with avocado colored flowers on the wall and spaghetti or meatloaf to eat.
I was then lead to remember times around the little laminate table in a tiny apartment I shared with my college roommate of 4 years. I remember sitting there with Laura in between classes, or instead of them, talking for hours about dreams and young love and God, as we dined on chicken sandwiches and soup in the Illinois cornfields of NIU.
Then I found myself immersed in family memories around tables of incredible Cuban food, the food of my childhood in a little mama y papa restaurante in Melrose Park that we dined at frequently. I don't believe I ever fully understood in those moments how much those times grounded me with my understanding of love and family.
And on and on and on to my table today that I serve and set nightly for those I love the most.
Shauna leads us to this primary familial place and shines a huge floodlight on it and asks us to bring it out of the mundane and into a place of great importance. To intentionally use our homes, big or small, messy or immaculate, to fundamentally love those God has given to us. And she doesn't stop there :-) Bread & Wine equips us with recipes and menus and great discussion questions to remove the excuses why we can't.
My life has been transplanted to rural North Dakota this year so my table is filled with more BBQ than baguettes and sweet tea more than wine but Shauna reminds us that that is not the point. The point not to be missed is...
"That's what this is all about. This isn't about recipes. This is about a family, a tribe, a little band of people who walk through it all together, up close and in the mess, real time and unvarnished. And it all started around a table...."
Bread & Wine, pg. 31
I have been hesitant to open my doors in our new home because we are in the middle of a remodel and the years of being a 1917 farmhouse reveals itself in cracking plaster and brown paneling. I have always lived in places filled with many people, family, friends and children, yet these past several months I have robbed myself of what happens around the table. One of our new friends reminded us of it as she boldly told me just the other day, "I'm there to see you guys, not your carpet." I've always known this and can give that grace to others who apologize for the condition of their home, but it's different when you choose to open your home and life and mess. Shauna, through her stories, lovingly forces us to ignore those concerns and reach for the best part, the wonder of love around the table. And you'll discover some new tastes you'll want to try to encourage you to enjoy your meals even more.
As you dive into Bread & Wine, drink in the stories of Emily and Home Depot safety glasses. Of kiddie pools filled with beer and soda. You will imagine the taste of breakfast cookies and see little Henry in cowboy boots and a Chicago Bears sweatshirt with his toddler belly hanging out. You will be touched to remember your stories, but also make even more as you avail your life and home and heart to others.
Lastly, through the wonderful writing, you'll be reminded, or discover for the first time, that God, who nourishes our body and soul, is here and He is good.
Give yourself a gift this spring and read Bread & Wine.
Released today, April 9th.
What a great post--thank you! XO, Shauna
ReplyDelete