Around My Kitchen Table

In our kitchen is a round oak table that we purchased twenty-some years ago while living in Indiana. As I wiped the table off after supper tonight I thought about the all the people we’ve been privileged to have sit around that little circle. My husband and I love having people in our home and have a guest book full of names of folks that have been seated there. I’ll never forget in my early years of entertaining how frightened I was to have people over – especially pastors or evangelists. I have a couple of memories that put that fear in me!

One such time was when I was in high school. My parents had invited our pastor to our home for a meal. My mom made an English Trifle with Jell-O, fruit and cake and was topped with whipped cream. When it came time for dessert she asked me to serve our guests. I brought the trifle to the table with the serving dishes and put the spoon into the bottom of the dish to serve the first piece. The Jell-O caused a suction-like problem and when I went to lift the spoon out, the trifle came flying out of the dish and landed on the lapel of my burgundy colored jacket! I looked like I was wearing a whipped cream corsage…very embarrassing for a 17 year-old!

My next horrific memory was when, as a single school teacher, my roommate and I decided to invite our pastor, his wife, and our guest evangelist for a meal during our week of revival meetings. I was in charge of dessert. I had heard that the evangelist loved coconut cream pie, so I set out to make one. I got the pie crust into the oven and got busy on the cream filling, working diligently to make sure it came out smooth and delicious. Pretty soon my roommate and I smelled something burning – the pie crust!!!! It was a lost cause and needed to be thrown away. Not wanting our guests to walk in and be greeted by the smell of burned food, I decided the best thing to do would be to set the crust out on the back porch and light some candles in the house to disguise the odor. Then I reinvented my pie by pouring the filling into parfait glasses and calling it coconut pudding parfaits! Our guests arrived, walked into the living room and the first words out of the evangelists’ mouth were, “Smells like you burned something!” I think all those candles did was point a finger to the burned crust! I believe our guests were leery about the meal from that moment on…wondering what they would be served that had been charred. When I served dessert our evangelist held up his hand and said, “If it’s all the same to you, I don’t believe I care for any.” So much for disguise! I think he had it all figured out – nothing in the main meal was burned, so it had to be the dessert!

I lived through those minor experiences, and there have been plenty others I can tell you, but the thing I’ve learned is, as long as you can laugh about it and not make a big deal over it, it won’t matter to your guests either. The blessings that have come from those gathered around our table have far outweighed the awkward experiences. Our kitchen table is far more than a piece of furniture; it holds memories of dear people that have gathered around that circle and shared more than just a piece of pie…or a pudding parfait; we’ve shared laughs, ministry blessings, tears, prayer requests, answers to prayers and salvation testimonies at our table. We’ve also seen sinners repent there and Christians bow in contrition to get right with the Lord once again. My kitchen table is a journal of blessings and I thank the Lord for each one.

Do you have a special memory from your kitchen table? Please share it with me; I’d love to hear about it!