The Meal that Prospers.

Prosper: to become strong and flourishing

“This meal is life changing”, I said in between bites of my sage corn and the chipotle mayo covering my portobello mushroom burger. And I meant it. It was a mouth watering goodness. Every bite had it’s own unique explosion of flavors that left my tastebuds dancing. My aunt always says you can tell a good meal but the number of colors it leaves on your plate. This meal had every color. But more than that, I think what made it so satisfying was the love that sat around the table. The wine was poured, the laughs were genuine, and the hearts each beated into a community of people who cared deeply about one another. That meal was life changing for two reasons; the food was dang good, and the experience was even better. I think we so often want things to be instant. Even in my meals, I fly by the quicker the better motto.  If I can have it ready in minutes great, seconds, even better. But the meal that night, we prepped for over an hour. And something so profound happened as I sloppily husked the corn and mixed the vinaigrette. What changes when we take time with people? What happens when we take time to prepare? Maybe it’s our meals, or our lives. But,  preparing does one major thing in us, it allows our desires, our community and our faith to prosper. We could have met at a restaurant and ate that same meal in 20 minutes. Or had one person cook it and the rest show up when it was ready. But we made it together. And the preparing, the cooking, the time in the kitchen, was the thing that stood out the most. Time together, waiting together, letting things be cooked, and stirred up by God, it’s not just what makes good food, or a full plate, it’s what makes a full life!