Hello friends! TGIF! I am crazy about Friday because it is the day of Five Minute Friday at Kate Motaung’s place. I love the challenge of being given a word prompt and told to write for 5 minutes. No editing, no over-thinking. Just write whatever the Lord brings to my mind. For me, this #FMFparty is an opportunity to offer a little taste of what the Lord is doing in my heart to a giant community of writers, AND to be able to taste a bit of what is going on in their hearts, as well.
So, once again today, I gather around a word prompt with some sweet blogging friends. Today’s word prompt is:
OPEN
I’m a southern woman. Born and bred in the south, and in the south, we southern women believe that the cure to many ills is to feed our people. Like generations of women in my family before me, my dining room and my kitchen are OPEN. I consider them a kind of hospital for those seeking a bit of respite from the harshness of the day in which we live. Because really, a hot meal does more than simply fill one’s stomach. It provides nourishment on the physical and emotional level.
Pretty regularly, I OPEN my home and encourage others to tuck their knees beneath my table to share a bit of southern cooking. I’ve fed from two to fifty at one sitting. My home has been OPEN to people from all over the world~~American, a friend from north of the border, Swedes, Aussies, Germans, Latvians, black, white, gay, straight, the athlete, the scholar, the down and out, the up and coming, young, old and everything in between. Everyone who sits at my table is told one thing: The first time you are here, you are our guest. The next time, you are family.
OPENING my kitchen impacts me, probably more than the one who sups at my table. It is one of the ways the Lord has OPENED the eyes of my heart to the needs of others. Not just the need of their stomach, but the need of their heart. My prayer, each time I OPEN my home, is that Jesus would be present and tend to hearts while I tend to tummies. I want to follow Jesus’ example of tending to physical AND spiritual needs.
So, if you are in my neck of the woods, be sure and check to see if the OPEN sign is flashing at Leah’s Kitchen. There is always a place waiting for you at my table.
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Linking up with Lori at Live Small, Love Big.
