Ministry through Meals

A story in the Bible that has always stood out to me has been the story of Mary and Martha.  Mary and Martha were sisters and hosted Jesus and his disciples in their home.  In Luke 10:38-42, we read that while Martha prepared the meal and served it, her sister Mary sat at Jesus' feet and listened to him teach.  Martha complained to Jesus that her sister was not helping her, and Jesus gently chastised her because Mary was not wrong in wanting to listen to Jesus' teaching.

I have always felt led to the ministry of hospitality.  Opening our home to people has always been such a blessing to me.  Preparing a meal that is prayed over, enjoyed, savored - few things in life bring me more joy.

Easter Sunday, 2005, I woke up with so much to do.  I thought I'd prepared enough ahead of time, but as the day dawned, I realized that time was not on my side.  I had lamb that had been marinating all night long that needed to be cooked, I had potatoes to peel, eggs to boil, a cake to decorate -- and in front of me loomed a full day in a Spirit filled church where the pastor would just be warming up about 12:30.

But after church, I had 40 people coming over, including the pastor and his family, the music director, and various other guests and their children.  For the first time in my life, I would not be attending church on Easter Sunday.

About 9:00, Gregg and Kaylee left and left me alone to finish decorating, to hide eggs, and to finish cooking.  About 12:50, Gregg returned and said that everyone was just minutes behind him.  He had enough time to pour the ice into the cooler and put the dog in our room before the doorbell started ringing.

The pastor and his wife came in first.  I joked with her (her name is Mary) that she got to worship at the feet of Jesus while I stayed back in the kitchen.  She was and is a dear friend and told me that there are times when Martha just needs to work, and that they understood that this particular morning was one of those times for me.

Since then, whenever I've heard the story of Martha and Mary, I think that Martha often gets a bad rap.  Despite how Mary wasn't necessarily doing anything wrong at Jesus' feet, someone was still expected to prepare the meal and serve it.  And that fell to Martha, who had to carry the burden of her sister's work, too.  Yet the focus of all of the lessons about that story look at how spending time with Jesus was a priority to one woman.

Because of the effort and hours and hours of work on my behalf, a large group of friends and church family were able to relax and just enjoy the holiday, fellowshipping together without worrying about Easter dinner or patronizing a restaurant or going home to an empty house (as was the case with our widower music director.)  Instead, they walked into a loving home filled with tables covered with pastel table covers and set with gold rimmed dishes and crystal glassware, centered with beautiful bouquets of fresh cut flowers.  Children got to finish eating the last of their dinner and run outside in their Easter best, carrying beribboned baskets and competing in a hunt for the most eggs.  And late in the afternoon, everyone was able to return to their own homes and enjoy the rest of their holiday together.

During dinner, the question was posed: when would I start cooking for the church on a regular basis?  I'd done special dinners, banquets, fed visiting pastors and missionaries more lunches and dinners than I could count.  And we'd only been attending that church for about 6 months.  The idea was sparked and within a few weeks, the Cuisine Team ministry began.

Every Wednesday, I cooked dinner for our church.  The first week, we fed 23.  The last week we were there, we fed 94.

I learned how to cook good, affordable dinners for large crowds who were coming in paying, if they could afford it, $5 a plate.  I learned some meals aren't easy to do (breakfast for dinner) and I learned just how easy some of the more complicated meals can be (chicken cordon bleu.)

This was in Florida.  In 2007, we moved to Kentucky and intentionally sought out a church where I could continue my ministry.  The first church we went to had an amazing congregation and an awesome pastor.  But my ministry while appreciated on a certain level just didn't really fit in there.  In 2009, we felt the call that we answered to another church. The move wasn't easy but it was the right move for our family.

We started going there in August, and in January this year, I started cooking Wednesday nights again.  This time, Gregg is gone.  He's in Afghanistan.  Thankfully, and because God is good, he was home on vacation for the first two meals and helped me start back into my rhythm.  This time, I have two toddlers running around the church gym, playing in the toddler nursery, and basically hanging out at church on Wednesdays from 12:30 until after 8:00 most weeks.  But they love it.  They wake up Wednesday morning dancing and singing about it being church day.

Our youth pastor's wife comes to help me, and she has a daughter the same age as Scott.  So, the three of them run and play and play and run and have so much fun while we peel 20 pounds of potatoes or break down 10 chickens or make individual cheesecake cupcakes.

I have rarely felt so much in obedience to God as I do right now.  The first Wednesday that I walked into that kitchen and put on my apron I felt "right". 

I do it to serve.  I do it so that the dozens of people who come in, harried from work or from school or simply from a long day can come with their families and sit down to a home cooked, healthy meal and prepare their minds and their bodies for their hour of worship to God.  I do it so that they don't have to swing by a fast food restaurant on their way in to church and mindlessly fill their stomachs with bad food that usually doesn't even taste that good.  I do it so that a group within the body of Christ can come together and have a time of relaxing fellowship before they begin their evening.

It's hard work.  It's days of planning, shopping, preparing.  It's hours and hours of chopping and cooking and baking and serving.  It makes me late for my own class and gets me home late after a really long day.  But it's a blessing to offer to my church family a Martha that allows them to focus on nothing more than being a Mary for at least one night a week.

Hallee the Homemaker is a mother of 3 in small town Kentucky who juggles cloth diapers, grain mills, two precocious toddlers, a teenager, and a ministry that has her cooking full meals for 50+ people a week -- all while her husband is in Afghanistan. She has been blogging since August and covers everything from fresh ground whole wheat bread bowls and the breakdown model for Biblical womanhood, to how to clean chubby little lipstick hand-prints off of eggshell white walls. Hallee the Homemaker is delighted to be included in the Today's Housewife lineup.

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