The Blessing of a Meal Delivered

Sometimes I like to pick organic food from my winter front yard garden like onions, chard, kale, spinach, lettuce and herbs and prepare a healthy meal together with my three children.  The girls are much more likely to eat vegetables that they have helped to prepare. Even Josh gets into the kitchen activity by helping out with the washing and cutting.  I like how everything feels very warm and "hearthy" as we cook our dinner together.  We often end up singing together and I tell them stories of how my sister and I used to enjoy learning about the pleasure of cooking from my mom.

I'm just kidding.  The above paragraph is me falling into a fantasy of idyllic, unrealistic mommyhood.

Yes, there are days when I pick vegetables from my garden and whip up a salad.   Yes, sometimes I have a vision for dinner early in the morning, prep it all and pop it into the crock pot by ten in the morning.  Yes, the girls do sometimes help with dinner prep and they always set the table but it's rarely the happy, zappy picture that I imagine that it could/ should be.

But there are days, my friends, there are days when I feel like would rather stick knitting needles in my eyes than make dinner.

Do you ever approach 5pm and find yourself realizing that it would take every single ounce of motivation and energy that you have in your profoundly tired and spent body to cook dinner for your family?  Are you ever tempted to spend large amounts of money on cardboardy, unnutritous food YET AGAIN because you cannot bear the thought of pulling out that skillet to create something that comes from your own refrigerator?  Does the thought of doing dinner dishes fill your heart with heavy, gummy, sticky dread?

It was on a day such as this a few weeks ago that I experienced "The Blessing of a Meal Delivered." My husband had had a minor surgery on his knee and, therefore, had to ask for my help every time he needed a glass of water.  The girls were taking turns being sick.  Sleep was not good for anyone that week.  Joshua's home autism therapy was hitting some walls and needing much more of my attention.  It wasn't like my life was on fire but I was WORN DOWN.

A few friends from church rallied to deliver us a few meals.  Each meal was stupendously delicious because someone else made it and they infused it with love.  The picture at the top of this post captures one such beautiful meal.  Ironically, it was a vegan meal delivered by a family that is vegan.  I don't know if my kids even know what veganism is and they certainly have never had a whole vegan meal but we all devoured this dinner with deep appreciation.  German vinegary potato salad, super wholesome, nutty, chunky bread, well-spiced and tasty veggie burgers, it was all fantastic.  And it had been delivered by a smiling, empathetic person who cared about us. Truly, it was the grace of God made manifest in a real way to my somewhat mildly overwhelmed life.

If you know someone who is having a hard time, consider offering to bring them a meal.  Prepare something yummy and somewhat homemade.  My suggestion is that you bring it to them in either disposable or pretty serving dishes which they can return with no hurry.  Include something healthy and something chocolate.   And never, ever underestimate the blessing and power of a meal delivered.