Food

Nathan and I were talking about food the other night, reminiscing about favourite dishes and how food becomes a part of who we are. For Nathan: borscht, zwieback, and rollkuchen connect him to his Giesbrecht roots. Lasagna, blackberry juice, bran muffins, and roast chicken with gravy remind him of his mom. Pork chops with mushroom soup take him back to his childhood and dinners with his dad and Danny. 

For me? Orange cake, roast beef dinner with Yorkshire pudding, and Manhattan clam chowder claim my heart and memories of my mama and papa. The importance of a good chocolate chip cookie comes from the best chocolate chip cookies maker, Sally, my childhood babysitter. My mom’s raisin cookies take me back to the happiest time of my childhood. Peanut butter toast debates – butter or no butter underneath, Uncle Kriss?!

What food dishes are part of who you are? 

Food holds memories for us, and so do the people we share food with. My mama had an ernie jar in her kitchen. It was always full of something…usually cookies, but if the cookies ran out she would put saltine crackers in it so the grandchildren wouldn’t be disappointed when they put their hands in. Mama danced in her kitchen a lot too. It was more steps and less twirling…. I would call it a step-ity step with this unmistakable laugh, cheeks rosy. I never really saw her mad – though that’s likely due to the fact that I just always got grandma love. (Dad and my aunts and uncles might have seen her upset a time or two! Haha). But I do remember my papa relentlessly teasing her, to which she would say in an exasperated tone.. “Tom!”  Then it was usually back to her rosy step-ity stepping self. I miss her. Not sure how I ended up on this train of thought. But here I am. See how food does that…takes us down these rabbit holes of memories? And just like the food they are associated with, they satisfy us.

And then there is bread. The Bread. The Bread of life. Jesus is the bread of life. 

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

John 6:35

In Him there is life – a deeply rich and satisfying eternal life. When we come to Him in faith alone, and turn from our sin, He gives us forgiveness. By His sacrifice on the cross, He takes away the punishment intended for us, covers us in glorious white robes – forgiven, and makes us sons and daughter to the King of the universe. Citizens of heaven. Eternal life. And until the day comes that He returns and takes us into glory, He satisfies our hearts and minds by the grace and love He has given us and in the hope of our future glory in eternity with Him. By faith in Him we will never be hungry and we will never thirst. 

“My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:19

“But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

John 4:14

Update:

We continue to plan for our move this summer. All signs seem to point to an August start on campus in Los Angeles. Nathan is preparing for his Greek Final and applying for a scholarship. We continue to fundraise. You should see the pile of refundable to return! Praise the Lord for the generosity of others in donating them to us. Ten cent cans add up quickly when they are coming to us in large garbage bags! We are waiting patiently in anticipation of social distancing restrictions to be loosened. As more things open up we will set a date for our MASSIVE moving sale. We plan to ensure health and safety with lots of hand sanitizer at this event. We are incredibly encouraged and amazed by cash and Gofundme donations – they are an incredible blessing to us as God provides for us through so many people. We can not thank you and our gracious God enough!!  Please find our Gofundme here or contact us directly here if you would like to donate. Please continue to pray for us as God reveals His plan for us.