At the end of June, I had a sweet baby girl.
In the weeks that followed, people blessed us with lots of food. Dinners, desserts, fresh fruits, salads – our fridge was full of deliciousness.
We were so thankful for every morsel. Each meal gave us more time out of the kitchen and focused on our new family of four.
I was introduced to this beautiful form of serving others when I moved to Nashville as an adult.
A friend was having a baby and another friend sent out a simple email saying, would you like to take a meal to Rachel to help her family during this time of transition?
I quickly said yes. Little did I know this was the genesis of my passion for making meals for others.
In the past seven years, I have made and coordinated dozens of meals. My meals are never fancy, but that is okay. Hearty spinach pasta or tender crock pot chicken are two of my favorites.
As I prepare the meal, I pray for the family I am making it for. I pray that it blesses them. I pray for their new baby or sickness. I pray that it makes their day a little easier.
It is about more than making food.
It is about being the hands and feet of Jesus by serving others.
Do you prepare meals for others? If so, please feel free to link up a favorite recipe. Let’s expand our recipe box and serve others at the same time.
For more tips on preparing meals for others, click here.
By Jessica Turner, The Mom Creative
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haven’t done that for our new church we go to but have done it many of times for people in our old church. Loved doing it!!! Was one way I could show others how much I enjoyed serving God.
When we were expecting our second child we were penniless grad students in a city full of strangers. I had (not long before) connected to a moms group, but I hadn’t found close connections their yet, either. We had our daughter, then these women who we hardly knew began showing up at our apartment door. They brought rotisserie chickens casseroles and salads, and cookies at the end of each meal. Never before had I felt so loved! These were the hands of God, reaching out to us through His people…. it was such a blessing at a time when we had such great needs. It brings me the same great joy to share with others whenever they have a child, an illness, or a death in the family… all because of the love of strangers in a time of need…
I do really enjoy loving people through food preparation and service. Typically for me it looks like having others over to my house to serve them tasty food, making snacks as treats for coworkers or a hard working church staff that pushes through 5 services in a weekend, or baking bread to be used in communion during the service. Knowing I have such a heart for cooking and expressing love through that service, I know I should get myself in a ring of providing meals for new moms, grieving families, etc, but so far I’ve been nervous of commitment and worried that my budget won’t support it. Reading this is encouraging me to go for it, and trust God’s provision.
I love to do this for people–mostly baking a yummy sweet and praying they receive grace to See their own sweetness.
Rich blessings in your own love-giving, Jessica…
This post made me smile. It seems like such a small thing, making someone a meal for one night, but it really is huge, as you’ve pointed out here. It gives you the opportunity to pray for the family, and it gives the family the time they need to rest. We recently did this for a friends who had a baby in early May, and it made me day to see them blessed by it. Thanks for sharing this!
I love serving people with meals! It is totally my gift! I always make things I love and I like to make two days worth, one for them to eat right away, and one for them to freeze to eat on a ‘crazy day’.
My 2nd daughter was born 8 weeks after we moved to a new city. I did not really know one person. So, different then with our first girl, we did not have this loving ‘bring over food for the new baby’s mama and family’ gift. And we did ok, God was very sweet to us.
It was then that realized it is less about the meal, and more about the smile, the “oh your baby is so sweet”, and the hug of “You will make it!”
True ministry! And has blessed my heart so much!
Have you tried takethemameal.com? It does all the coordinating work for you!!
YES! This site is amazing!
We have done this for years in our church. New moms get about two weeks of meals, more if they happen to have a C-section. We try to deliver meals to people going thru other changes- illness, moving, etc. I introduced it to my family and other circles of friends. In our neighborhood, it has become a way of life- and has built a great deal of love into our world.
Yes, we bring meals too! In the South, it just doesn’t feel official until there’s a cream-of-something somewhere! 🙂
I love caring for people in this way! That’s how my grandma operated, which she passed down to my mom, who then passed the gift of hospitality down to me.
As mom to 7, I have been blessed by this many times 🙂 In turn, it has made me passionate about reciprocating. When you have children, it can be a challenge to find a way to minister to others on a regular basis. This provides a wonderful opportunity. If bringing a whole meal is intimidating, ask a friend to do it with you, then you can ride together to deliver it. This is especially helpful if you don’t know the recipient very well.
Also, I often will just double what I’m making, so dinner for my own family is taken care of as well and I’m not double cooking. If I am really on the ball, periodically, I will double some of our easier, less expensive casseroles and freeze them to take as a bonus meal to put in their freezer.
Thanks for sharing ! I will look for a recipe to link up.
I just linked up three recipes, all of which are tried and true with guests and great for sharing. I love to take casseroles (like my turkey divan and corn casseroles) to bereaved families and those with new babies or sick family members. Casseroles keep for a while and many can be frozen. I find the best way to bless others with food is to take them simple meals that don’t have to be eaten right away.
Sometimes I’ll put together a whole meal or sometimes I’ll bring something already frozen with directions for reheating on it. I like to keep it as simple as possible – I never want to cause the family any more work!
My mother’s favorite way to bless folks with food is to not bring food, but to bring paper goods and drinks. Many times those things get left out and as the beneficiary of a meal or two from friends and family, it’s certainly nice to not have to worry about cleaning up!
Enjoy the recipes I’ve linked up and if you would like more, please stop by my recipe index! http://lifelovelibrarianship.com/recipe-index-2/
I just blessed our new neighbors today with a batch of banana muffins. They just moved in yesterday. When our family was outside about an hour later they came over to say thanks and hi. We are looking forward to the relationships we can build with our new neighbors.
I’ve been on both ends; receiving and preparing meals and both are a blessing! So many people cook with their emotions and it’s great to “taste” that emotion especially when it’s love, joy, and faith!
smooches,
Larie
Jessica,
I LOVE cooking and coordinating meals for people too!
So this post hit home. 🙂
My specialty right now is Barilla pasta with Primavera sauce and sugar cookies, which I make and bake from scratch. My favorites by my grandma are lamb chops (cooked to perfection, sans the bones and fat), vegetable soup with shredded turkey, banana pudding and our entire immediate family’s holiday favorite, Sweet Potato pie! 🙂
You choose your favorite of these and I’ll send you the recipes! 🙂
May God bless you and your family of four!
Sincerely,
Alexis
I have been on both ends of this wonderful, very gracious, ministry! At the birth of a baby and the loss of a loved one, people have surrounded me with their love through gifts of homemade food. No words needed. The message is conveyed perfectly in the food! I have seldom felt more loved and cared for!
[…] have some good offerings on their blog. This is a good reminder along with some good recipes that taking a meal to someone is a wonderful way to serve. We have benefited from many hands over the last couple of months […]
When my dad died people were so generous in bringing food. It was SUCH a blessing to my family.
A friend of the family has a younger brother that has cancer. The family also has two other teenage brothers living at home. Over the weekend I asked what kind of food they would like. I suggested breakfast foods, turkey burgers, spaghetti. Instead they asked me if I could make something Asian. Hmm….not exactly in my repertoir but I wanted to give them what they wanted. So I Googled recipes and I talked to the butcher at the store. I ended up making them a (seemingly) simple meal of beef and broccoli, sauted veggies in sauce and fried rice. I never thought that I would pray for God to make my food taste good but that’s definitely what happened with that meal!
How many does the yummy chicken recipe feed?