Bread & Wine: Part Three (1 of 2)

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Read:

To track with the chapters we’re covering in this section of Part Three, read pp. 151-189; from Hail Mary through On Scrambled Eggs and Doing Hard Things.  A glimpse of what caught our eye (but  you’re going to want to read and lap up every last morsel!):

Hail Mary ~ “The statue of Mary, pale and silent, reminded me that I wasn’t alone at all, that I was one of a great line of mothers who entrusted their children into God’s care, terrifying as it is.” (p. 159)

Magical White Bean Soup ~ “I want people to sit down and feel at home, not like there’s a scientist in the kitchen but like there’s a sister there, someone who loves them, who understands their history and wants to remind them of something lovely, who wants to recall together a sweet time.” (p. 162)

“…if feeding people around your table is about connecting with them more than it is about showing off our menu or skills, isn’t it important to cook in such a way that their preferences or restrictions are honored?” (p. 163)

Present Over Perfect ~ “Either I can be here, fully here, my imperfect, messy, tired but wholly present self, or I can miss it–this moment, this conversation, this time around the table, whatever it is–because I’m trying, and failing, to be perfect….” (p. 169)

The Bass Player’s Birthday ~ “The heart of hospitality is creating space for these moments, protecting that fragile bubble of vulnerability and truth and love.” (p. 176)

Russian Dolls ~ “But this is perhaps the heart of parenting: despite my aching, desperate baby-love, it’s my job to help him into being a big boy.” (p. 179)

On Scrambled Eggs and Doing Hard Things ~ “I don’t want to live by rules and regulations, but I also don’t want to be ruled by my appetities.” (p. 184)

 

Watch:

{Subscribers, please click here to view video.}

 

Discuss:

If you’re fortunate to have the type community Shauna, Angie and Jessica discussed, can you share your stories of how you’ve ministered to one another, especially during the bleakest of circumstance or happiest of celebration?  If you haven’t yet found a rich, real life community, what are you doing to find it?  Is our study of Bread & Wine encouraging you to pursue community and giving you ideas how to accomplish that goal?  How so?

Most of us know it’s WHEN not IF hard times WILL come; how does Shauna’s perspective about “to pray in a new way and to trust God in a new way” allow you to see purpose and intent in your present circumstances?

Angie talked about “kick down the door and come help me” seasons; how do these times compel you to rely more on God and the people around you?

Jessica reminds us that all seasons don’t look “pretty“; that some of us might be having a hard time, incapable of extending hospitality to others.  If this is your present reality, how can we pray for you?

 

Share:

Remember, we want to SEE pictures of new recipes you’re making, especially if you’re trying those included in Bread & Wine.  Please use the hashtag #inbooks when you share images on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook so we can enjoy them.

Let us know how your thoughts on Food & Community are evolving; how this study is impacting you, changing you, challenging and encouraging you.  We really do appreciate your comments here, your tweets, Facebook tags–all the way you share Bloom with others!

Tomorrow and Thursday we’ll be featuring Guest Posts on our Facebook page, and in between, on Wednesday, we’ll complete our study of Part Three.  We hope you’ll plan to check in!

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Helpful links and reminders:

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love & stuffed to the gills with caramelized onions,

~ Robin for Bloom

 

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About the Author

Robin is the author of For All Who Wander, her relatable memoir about wrestling with doubt that reads much like a conversation with a friend. She's as Southern as sugar-shocked tea, married to her college sweetheart, and has three children. An empty nester with a full life, she's determined to...

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Comments

  1. I absolutely loved this book, and being a part of this book study has added so much to the experience of soaking in Shauna’s words. She has been an inspiration to me, a 28-year-old mom of two, who has been intimidated for years by the thought of opening my home and kitchen to others. I have a totally different perspective now; I feel encouraged and confident. This confidence hasn’t bloomed because I’m suddenly an amazing cook, or because my house is now spotless and clutter-free. I’m confident because I know that when I open the door to friends and family, I’m giving them my love, regardless of what I’ve prepared. Since starting Bread and Wine, I’ve invited two different families over for dinner. These gatherings have been everything I always hoped they would be, and Shauna is right, no one cared about the overflow of toys in the living room or checked to see if I’d dusted the furtniture lately. The idea that preparing food for others is an “act of love” has really taken root in my heart. No performance necessary, just love.

    • Oh, Christina,

      Your comment? Precious. Affirming. Blessing. The heart of the Bloom Community–choosing a book which changes us for the glory of God and touches the reader. THANK YOU for sharing how you’ve been affected. xo

  2. I cried reading through the entire part. Pages 168 and 169 are highlighted through and through..Especially about no one cares whether it’s frozen or fresh,or hand made or store bought. I have a tendency to make things from scratch believing that baking a cake out of a box by only adding water and butter is cheating those you are baking for. And I absolutely love baking all the time. Sometimes I get so obsessed in baking I do it late at night to make sure I have a pretty spread in the morning as I patiently sit reading my book waiting for the mums and tots to arrive .. while my heart is beating in an unusual way and I am reading my book upside down. Present over perfect.

    When things are too crazy I hear voices of shame and fear. I always imagine people are going to think that its not as best as last time… Setting the bar too high is something I need to deal with…

    Looking forward to the next video 🙂

    • Manju,

      {{hugs}} Sometimes reading something in black and white makes us HEAR truth, doesn’t it? I sure bet you make some wonderful treats–you’ve practiced a lot :).

  3. Salad fixins & friends tonight
    Can’t wait to share more later,
    I’m in a season in which I need friends,
    love & support and I can’t believe …
    I just keep inviting them in …

    Thanks for the inspiration y’all!

    • Sonya,

      Love how you’re interacting in this study–thank you! Thankful you’re building a community when it sounds like you NEED it. You’re making a wonderful investment in relationships :).

  4. In 2010 I was diagnosed with Triple Negative breast cancer…stage 2+…compromised nodes. I spent the year from diagnosis in February through 6 months of chemo, then surgery, and completed radiation in December of that year.

    I am not a fan of all that happened that year. (There’s more that I’m not writing here).

    But God provided numerous blessings for which I wouldn’t trade having had the cancer.

    The blessings: the profound togetherness of friends gathering to pray outside the cancer center on the day of my first treatment, their care in meals brought to the house as they would sign on to help at TakeThemAMeal dot com., their getting a table together in my honor for a Bunco event that raised funds for cancer research, and going with me to a cooking class on the first days of hair clumps falling out.

    I looked different after chemo began and yet, they weren’t ashamed to ask me out to lunch or coffee (depending on my appetite and strength) knowing that I was going to be wearing a hand-knitted cap preferring them over my wig (I was afraid they would hug it off of me).

    Ironically, another in my small circle of more intimate friends has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and now I have the opportunity to give back to her as I learned from those who gave so much to me that year.

  5. When I got out of the hospital last year, my best friend came over and helped me wash my hair a couple of times. Other friends dropped off meals. Several offered to clean my house (which made my shy husband freak out..). I was well loved. I loved what Shauna shared about making sure you
    “log in the minutes and hours that you need.” I want to be present for others as they were for me.

    I think everybody in the world needs to read “Present Over Perfect” once a year during the first week in November…. Thank you, Shauna!

    I love the birthday toasts tradition from “The Bass Player’s Birthday”… I am stealing that one for sure.

    I am so enjoying the book. This video today was probably my favorite Bloom video ever… my heart was shouting a big amen. We need each other. May I never forget.

    • Lyli,

      I know what you mean–Present over Perfect is almost necessary when the temptation is to forget about WHY we’re doing what we’re doing! Crazy!

      The gesture of having your hair washed is so humbling; what a beautiful picture of friendship.

      You’re so good at sharing your heart and insights. Thank you :).

  6. Amy I will pray for your friend too. She is soo right we need to invest the time with people when times are good. She trully makes u think about what is important. Meeting w friends tomm at a restraunt table but grateful none the less

  7. I recently spent two weeks in Seattle, where I lived for 12 of my most defining years. I moved away five years ago this month, and this trip back was a huge milestone. It was the first time I truly CHOSE who I would visit, spend time with, and eat each meal with. I had started reading “bread & wine” before I left, and finished it while I was there. I was far enough in that I KNEW it was to be my hostess gift for each friend that I stayed and dined with. The first two I left it with are former co-workers, and I wrote about our day together on my blog today (http://jenbaum-laughoftenlovemuch.blogspot.com/2013/07/seattle-2013-part-1.html) – 9 hours at the table surrounded by our Olive Garden feast and a few bottles of wine, because it is tradition, not because it is the best food out there. 🙂 Another copy was left with a hostess that I had never met prior, but created the most beautiful space that I had ever seen, for women together to support a new Mama at her baby shower. How could I not share this beautiful book with her, too? She was epitomizing the love found around Shauna’s table! And finally, I left a copy with my best friend. She is the one that has taught me everything I know about loving people through food; providing things for people because you know it honors something about them; stepping in when there is a need. In the front cover of her book, I was so easily able to put into words why I choose to stay at her house every time I visit…. because she loves me so well, and because I have come to understand that more each trip, as we spend more minutes together in the kitchen, or around the table, with our favorites in front of us (tortilla soup, chips-n-salsa, and a Corona), chatting for hours, laughing, catching up, and carrying on as though 1500 miles had never separated us for a moment. She cried as she read the letter I wrote her. Her husband emailed me the day I left and thanked me for honoring her in such a fitting way. Tonight, I got a Facebook message from her saying that she is already on to Part 2, and that when she is done, her hubby will be reading it, because she wants him to know the inner-most core of her as well, which she has never been able to put into words like Shauna can. This week alone, she has been inspired to nurture this hostess-cooking-queen within, and she has cooked for her extended family, for the fire department that is on the corner at the end of her block, and for her freezer, “Just in case” stash. When she called me the other day, she sounded so joy-filled at the fact that she had put her greatest talents and gifts for loving people from the kitchen to work, that she had also sent an email to three other couples inquiring about any potential interest in a cooking club, and she had committed to providing one meal/month for someone other than her immediate family. My bestie lives life with a “bread & wine” spirit, and she has blessed me with it countless times, in endless ways. It was such an honor and privilege to read Shauna’s book first and be able to gift it to my best friend, and our Skype date to chat about chapter 1 and to make our first virtual meal together is in the works! Thank you, Bloom, for sharing this amazing piece of work. Thank you, Shauna, for sharing your soul with us and putting so many of our own workings into words…. feeling blessed…. jen.

    • Oh, Jen…

      Stunning.

      What a testimony to your friendships to have enjoyed one another for your marathon Olive Garden meal! My word…I LOVE it!

      But your words about your best friend. Priceless. I hope she sees them–they are TREASURE.

      Thank you so much for your comment; it captures the heart of this study! And it means so much to hear how your (and everyone’s) life is being impacted as a result of reading Bread & Wine. I’m so, so glad we chose it for our summer selection!

      xo

      • I’m so, so glad, too! I have done several of the Bloom books, but this has by far, been my absolute favorite! It is the first one that I actually finished before the videos even started! 🙂

  8. Every Thursday I invite my sister over for dinner, and that has been a good starting point. Just last Sunday I mustered the boldness to invite some friends over for dinner. They have serious dietary restrictions and meal preferences, and reading Bread & Wine renewed my empathy for them and gave me the courage to plan and cook a meal that would honor their restrictions and help them feel loved and nourished and welcome in my home. It was a wonderful evening.

    • Dee!!

      Goodness–comment after comment, *I* am being blessed and I didn’t even write the book!! I know Shauna is! What YOU have done will be encouragement to others: start small with a single guest…then gain courage to host others. Though I’ve always enjoyed hosting meals for others, my perspective is expanding to be even more other-focused. Such is Shauna’s impact on me, you and a zillion others :).

  9. We had our second Supper Club Sunday night! I hope we keep getting hosts and it continues. I completely understand what Angie means by “kick down the door and come help me” seasons; been living in one for months. Sitting down with friends over food can help those of us who hold things tight to loosen and share sometimes.