full.

When I was driving home from dinner with my parents earlier this evening, I had one repeating thought in my head. All I have done today is eat. All I have done today is eat. All I have done today is eat.


I wanted to tweet about my gluttony, but then thought that this one sentence might actually be worthy of a blog post. Hear me out, it might be worth your time.

I've spent a decent amount of time this weekend consciously taking space from some areas of my life, intentionally trying to gain perspective and connect back with the way I want to be doing life. Somehow that translated into creating space in my stomach as well. I've done a lot of eating this weekend. Yesterday I shared a meal with some friends from my study abroad program, a delicious brunch where plates were shared and laughter was abundant. Today, I ate lunch with a dear friends from my summer staff experience, lingering in our booth long past the bill being paid. This evening, my parents drove into Chicago to drop off my winter coats, and we ended up sharing a meal together at one of my favorite restaurants, eating and talking about life in the next year.

All this to say that on the car ride home tonight, I realized that I am full. Both literally and figuratively. Realistically, I'm not going to eat anything until, oh, tomorrow at lunch, but I'm also feeling full in another way. I feel full in a deeper, richer sense. I feel filled up by the conversations and time spent with friends and family around the table this weekend.

There's something very biblical about sharing a long meal with the people in our lives; losing track of time and getting carried away in true and honest conversation. Isn't that how Jesus did it? He was always eating with many different types of people. In biblical times, sharing a meal with someone meant sharing in that person's identity. Even in other cultures, as I learned in Italy this summer, sharing a meal together is so meaningful. In America, we view eating as fueling up; a get in, get out system. In Italy, meals span over hours. It's common to lose track of time and get caught up in conversation.

This weekend, this space in my life, has connected me back to the importance of gathering around the table. Making time to share a meal with the people I love can be powerful and meaningful and bring a feeling of fullness beyond the unbutton-my-pants-because-I'm-about-to-explode fullness. Gathering and sharing life around the table has connected me back to community, reminding me that we're never in this alone, and that sometimes the most beautiful thing we can create is as simple as sitting down and breaking bread. Sharing a meal sustains us, not because of what we're eating, but because of what we're creating around the table. 

If you've been reading this blog for any amount of time, or if you've ever been to my Facebook page, or if you're ever had a serious conversation with me, I've no doubt that you heard me talk about Shauna Niequist. In her book Bittersweet, she talks about the importance of gathering around the table, sharing food and sharing life.

"The table matters to me because of what happens around it. Nothing heals me or gives me life the way having people I love around our table does. We've spent thousands of hours at that table. In the midst of what felt like a raging storm, we always came back to the table. The people we love met us there, and those moments were the ones that sustained us." 

Thank you Kelly, thank you Megan, thank you Keturah, thank you Stu and Jme, thank you Heather, and thank you Mom and Dad for gathering around the table this weekend. I hope our time together was as filling for you as it was for me.

Who have you sat around the table with this weekend? How has it been filling?