Dining Vignettes

This is my favorite month of the year, a time to welcome in the comfort of the cooler weather and prepare our hearts for a season of thanksgiving and joy.

As soon as I turn back the clocks and change my wall calendar to the month of November, I am filled with excitement. It’s time to bring out the boxes filled with decorations to “paint” my home for the holidays.

Each year, I start with one room to be the centerpiece. This year, I’ve decided to start with my dining room.  Several boxes are spread around the dining table and I love opening them up to see what surprises I may discover from decorations and garlands to bulbs and trinkets. 

I come across an angel that my mentor, Xzandrya, passed on to me years ago.  When she gifted this beautiful angel to me, she shared how it reminded her of the many joyous years of her childhood, helping to set the dining table for holiday meals. She went on to describe the layers of the soft tablecloths and napkins accented by the beautifully colored china and the light of candles dancing in the glassware across the table.

I close my eyes for a moment to reflect upon the day she gave me this gifted angel. I remember the joy I felt as we sat at her dining table. What a peaceful moment.  To this day, I can still hear her voice sharing the importance of creating traditions for family and friends, not just for the holidays but for everyday and for generations to come. 

I carefully place the angel just below a candle, to reflect Xzandrya’s joyous Godly love and to remind me (as she always shared) that our Heavenly Father is always our light and He will always shine His way for us.  Many years later, my family and I always have our evening dinners by candlelight. 

I continue to gleefully open the boxes to see what other surprises I may discover.  In a box filled with both harvest and holiday season decorations, I find a couple of clusters of decorative grapes. Oh what fun to see the grapes, as I just returned from a trip to our central coast’s vineyards. 

One of our favorite places to visit is what we consider a “new” vineyard owned by Guillaume, a sixth-generation winemaker.  He chose to plant his roots with his family in the United States as he found great opportunities along with great land that was much like where he was from. His hope was that his winery would remain in the hands of his family for generations to follow. 

As we sat at his dining table, we were given a sampling of fresh cheeses and fruits from local farms complimented by tastings of his recent harvest.

Guillaume shared the story of how he bought the land from a couple that had grown older and could no longer keep the vines in their best health.  Instead of taking all the vines out and starting fresh with new plants, Guillaume decided to graft new plants into the deeply-rooted original vines. Though it was a little more costly to take this approach, he really wanted to build a vineyard to pass on to his children and their children so that generations would enjoy the fruits of the land created for us by our heavenly father. 

In the three short years since our first visit with Guillaume at his new home, we noticed how quickly and beautifully everything had grown.  The land was responding to his love, and perseverance. A deeply rooted legacy was forming.  As our conversation with Guillaume came to a close, his colleagues shared how thankful they were for everything they have, despite the unpredictable weather. They know another season lies ahead and the time will come to produce another new harvest to be enjoyed.  

“So lift your hands and thank God for his marvelous kindness and for all his miracles of mercy for those he loves. How he satisfies the souls of thirsty ones and fills the hungry with all that is good!“ Psalms 107:9-10 TPT

As I continue to design the table and the grape decorations, my thoughts turn to Mariah who we visited after our time with Guillaume.  We sat outside with her at a dining table to catch up and hear about her family and second baby girl.  We shared with her how we just left GUillaume’s vineyard. When she heard where we were she said,  “Did I ever tell you the story about the purchase of our first home from Guillaume?”  She continued to tell us how Guillaume invited her and husband to stop by for a visit to talk about the sale of his home.  This was when Guillaume was selling his home to move to the vineyard. He invited them to sit with him at this dining table. He opened one of his favorite bottles of wine, and poured a glass of it for each of them. He leaned forward and quietly said, “I understand that you would like to buy my home, and I would like you to buy my home as it was a wonderful place where my wife and I started our family. I would like you to enjoy your time here and start you family.   What can we do to work this out between us?” Mariah went on to say how they shared in conversation for hours and negotiated a deal for them to buy his home. As she finished her story, I thought of this verse from the bible:

“…come and dine at my table and drink of my wine.” Proverbs 9:5 (TPT)

Adding the last touches to the table decorations, I add one of my treasured beaded stars made by the women of the Maasai village. I embrace it in my hands holding it close to my heart, thinking of the special friends we made during our travels in the Serengeti National Park.  We watched many a sunrise and sunset from a makeshift dining table that was set up in the green and golden pastures of the park. Every meal was serenaded by the echos of the lions and elephants while the zebra and wildebeest continued their great migration in the distance. We always ended our long days in the bush with a quiet dinner set up outside our tent to watch the painting of sunset and to share our stories from the day by candlelight.

As I finish rummaging through my last box of decorations, I come across a sheet of paper with a quote penned on it by St. Francis of Assisi: “All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.” 

As I read the quote, I sit down at my dining table for a few minutes to reflect upon the memories of many meals, holidays and life-filled conversations shared with family and friends throughout the years. The light of our Heavenly Father always guides us through conversations filled with joy, laughter and some tears. It’s those gifted times of conversation over lunch or a cup of tea that mean so much: time to just be, to embrace and to reflect in a trusted space.

I finished my decorative table creation and felt peace. I was thankful for all the memories of the past and the many gifted moments of shared times ahead at our dining tables. 

I invite all to embrace the gifted moments of this Thanksgiving Season.

“Be cheerful with joyous celebration in every season of life. Let joy overflow, for you are united with the Anointed One! Let gentleness be seen in every relationship, for our Lord is ever near. Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude.” Philippians 4 4-6 TPT

 “When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, ‘Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.’” Luke 14:15 (NIV)

Simple Recipe

This Thanksgiving Season, I invite you try to a new recipe for a faith-filled life with God’s love and miracles.

1. Add thankfulness to your heart.

2. Fill your mouth with the word of God.

3. Wash your soul with prayer.

4. Add the essence of the supernatural love of God to your daily walk.

Enjoy a gifted dish of miracles from our Heavenly Father accented with richly filled faithful fruits harvested from His Love.