Baking bread, dipping strawberries in chocolate, tossing a colorful salad! Preparing food that nourishes and delights is one of my favorite ways to show love for others. I’ve often been blessed to be on the receiving end of such tasty expressions of love as well. 

Early on, when my husband and I first went to Kenya, we were invited to the village home of a friend. A small group of us followed a well-worn goat path through acacia trees along a shallow stream. The home was traditionally built, made of a lattice of sticks covered in mud and cow dung. It was a place to sleep and a shelter from the rain, but life was lived outside. 

Our host warmly welcomed us and invited our small group to sit in the shade on a wooden bench, a plank of wood nailed to two supporting props. We sat. We waited. We wondered what we were supposed to do. 

Then, our host brought each of us a tin mug. One by one, she joyfully filled our mugs with smoky-sweet chai and gave us two slices of bread slathered with margarine. By current nutrition standards, it broke all the rules – sugar, white flour, margarine. Nutritious it wasn’t, but nourishing it most certainly was! 

I have enjoyed elaborate, expensive meals in fine restaurants and fine homes. But none can compare to this simple meal, eaten in the shade of an acacia tree in a small village in Kenya. 

What were we supposed to do? Receive and be nourished by this joyful demonstration of love!

For the joy set before Him, Jesus endured the cross. He defeated sin, death, and the power of the devil – for us! He lives so that we might live now and forever – with Him! Let’s receive and be nourished by the only One who can truly satiate our soul.