Reading, Writing & Pondering

  Are you someone who likes to entertain at home? If you're like me, your answer is probably, not really. Gather and Give: Sharing God's Heart Through Everyday Hospitality by Amy Hannon offers a lot of wonderful encouragement and advice from the author. If you want to entertain more but aren't sure where to start this book may help you. Hannon talks about how to offer up your home with whatever you have to offer. The book starts out with an introduction and then is divided into three parts: Understanding Hospitality is the first section. In this section, I learned that hospitality isn't really an option if you believe the Bible. . .Rather it is a command. Hannon talks about that command and how she came to write this book to encourage readers to gather more. She says we can all do it well--and doing it perfectly just isn't necessary. Just because she has a restaurant, is a pastor's wife and all doesn't mean she is better at it than anyone else, she says. We...

Taste and See by Margaret Feinberg merges Food, Friends and Bible Study. Recipes are even included! For a Christian, I just don't see how it gets much better than this. Each chapter in Taste and See is a culinary adventure with a different location featured. The author shares her adventures as she mixes food and God together and comes up with a recipe for the reader learning and growing through each chapter. At the end of each chapter, Feinberg offers an activity to do with family and/or friends around the table. There are also several recipes that look truly delicious. I especially like that the Bible is set in the Mediterranean area so these recipes are all a part of the Mediterranean diet that I choose to do each day for my health. There are recipes for baked halibut, lamb lollipops, sour dough starter and bread, roasted figs and Brussels sprouts, and gluten free dark chocolate cookies. In the back of Taste and See , there is a list of all of the recipes for easy referenc...