The gift of cooking?
As I cooked dinner for the Fellowship Team leaders meeting Thursday night and as I frosted my pan of Chocolate Chip Bars to take to the women’s retreat yesterday, I thought to myself…Maybe I have the spritual gift of cooking. (Yes, I am kind of joking and I do know the Bible talks about serving and hospitality in passage like Romans 12). This week I prepared four different desserts to bring places! That is more than usual for one week, but I do find myself volunteering quite often to bring something to an event or to have a meeting my house over a meal.
Actually, I was kind of laughing to myself as I thought about it. The reason I find this so funny is that a couple years ago I never could have guessed that preparing meals for groups of people and baking desserts to bring to Bible studies and retreats would be one of my favorite ways to serve.
I distinctly remember my first experience cooking for a group of believers. It was my freshman year in college (’95-’96!), and this particular Sunday it was my turn (along with a couple other people) to cook for our weekly fellowship meeting…I think we were calling it “home group” back then. I had actually never cooked for a group of people before, and I completely stressed out about the process. I got really annoyed with the other people I was cooking with, and I thought I might never want to cook for a group of people again.
Fast forward a few years to about the Fall of 2000 or Spring of 2001. I was living in the original, famous “Deca Femme” house on Knapp street, where many fine Rock women again live today. I had grown in my cooking experience by that point, and cooking for my nine roommates or even for a larger group wasn’t too stressful. One day one of my roommates called home and for some reason (I can’t remember what the whole story was), she wanted me to quick whip up a hot meal for herself and a few other people. I pleaded with her to get me out of it using every reason in the book: I was too busy; I couldn’t cook that fast; It sounded too stressful to produce a good meal with the items we had on hand, and so on. I don’t remember if I acquiesed to her request that day or not, but I do remember the feeling of panic it had produced in me. I thought it would never be my cup of tea to have something ready on short notice for whomever might drop by.
I’m not sure what all changed in the past few years, but few cooking demands phase me these days. From a holiday meal for 30+ people last year (when I was about four months preganant) to baking dozens of Christmas cookies this year while simultaneously keeping Madeline entertained, I will try just about anything. Circumstances may at times hinder my ability to come through, but in general I love any opportunity to feed people. 
After Madeline was born and people were bringing us meals for several weeks, I couldn’t wait for a chance to cook for a group of people again, and I remember asking a group of people who had gathered at our house one day this summer, “Do you have dinner plans? May I please cook dinner for you?” I had just missed it that much.
I’m thankful for this way that God has allowed me to serve and bless others. Although many opportunities to serve are now a little more challenging since I have a baby, this is one more thing I can still do with little trouble. I’m not sure it amounts to me having the gift of hospitality, since I have still often been known to forget to offer my guests something to drink when they arrive, my decorating ability amounts to about zilch and I still have to really discipline myself when it comes to cleaning or I wouldn’t get any done at all. Whether the “gift of cooking” really exists or not, I’m looking foward to rising to various cooking challenges as they present themselves.