Tuesday Traditions

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! 

I thought I'd share about birthday traditions in our home, since it was my husband's birthday a couple of days ago. When I was growing up, birthdays were a big deal—maybe it was because we have a big family and it was always someone's birthday. 

I love continuing on in this tradition with our families now and I love having people over for dinner. I love to feed people and a friend of mine mentioned this to me one day just last week, that I feed people physically and spiritually—and that maybe for now, that is what my area of ministry is with my family and their friends. I love giving birthday dinners for our parents and for my sons. I love having a house full of people here and though the food may not be fancy, that's not what counts. It's the being together part that matters the most. 

When I'm hosting a big family dinner for my sons and our families, I will cook hot dogs in the oven (a tray full of them on 300 degrees for thirty minutes), serve Rotel cheese dip and have chips for the dip and a cake from Costco. We eat on paper plates and use Solo cups and plastic utensils, a good quality kind like the Kirkland brand that we love at Costco. I stick with easy and simple, because I don't want to spend all of my time in the kitchen.

When it's one of our parents' birthdays, I make a really good dinner and go all out. We eat on real plates and use real utensils and glasses, and it's always something like grilled chicken, veggies and garlic bread, or lasagna with salad and garlic bread. Again, I keep it pretty simple for myself and these are things that aren't complicated but that feed a lot of people for a reasonable price and is delicious. If 2020 has taught me one thing, it's that I prefer to eat here at home than out in a restaurant. It's less expensive, for one thing, the food is better than what most restaurants serve (one thing I do well is cook), and it's healthier. (Rich foods bother my stomach.)

We were going to have a birthday dinner for my husband Monday night with his parents, but they weren't feeling great, so we'll do the same thing one night next week. Aside from birthday dinners, I try to bless people with meals every so often. I am always signing up to take someone dinner and I try to send my dad home with dinner every so often, like tonight. He will be here today for our "Friday" together and I'll be taking dinner with me for them when I take him home. 

I don't say this to boast, hopefully by now you know my heart and my intentions, but I share this to encourage you to think outside of the box for new traditions and things you can do to lend a helping hand to others. Because I cook for an army of people (we always have the six of us plus at least one extra, usually more) it is no big deal for me to make a little more to share with someone.

What are some traditions that you have and love with your family? I'd love to hear! 

Thanks for reading my blog! Love to all. 

Jen.