What does:

     *a mother who leaves the kitchen during Thanksgiving Day meal prep to shoot an 8-point in the yard while the guys are in the woods seeing nothing;

     *a Hawaiian themed birthday party from years ago, in which many of those who attended are now gone;

     *a flight from Colorado to Michigan with Barbequed Ribs smelling up the cabin (well before 9/11);

and

     *filleted fish,

all have in common?

These are all stories told around our dining room table.

Several months ago, while listening to a podcast I heard about a dinner party given by the podcaster and his wife. They had sent invitations to a few friends and acquaintances they wanted to get to know better. This dinner party had a “catch.” The guests were asked to participate in the meal by bringing a dish that had a true story attached to it that they would be willing to share during the meal.

I thought, “What a great idea!” So, I stole it, sort of.

I wanted to do this with my church. The first thing I needed to do was give it a name. You can’t put anything in a church bulletin without first naming it. I named it, Feed Me A Story.

I began by explaining the premise one Sunday before the sermon time so they could have time to think about it and so that when the announcement did hit the bulletin it would make sense. Because of the size of our house, and the size of our dining room table, I offered two different dates and limited the number of people who could attend each time.

We didn’t know in advance what dish the guests would bring to share so I made sure they understood I could not guarantee them a well-balanced meal. “We may all bring rice or potatoes. But I promise an evening of good conversation,” I said.

I also made sure they understood that spouses who didn’t attend church were also invited; after all (for our dates) this would be Friday supper and we’d want to get to know their spouse better too. 

The night of our dinners, we filled our plates (no one went home hungry) and shared the true stories that went with the dish we had made.

The story of the mom shooting the 8-point was told by a woman in her 70’s and was a true story from her childhood. How shocked the men of the family were to return from their hunt to see the deer hanging in the tree. She had brought “beef” and noodles to our meal with the “beef” being venison.

The story of the Hawaiian themed birthday party was a sweet remembrance of family now gone, including a younger sister who passed just a little over a year ago from early-onset Alzheimer’s. Many family members had been present that day to celebrate and the dishes that were shared with us were a tribute to those now missed.

The BBQ story was told by an ex-service member who had been stationed near Denver. At the time of that flight, she was headed home to visit her parents. She was bringing the ribs because her parents, and especially her dad, loved to dine at this rib joint when they came to Colorado to visit her. These ribs caused a little rumbling of tongues and tummies of the other passengers and even brought a comment from the pilot.

And those filleted panfish? They were part of a love story that started over 40 years ago. This gentleman had found out how much his beloved liked fish but also how she didn’t like having to pick out the bones. He has made sure all these years that she hasn’t had to bother. 

It was such a fun and tasty way to get to know each other. We laughed, shared our stories and our memories, and in this way, shared our lives. The conversations morphed from being food related and grew much richer.

We had such a good time both evenings that I am giving serious thought to making this an annual event. I have a couple of ideas as to how to keep it fresh (pun intended) but I also know we can’t capture lightning in a bottle. Like I said, it is just a thought at this point.

You may not have a bulletin to announce a party the way I did, but remember, my idea started as someone else’s dinner party. I want to encourage you to reverse it back to its original idea.

What friend(s) or acquaintance(s) would you like to get to know better?  How many others will fit around your table? Would you send invitations? Invite your guests with a phone call? Would you invite via a DM through social media?

Could you adapt the idea to take place this fall around a campfire? Would you wait until next summer and do it as a picnic instead?

Don’t just think about it, make a real plan! You may discover there are relationships within your sphere you’d like to cultivate with more sincerity.

As always, I would love to hear how it goes.

Blessings!