The Delight of Setting the Table, by Rebekah Reasoner

“Dining with one’s friends and beloved family is certainly one of life’s primal and most innocent delights. One that is both soul-satisfying and eternal.” - Julia Child

My mother and father made everything from scratch while raising us. We ate simple meals. Nothing fancy. We’d sit at our big dining room table and share our food, our stories and our laughter. Even as a kid, I knew that the dinner table was a special space - that the time spent at it brought us closer together.

The beauty of a dinner table is dear to

my heart, constantly reminding me of

the love of Jesus. That He prepares a

table for us. That He loves us, that He

cares for us. That He makes space for

us to rest and to be restored.

I have found more healing and more connection around a dining table than I have anywhere else. I’ve had conversations that have cracked open my heart and left me feeling seen and more than anything, loved. This is where my passion for food service comes from. Food, to me, isn’t just food. Food is connection. Food is relationship. Food is loving and serving and caring - it is the reminder that the process of making it with intention, with love and with care for the ones you’re serving it to is the highest priority. We just have to set the table.

Photography by Abby Keeler