Welcome to the Feast Together blog! Before we jump in to our first post, let me introduce myself and Feast Together. My name is Morgan Morgan (yes, you read that correctly) and I am the founder of Feast Together. Let me explain the name… Morgan Bailey met Doug Morgan on a blind date in 1999 and the rest is history. We have a 16 year old son who is truly a miracle. I will save that story for another post. Back to this. In 2013, the Lord began stirring something in me through reading Isaiah 61. I knew whatever it was, somehow it would involve women and food. I began writing things down, researching and planning only to find many doors being shut. God obviously had other plans. During this time, I hosted Bible studies over meals in my home and saw how women began opening up and sharing some deep hidden things. I watched women connect with each other because they shared joys, sorrows, secrets, shame and hurts. I was seeing God do exactly what he said would happen when someone meets Jesus. Lives were being changed. Captives were being set free. He was repairing, rebuilding and restoring the lives of these women. So after almost 10 years, God made it clear that Feast Together was to be a women’s ministry built around an invitation… inviting women to gather for an evening of encouragement, connection and hope. Here at Feast Together we are all about hospitality and connection. Currently, we gather a few times a year and enjoy a bite to eat, connect with others, worship and hear from a guest speaker. I mean who doesn’t love a girls night out! Our hope is that women connect with each other, the local church and ultimately Jesus. YOU’RE INVITIED and we hope you will extend this invitation to other women in the Triangle. Feast Together is for all women no matter your age, background, denomination. It doesn’t matter if you attend church now or have never even been to church. We want you to gather with us!
You can learn more about us by connecting with us on social media.
Now to our first blog post.
MAKING ROOM
December is the perfect time for us to kickoff this blog. A month ago we were all hosting family and friends for Thanksgiving and now we are hosting and attending parties, brunches, coffees… you name it. Then come January we will all be exhausted and not wanting to invite anyone over for months. Most of the time the entertaining and hosting we do in our homes is for our own family and friends and that is all wonderful and fun. But I want to challenge us with one question. Let’s read Luke 2 first.
“In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,[b] who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.[c]”
No place for them. What a statement. Here it is that Jesus knew as a baby what it felt like to have no place. Older versions say “there was no room for them in the inn”.
So many people around us feel like there is no place for them. Maybe it’s a widow or a woman who is the only single one in the group. An unwed mother, an orphan or a homeless person. Maybe it’s an infertile woman whose friends all have children. I have been that childless woman whose friends were all getting pregnant at the same time. Seventeen years later, I still remember that feeling of there being no place for me.
Maybe you have been there. Maybe you have felt for different reasons there was no place for you. Christmas can highlight those feelings.
It’s a time of great joy and celebration for many but it can also be a time of sadness for others. I feel like it’s a time when loneliness and loss are magnified.
I know these last few weeks are busy with running errands, attending school programs and Christmas parties, wrapping presents and trying to fit in the traditions you have done for years. My question/my challenge for us this season is who can we make room for that feels they have no place?
My grandmother was an orphan. She also lost her husband in her 30s when her children were only 10 and 3 years old. She became a single working mother in the early 60s and had to run the business she and her husband started only a few years before his death making her the first female business owner in Rocky Mount. She will tell you the men tried to run her out of town. Even at almost 99 years old, she still loves to say “never underestimate the power of a woman”. She never remarried and has lived alone for close to 50 years. During the Christmas season, we invite Mama Ann as she is known up to Raleigh for the day to spend time with us as we go about our daily life. Whether it’s riding around with me to run errands, helping me cook, going out lunch, decorating the tree with my brother’s family or going to look at Christmas lights, she loves a “change of scenery and not sitting at home bored” as she would say. This invitation means the world to her!
Is there an elderly person you can invite to run errands with you or go with your family to look at Christmas lights? Who can you invite over just to chat with while you wrap gifts or make Christmas cookies? Or just come for dinner even if it’s takeout? Is there a single mom and her kids you can invite for a popcorn and Christmas movie night. Yes, there are family traditions and some traditions should stay just that… your family traditions. But think of ways you can invite and include those who who feel they have no place. What an example you will set for your kids, your friends and your family. Not only will you be a blessing to others but you will be so blessed. Entertaining can be so exhausting because face it it’s all about us and how things look. Hospitality is different. It’s refreshing and rewarding because it’s all about welcoming others.
Growing up, my family hosted Christmas Eve for our extended family as well as for friends, neighbors, co-workers and anyone else we knew who did not have family around. Watching my parents invite and include others into our traditions and seeing the joy it brought those who were invited had such an impact on my life. My husband, son and I have carried on that tradition. We invite family, friends, friends who have become family, co-workers, neighbors, single friends, in-laws of in-laws, even family pets come. My side of the family is ALWAYS late and my husbands side is ALWAYS early. My husband’s family is somewhat quiet. Mine, well let’s just say that everyone knows when they arrive. We sing Christmas carols and most of us sing out of tune. It is TOTAL CHAOS and it’s my favorite part of the season. Yes, there are plenty of times I love to pull out the fine china and make things look beautiful. But on this night, it’s all about hospitality. Welcoming others into our home, into our chaos, into our tradition. The focus is on them! And the focus is on Him! The best part of the night is when our guests get to hear from precious little voices the greatest story ever told .. the birth of Jesus. We can welcome others because He has welcomed us.
Food for thought.
You never know how much an invitation means even if they say no.
Remember 1 Peter 4:9-11 says “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.”
Don’t shy away from telling those you invite why you celebrate Christmas.
For those of you who feel there is no place for you, there will always be a place for you with Jesus.
Merry Christmas!
Morgan