Why do I bake and have an Etsy shop? Well…….

I love food of all kinds but mostly I love making food and then serving it to others. As a matter of fact, I’m pretty darn passionate about it too. And the best way to realize or live out that passion is to entertain people around the table.

It’s around the table that we have conversations like we have nowhere else. It’s also the place that relationships become real. There’s a trust that happens that allows and even encourages transparency with those you break bread with. People learn it’s okay to be real and maybe even a little bit vulnerable in a relaxed atmosphere because there’s something about doing this together that sets people at ease to share things going on in their lives that they would never share while standing around at work or even at church.

I love this about the table! As a society, we’ve gotten away from the table or even sharing family meals together. We’ve gotten so busy with life, work schedules and even our kid’s schedules that meals have become a grab and go kind of thing or it’s consumed before a TV set where no real conversation can really happen. That really distresses me sometimes.

I grew up having meals around the table, both breakfast and dinner and when I started my family, I stuck with what I knew and did the same thing. We spent mealtimes conversing about and discovering what each had done at school or work. We talked about concerns, individually or as pertained to the whole family. Trust began to grow and our table became a safe place to discuss anything, no matter what.

The table is supposed to be a place of instruction, planning and one anothering.  Prov 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. If we take the time to build relationships in our families, our children will return to us for counsel when they need it; not to the world and their friends, as so many of them do now. Maybe in some future blog I will tell you how this scripture came to play out with us and Chelsea.

So, back to the question of why I do what I do or even have an Etsy shop for baked goods. Firstly, I already mentioned my passion for food. Baking is what came first for me. I suppose you could call it my first love. When I was about 10 or 11 years old, my sisters and I began baking cinnamon rolls to sell in order to raise money for a church project. I loved it so much that I began baking any chance I could, primarily yeast breads though. My first experience with making biscuits was a complete disaster! That is a tale for another day….

Baking for my Etsy shop allows me to interact with total strangers and share my love for baking. It also gives me the opportunity to bless them with my hands and my conversations; even though it’s through email.  I honestly have the best customers on Etsy and I’ve had some of the most unbelievable conversations with what started out to be complete strangers and turned into an opportunity of complete blessing, for me and them.

Another thing I love to do is teach others how to bake and even plan meals. I believe it’s extremely important that we gather for meals together but that can be difficult when you don’t know how to cook or to plan a meal. That is my main passion; equip people to so they can gather around someplace and engage in the art of conversation, do life and get to know those across the table. Believe it or not, you really can look someone in the eye without a phone or any kind of social media between you and have an honest conversation. And, it doesn’t only happen at a coffee shop either.

Do me a favor, go have a face to face conversation with someone today.

Vulnerability: The new cool

 https://www.etsy.com/shop/GigisTable.