Preparing For The Holidays: How to Make Meals Meaningful Again with Anita Hinkeldey McVey

Send us Fan MailMeal time is under attack from the enemy isn't it? It feels impossible to get everyone seated around a dinner table let alone have a meaningful conversation. So what do we do? How do we make meal time meaningful again, especially with the holiday coming up?My guest, Anita shares her wisdom on this topic and how food brings us all together. Anita Hinkeldey McVey is a midwest farmer’s daughter who grew up in northwest Iowa on a steady diet of faith, family, and food. Her passion for cooking and gardening inspired her to create a blog, Picnic Life Foodie, where she shares her favorite recipes and the fond memories they bring to mind. With their two sons now “out of the nest”, Anita and her husband, Marty, live on an acreage in central Iowa with a large garden, a fishing pond, and an energetic hunting dog named Stark.Something that I really want to encourage you with as you listen to this episode is the portion of the conversation where we talk about the holidays and how we are called to hospitality not entertainment. Between Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest none of us can live up to the picture perfect settings and meals culture is pushing on us to create. We have to redirect our focus from the entertaining mindset to one of hospitality. Where we take time to have the conversations with people, letting them know they are seen and valued versus rushing from one course to the next making sure everyone is happy and getting exactly what they want. Let yourself off the hook this holiday season… you have permission to enjoy the meal with your family and rest with them.Key Takeaways: Food is easily relatable, that’s why God uses it to speak to us in scripture and in every day lifeGo gives us smaller bites of wisdom, so we can chew on it with himInvest in dinner time, whatever that might look like in this season of life, be flexibleThere is a difference between entertaining and hospitalityFocus on the people -you have permission to not go the extra mile this holiday season and just rest with your loved onesReach out to those who are facing loss this holiday season and let them know you see them and understand how hard this can be Connect with Anita! BlogIGGet the Book!Get the Recipe Book!Support the showWant to go deeper into the conversation? Get the weekly podcast e-newsletter HEREwebsite: https://kaladiane.com IG: @kaladianeyoderFB: @kaladianeyoderMusic: Happy Clappy Ukulele by Shane Ivers & Spark Of Inspiration by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com