Week 11: Opening Our Home
There’s something special about the act of sharing…
Each Sunday, my wife and I prepare, cook and eat a meal together — intentionally. Every Friday, I’ll be sharing our experience here in this space. I want to see the growth that will come in our marriage because of this. I hope you enjoy our story. You can find last week’s post here.
There are many things I love about the weekly cooking adventures that my wife and I share. We learn more about each other. We try new flavors. And we enjoy special moments together.
But a very powerful aspect of this new tradition of ours has been the moments when we choose to open our shared tradition to those we love. This is always a mutual decision, and we make it together.
This week, we had dinner with my father, David Charles. Earlier in the week, we had been having trouble figuring out what to cook. Sarah asked a friend of ours for some of her favorite recipes, and she obliged with some amazing choices. One of them happened to be a recipe for tilapia, and I knew that was one of my dad’s favorites.
We made the decision to open up our tradition together, we made the decision of what to cook in community and we cooked with someone else in mind.
We put the tilapia in a teriyaki glaze. While it was marinating, we got to work on the rice and the sriracha cream sauce that would top it all off. Things started to take longer than we were expecting. We were furiously trying to prepare the food before my dad got to our apartment.
6 o’clock passed. Then 6:30. My dad showed up not long after that. It still wasn’t quite ready. Finally, by 7 o’clock, dinner was served.
They say good things come to those who wait.
That first bite of succulent tilapia made the waiting completely worth it. We shared stories with my dad. It was the first time he had seen our apartment since Sarah had moved around the living room furniture. It was so sweet.
I love when Sarah and I share a meal together — just us. I also love when we open up our tradition to others and share the love. Neither is better than the other. They both offer golden treasures of simple joy. It’s just a matter of making time for them.
Enjoy your long weekend with the ones you love. May it be full of special, simple moments.
