Welcome to The JOY Series on the Dear Daughters Podcast! I’m so glad you’re here. I believe that gathering at the table over a simple meal is one of the best ways to love people and invite them to a closer relationship with God. So listen in and enjoy … right now we’re talking about the secrets to joy at the table and I’ve invited my favorite table experts on the show.
This week my favorite table expert is Kristin Schell. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, Tony, and one of their four children—the others have left the nest. She loves loving her neighbors, and she wrote a book and travels all over to encourage others to love their neighbors, too. Kristin is known for her Turquoise Table, which started a movement of Turquoise Tables and Front Yard People (ordinary people who create community right where they live) across the country. I’ll let Kristin tell you more about that herself.
Kristin believes that our deepest need is to belong, our deepest desires to feel needed and included. And an invitation to the table is a reminder that you belong, that you are welcome. And you know what? We are all in a position to offer that to someone in some way. It will look different for everyone. Our lives have seasons, and so does the table. And it doesn’t have to be an invitation to dinner, it can be an invitation for coffee or a walk or needlepoint.
The important thing is to do just as it says in Kristin’s favorite verse, Romans 12:13: Take every opportunity to open your life and home to others. So let’s dive a little deeper into what that looks like today.
I hope that you feel like you belong. And I hope that you will help others feel like they belong, too. My prayer for you and for me is that we will take every opportunity to open our lives and our homes to others.