Written by monthly contributing writer, Ann Dunagan.
How can you glorify God in your kitchen?
Proclaim Your Purpose on the Fridge!
The refrigerator is a perfect place for us as moms to declare our FAMILY MISSION. We can post our prayer needs and praise reports, pictures of loved ones, recent missionary newsletters, and Bible verses to meditate on. Our fridge gives a glimpse of who we are, both to our family and to others!
Here's a glimpse of our mission-minded refrigerator!
. . . and a few Bible verses I've been thinking about!
See Your Kitchen as an Embassy Center for Kingdom-Advancement
I’m in our kitchen a lot; but it’s much more than a place to cook food. Our kitchen is our Grand-Central Station for coordinating and leading our family’s kingdom-advancing purposes.
Our homes are like God’s heavenly embassy in a foreign land; the kitchen is the command center and the HUB of our home. I think of all the LIFE that happens in our kitchen! Morning discussions with kids. Weekly home groups with church friends. Times of self-discipline (saying “NO” to a cookie or praying for more grace). And yes, lots of cooking, eating, and cleaning.
Disciple Yourself, Your Kids, & Others . . . in Your Kitchen!
Our kitchen is probably my biggest place for discipleship — of my kids, of myself, and of others.
I think about all the homeschooling-drills, dream-times with teens, world-issue discussions, or down-time with cup of coffee as I’m planning for an effective day.
My kitchen counter is where I frequently lay my writing projects and ministry work (to think about for a while, scribbling notes in-between stirring soup or taking bread out of the oven). Right now, it’s covered with papers — speaking notes for an upcoming family camp, copies of a possible new project for overseeing village churches, plus a random assortment of homeschooling books, Bibles, and missionary biographies. The other day, my daughter and I were right there sharing Jesus with two sweet neighbor girls (while eating cookies and playing with a puppy).
We’ve also have great kitchen times mentoring for missions. Sometimes this is done in the midst of a fun potluck or party. Other times, our “discipleship-moments” are more intentional. Recently, we had two families join us for dinner and a delightful evening. In the midst of our food and fellowship, we shared stories of how we stepped out into ministry, started our orphanages, and learned to trust God for His provision. One of these families are now totally switching-gears. This month, the husband and wife are heading on a short-term mission to Tanzania, as they’re preparing to MOVE their family to Africa, long-term, to work with orphan children and to minister the Gospel. A few months ago, we were just dreaming about these possibilities; today, their family’s first missionary newsletter is displayed on our fridge!!! WOOHOO!!! That’s what I’m talking about!!!
Our kitchen is a reflection of who we are. It’s the center of where we live and enjoy LIFE. Our kitchen is a hub of our home and where we live-out our family’s MISSION for God. As the Bible says in Joshua 24:15, “As for me and my house [and my "kitchen'], we will serve the Lord.”
Our kitchen decorations can also convey our passions and family mission. I specifically picked a fruit theme for our kitchen, as I was praying for a life of increased "fruitfulness" for God's Kingdom.
Aw, I LOVE this post. How encouraging to those of us who spend most of our time in the kitchen! I wish we lived close enough to bring our whole brood over for some mentoring with you guys.
All right ladies, I checked up about these cards for you.
My friend has a few of these Ephesians cards left, in different colors and with various fun embellishments, with little magnets on the back. But I don’t quite know what to think about this . . . lol . . .
. . . at our home church, we had to work for an ENTIRE YEAR in a ministry department to “earn” one of these — but I think she has a few left-over cards that she would be willing to give to a few of you. If each of you would send me your name and mailing address through our ministry website CONTACT page, I’ll have my friend, Julie S., contact you with details or to simply send you one in the mail.
Ann
Ann,
I really like the verse too! As soon as I saw it, I thought that would be perfect to make a larger size, frame it and hang it in an office or home school room. It looks like she made them on the computer. If she sends you the file she used, I would like to get it too. Otherwise, I might just copy her idea
I love to see your fridge full of pictures! My family is serving in China and it is encouraging to think that someone might have put our postcard on their fridge and prays for us daily.
Bri,
That’s not odd at all….I was thinking the same thing. I would love to print some of those verses, too!
And this post was a wonderful reminder and challenge to me to take advantage of every moment with my family to remind them of who we are, what we believe, and of the Great God we serve!
Thank you!!
This might sound odd, but we have a team (including a family of 5) getting ready to leave on a mission trip and I would LOVE to include something in their encouragement packages like the bookmarks with the Collosians verse. Do you know if there is somewhere online I can print something off that looks like that?
Bri & Amy — Those Collosians Bible verse markers were hand-made by a friend of mine who specializes in scrapbook crafts. They were made as little year-end thank-you’s for people in our home church who had volunteered for different areas of service. I’ll talk with her and see if she would like to make them for others (she made quite a few different variations of this same verse, with different colors and embellishments, each for a different area of church service). I’ll talk with her and get back with you both . . .