“Day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts” Acts 2:46 ESV

*Transcription Below*

Abby Turner is a young professional who is single and loving life as a food blogger, speaker, and writer. Born into a large family, she grew up in Central Arkansas, where she learned the importance of community and Biblical hospitality at a young age. After completing undergraduate degrees at Ouachita Baptist University and obtaining her Master's from Baylor, Abby lived in 6 states in 5 years, learning that community is essential to a healthy relationship with Christ. Over the last few years, Abby has spoken at college/universities, churches, companies and has been featured on regional TV shows and podcasts. Abby's passion is to encourage women to stop wasting time waiting for the perfect family, house, or table and to start opening their homes, cooking for friends and building community. You can learn more about Abby and enjoy even more recipes by visiting her website at atabletopaffair.com or on social media @atabletopaffair.

Questions We Discuss:

What has God taught you is the most important piece of furniture in our home?
What lessons have you learned as it relates to the table that parties, serves, and welcomes?
How do you creatively add generosity and elements of surprise to keep this process fun?

At The Savvy Sauce, we will only recommend resources we believe in! We also want you to be aware: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

The Living Table

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Gospel Scripture: (all NIV)

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”

Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”

Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession- to the praise of his glory.”

Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“

Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“

Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

*Transcription*

[00:00:00] <music>

Laura Dugger: Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.

[00:00:18] <music>

Laura Dugger: Thank you to an anonymous donor to Midwest Food Bank who paid the sponsorship fee in hopes of spreading awareness. Learn more about this amazing nonprofit organization at MidwestFoodBank.org

My exuberant guest today is Abby Turner, the author of The Living Table cookbook and founder of A Tabletop Affair. We're going to discuss unexpected ways God teaches us about hospitality through Scripture, and Abby's going to share her personal experiences where God has invited her to experience more of Him through gathering people together around the table. She's also going to give us practical tips for implementing these joys into our own lives.

Here's our chat.

Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Abby.

Abby Turner: Thank you so much. I'm so excited for our conversation today. [00:01:19]

Laura Dugger: Well, I love your energy and you're so upbeat, and I'm excited to connect as well. I want to start here with you telling us more about your upbringing and specifically how hospitality played a role in your life.

Abby Turner: I am one of a couple dozen grandkids and my mom's one of five. I grew up in a town where we all kind of grew up on the same street. We were always doing things together. So essentially, I had five sets of parents and all of these cousins that acted more like brothers and sisters. And we did everything together. I mean, we were always cheering each other on and supporting each other.

But the one thing that I remember is that we always came together for lunch, for dinner, for breakfast at the table. It was something that was super important. And I don't know that I really identified the importance of the table until later in life. But I saw my grandmother, I saw my aunts and uncles, I saw my mom and dad really inviting not only family to the table, but friends to the table. [00:02:27]

It was something where if this is someone that you love, if this is someone that you enjoy being around, then we want to enjoy and we want to love being around them, too, so bring them here. And so it was never about the formality of the food. It was never about the perfection of the meal. It was about bringing people together and communing and having deep conversation and building each other up. As I grew up, that kind of notion of hospitality, that gift, I guess, that discipline was just cultivated in me.

I'm not sure that I really understood how special that gift or that discipline was until I got out of college and was doing life essentially on my own as a single in a new town and had to build friendships and had to figure out, how do you build friendships? [00:03:24] And the Lord nudged me towards like, how have you built relationships your whole life around the table with people, around food as the conduit to get the conversation started?

I feel like this thread, this theme of the table has followed me throughout my life, but I don't know that I identified it until the last five or six years. So it's been a neat journey to kind of walk through that and look back and say, wow, God was developing something in me at three or four years old that now at 32, I'm just now identifying as like, Oh, that's a woven story that you have written. Just sitting back in just awe of who God is in that.

Laura Dugger: I just love hearing how your family taught you about the value of gathering and welcoming others. I'm also excited to dig into specific things that God has taught you about the table and hospitality. [00:04:25] So what has he taught you is the most important piece of furniture in our home.

Abby Turner: Yeah. I mean, by far, I did not realize, I think, how important the table was. I write in my cookbook, The Living Table, that there was a moment in Birmingham, Alabama, when I was so lonely, I was ready to give up, throw my hands up and just say, I'm out of here. I called my mom and she said, "No, you need to make a meal for someone and invite someone over." I said, "I can't cook." I grew up around the table. I grew up watching my grandmother, my aunts and my uncles and my mom all cook. And yeah, I could have made a grilled cheese. But I was like, "I am growing up in the age of Food Network and the MasterChef stars. I can't cook like that, Mom." And she said, "No, it doesn't have to be something special, something huge. You just need to make something."

So I was like, "Great. Well, then I'm going to go order tzatziki and I'll put tzatziki on the table." And she said, "No, there's something special, something so unique about making the meal." [00:05:29] And so I made these cheesy tortellini. Read about it in the book. It was horrible. But I made it. My friend thought it was awesome.

She actually went to work the next day and she invited more people to my house. And I was like, "Wait, what are you doing? Like, this is my house. You're inviting people to my house." I thought that this was not how that was supposed to go. And she just raved about it. It wasn't the food. It was the conversation. It was the relationship built. One person turned into three, turned into five. I ended up having a Bible study in my home that season.

It just was so cool to see how God used the table to fill a void. I heard a pastor a couple of years ago, and I deeply disagreed with it for a minute. But it was the Spirit just convicting me of kind of a selfish thought that I had put on God. [00:06:26]

But the pastor said in the Old Testament, God's provision for loneliness was marriage, but in the New Testament, He sends Jesus. He sends his Holy Spirit. He leaves His Spirit here to cultivate the church. And God's provision for loneliness in the New Testament becomes community, becomes His church, becomes his Spirit. And I was like, "No, no, no, no, no. As a 30-year-old single, God's provision for loneliness in my life is marriage. I want to be married. I want to have a family."

But it was really sitting with that going, No, God wants me to build community. God wants me to be encouraging and empowering and edifying in other people's lives. That's why I'm here. And without community in my life, I'm void of so much blessing He wants to give me.

Paul describes that we need to be imitators of Christ. If we're going to imitate Christ, how did Jesus live His life? He lived his life around a table with food, with people, with strangers, with Zacheaus, with people He didn't know. [00:07:34] He lived it with his tribe, with his disciples, with His tried and true.

So if we're truly going to be imitators, we need to come back to how did Jesus do that? He did it around a table. It's the first piece of furniture in Exodus that God instructs us to make a table. He didn't say make an altar. He didn't say make a chair or a couch. He said, "I want you to make a table because that is where the bread of presence will be." And I just go back to John where he says, "I'm the bread of life." And it's like, yeah, the bread is always supposed to be on the table, which means Jesus will always be there when we come to the table.

He says it in Revelation. He's like, "I want to invite you to my table. It is ready." Why? Because Jesus is already at the table. He is ready to eat with us. And if we just pass that table by, if we don't ever use it, if we don't ever bring people to it, then we're missing out, we're voiding our life of this goodness, of this community, of this blessing that He wants to give us. [00:08:38]

Laura Dugger: What a great practical way to be imitators of him. And like you said, it's so enjoyable and there are so many blessings tucked in as well. And you've referenced this book called The Living Table. I love this cookbook. It's beautiful and it's approachable.

You also do some in-depth writing about devotions in there. So can you tell us more about the table types that you cover in this book?

Abby Turner: Yeah. There are several different tables that I go through in the book. And really the reason I broke it up into tables is because I feel like there are different ways that we can view different types of tables. I go through them kind of at a high level in what I call the hosting handbook at the very beginning of the book.

But it's the table that connects and how we are going to build relationships with people. It's the table that teaches. So really encouraging you bring people in, whether this is a prayer group or a Bible study.

The table that parties really just like all of those moments in life. I like to call them micro moments because while birthdays and anniversaries and weddings and those are big moments. [00:09:46] Sometimes it's the micro-moments of life where we can really get some of that good juice out and be like, oh, that was a good moment. Building, doing life, encouraging, being edified by my people.

You go into the table that serves, which is really just about opening our hearts up, being vulnerable in those moments of life. The table that welcomes just all about the get-togethers. And then ending with the table that celebrates. Just those parties that are kind of newer. The Friendsgiving, the Galentine's. I even have a New Year's party in there.

So really focusing on some of those holidays that maybe it's not the big Thanksgiving meal. It's not the big Christmas meal. It's those kind of one-off parties where we can really celebrate life with our people.

Laura Dugger: Goodness, Abby, that is so creative. Now I want to do a deeper dive into a few of these. So specifically, let's discuss the table that parties, serves, and welcomes. What lessons have you learned as it relates to each of these? [00:10:49]

Abby Turner: Yeah. So when you look at the table that parties, those recipes in there are all about, you know, the home gating, the Hallmark Christmas movie party, the pool party. So really bringing people in in those kind of big moments of life and how they come together.

Jesus focused on celebrating moments and building relationships with people. I just look at the first miracle that Jesus performed was at a party. It was at a wedding. And so I can't help but think that Jesus was one that loved celebrating people and loved being around people in fun and exciting and in different settings.

So in my life, in my heart, to feed someone, to bring someone in for a party, is to love them, is to serve them. I don't want people to be so intimidated by the party, by the perfection that the party kind of puts on us, that it has to be Instagram-worthy and Pinterest-perfect and all of those things that we don't have the party. [00:12:02]

You know, I think that we can become so intimidated and so paralyzed by the perfection that the world puts on us that we say, "You know what, I can't do it. So I'm not going to," when it's not about the perfection of the party, it's about the people that are at the party. And I think that that is what when you look at the miracle at the wedding, like that's the point is that the wedding goers, the people that were there didn't see the miracle happen. It was the servants. It was the people hosting the party that saw the miracle.

And so I think that if I can encourage anyone with a party, it's that, guess what? When you bring people in, God's going to show you something. God's going to bless you through something and you're going to reap tenfold by bringing people in. Throw off that notion that it has to be perfect and make it all about the party. Make it all about the people. Make it all about celebrating them and loving them. And use food as that conduit to get them there. [00:13:05] Use food as that conduit to start the conversation. But it doesn't have to be some elaborate spread.

It can be your store-bought basics and spicing them up just a little bit. And that's what I love about The Living Table and I love this cookbook because I'm not a chef. I'm not classically trained in the art of food. I just have found some really nice hacks to taking something store-bought and spicing it up just a little bit, zhuzhing it up and preparing it for people in 30 minutes or less. Really quick and easy. Very simple. Because it's not about how much time you spend in the kitchen. It's about the people that you're serving.

And when you look in Scripture, when you look at Mary and Martha, that's what Jesus was saying. He said, Martha, I'm not going to take this away from Mary because Mary got it right. Mary knew what needed to be. She sat with her people. She sat at the feet of her Lord. And Martha, while everything you're doing, the preparation, your laundry list of things you need to do is so great, I get that, but sometimes you just need to come out from behind the kitchen. You need to sit with your people. [00:14:12]

And that's what I hope the table that parties really encourages people is that it's not about the perfection of the party. It's about the people at the party.

Laura Dugger: That's so good. Will you elaborate now on the table that serves?

Abby Turner: Yeah, so the table that serves, you look at those different sections in there. You've got a sip and see a bridal brunch, a newborn meal train, send off snacks, housewarming goodies. I really wanted to create a section in the book that was all about those natural life moments, because those natural life moments happen for all of us. They happen for our friends. They happen for our community. And a lot of times it's overwhelming to think, how can I be a part of this person's life moment or how can I celebrate this person or how can I love this person?

When you look through Scripture, I loved the story of the women in Luke. [00:15:14] They all were healed. They saw a miracle happen and then they followed Jesus throughout His ministry all the way to the cross. And so these women were in each other's life. They were brought together by Jesus. They were brought together by seeing a mirror, by seeing the Spirit, by seeing God work. They naturally just lived life together. They eventually walked. They made the journey to the cross.

I think that God has this very unique power to unite us in a way and to bind our souls together. When we find those people, when we serve those people, we are being Jesus' hands and feet in their life moments. And we need other people. We need our community. [00:16:13] So we need to know that when our friends are going, when our community is going through something, whether they're moving to another town, so you're sending them off, they just had a baby, so you're doing a sip and see. Or they are moving into a new house, so you do a housewarming goody. We need to show up for our people because Jesus showed up.

Laura Dugger: What would you like to teach us about the table that welcomes?

Abby Turner: So if you haven't caught on yet, I didn't break the cookbook up into appetizers, meal types, desserts. I broke it up into these what I call micro-moments or get-togethers of life. So the way that you can use the book is say, Okay, any of the recipes can be made any Tuesday, any Saturday you want to make them.

But I broke them up so that if you have a specific micro-moment of life that you're like, what do I make for this, what do I make for this coffee date, what do I make for this movie night, what do I make for this pool party, then you can go to that section and there are five or six recipes that are 30 minutes or less. Very simple. [00:17:18] And you can just be encouraged that you don't have to put an appetizer with it. You don't have to make a meal. It's all right there for you. Super simple.

But my favorite section of the whole book is this unexpected guest section that comes from the table that welcomes. Because I think that when we are practicing the discipline of hospitality and I say the discipline of hospitality, because while it is a spiritual gift and some of us are naturally gifted with this gift, it is also a spiritual discipline.

What I mean by that is that it is something that if we use it in our life, we practice this discipline like you would practice running for a marathon, you would practice any discipline of life, that it draws us closer to who that character of God, what His character truly is, this [serp?], this love, this just the humility that you have, the vulnerability that comes from inviting people in. [00:18:18]

You see Jesus spending so much time around tables in His ministry. What I think that we can see, you know, I mentioned Zacchaeus earlier. I think that he was not unexpected to Jesus as God, but Jesus as man saw Zacchaeus and He said, "Let's go eat." He had not planned to have a meal with Zacchaeus that day. But it was this unexpected moment that ended up transforming his life.

And I write that your invitation to someone to come to your table could be their invitation to heaven. Look at Lydia in Scripture. I mean, she opened her home, served Paul, and the Spirit ended up converting her. It was because she opened her home that she received that blessing of eternal life. Like, wow, God has so much if we just open our homes and open our tables, pull out a seat, and invite someone to sit there with us. Because Jesus, Jesus promises that He will always be there and He will always show up. [00:19:32]

Laura Dugger: Your lessons are astounding, what you draw from Scripture and then how you tie it in with food and gathering the tables. So I'm just going to look at page 116. And I love because you're first quoting Acts 2:46, where it says, "Day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts."

And then you write, "Let me break this down for you." Luke, the writer of the book of Acts, was saying the followers of Jesus were hanging out and eating in their homes together day in, day out. Not only did this bring them closer together as a community, but it brought them closer to Jesus." Is there anything you would like to say to elaborate on that? I just found that to be so profound.

Abby Turner: I mean, you can't have community without Jesus being right there in the center of it. Like good community will always push you back to the heart and to who Jesus is. And I love that. [00:20:35] Like if you're listening to this right now, and you're lonely, or you're sitting there and you are fighting isolation, community. Find your tribe. Find your people.

And it doesn't necessarily mean... I mean, this is very practical in eating meals day in and day out and yes, you are going to build some relationships if you are eating every meal with people. But it can be a phone call. It can be constant text message.

I'm living a season of life away. I'm taking a minute of a sabbatical, if you will. I have moved away, removed myself so that I can reset routine. But what happens is now I'm alone, and I'm not with my people. But I'm in a text thread with my people, and we are constantly having conversation. And I have felt closer to them in this season than I was physically present with them in the season prior because we are making an intentional effort to daily talk and daily commune about life, about things. [00:21:43] "Hey, I really need prayer for this today. God really showed me this about my heart. I really need prayer in this area."

But it could be as simple as, oh, we had a kickball game tonight, and I scored two goals, and it was just so fun. Community spans the breadth of life. And incorporating Jesus into that gives us this depth in community that we can't reach without Him.

Laura Dugger: And now a brief message from our sponsor.

[00:22:14] <music>

Sponsor: Midwest Food Bank exists to provide industry-leading food relief to those in need while feeding them spiritually. They are a food charity with a desire to demonstrate God's love by providing help to those in need.

Unlike other parts of the world where there's not enough food, in America, the resources actually do exist. That's why food pantries and food banks like Midwest Food Bank are so important. The goods that they deliver to their agency partners help to supplement the food supply for families and individuals across our country, aiding those whose resources are beyond stretched.

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To learn more, visit midwestfoodbank.org or listen to episode 83 of The Savvy Sauce, where the founder, David Kieser, shares miracles of God that he's witnessed through this nonprofit organization. I hope you check them out today.

[00:23:43] <music>

Laura Dugger: As we consider examples of hospitality in the Bible, will you teach us what Peter's mom reveals to us about a heart for hospitality?

Abby Turner: I love this story so much. If you haven't read this story in a long time, it's like four verses. It's not very long. But Jesus and Peter go into Peter's mother-in-law's house, and his mother-in-law is sick in the back. I can only imagine without Advil or Tylenol or any medication, I'm sure she was really sick. Jesus goes back as this ultimate physician and says, "Hey, you're healed."

Scripture doesn't say that she rolled her eyes at Peter and said, "I can't believe you brought Jesus into my home while I'm sick." It says she immediately starts serving.

Now, there are two things that I would point out in this passage. One, she immediately starts serving, so there was no grumbling or complaining. There was no just kind of shuffling of feet. [00:24:43] I mean, it says she popped out of bed and she went to serve. And I love that heart.

How can we be so ready to serve people that we immediately do it, no matter what the circumstance or situation? That should be our heart. That should be our kind of guidepost. That's what I'm aiming for. And I hope that I can get there. That is my prayer for all of us. And through The Living Table, I hope that I've equipped you in some small way to be encouraged that we can immediately start serving people when we see that they need our hospitality.

The second point I would make about this is that you can't immediately start serving if you haven't prepared to serve in the first place. She was prepared. Which means she probably didn't have fig jam and focaccia bread just hanging out. But she probably had cleaned off her table. Her home was in some type of way so that she could serve. That's how we should live life. [00:25:46]

Now, practically, what does that look like? Clean off your table. If your table has laundry on it, if it has bills on it, come on. I know because I'm there right now. Mine has my jean jacket. It has a water bottle. It has my purse on it. Those things need to be taken off of the table. We need to be ready to serve immediately when someone knocks on our door. We need to be in a posture of obedience so when Jesus says, invite this person over, that we can invite them over. And it's not, Okay, well, my house is a wreck. I don't have dishes ready. You don't have a list of excuses, you can immediately start to serve. You can have the heart of hospitality so that it will bring you closer to the character of God so you can experience Jesus in a new and deeper way with your community.

Laura Dugger: One of the ways that you've personally served is described in this intriguing section of your cookbook that's entitled The Kids Table. [00:26:46] So will you tell me a little bit more about your experience mentoring eighth-grade girls?

Abby Turner: Yes. Okay, so serving in the youth or the students was never on my radar. I'm hospitality, and so I'm like a greeter. You know, like I'm at the welcome desk. But I really had a tug on my heart a couple of years ago that I needed to serve in youth.

Actually, it wasn't just a tug on my heart. The youth pastor, the student pastor actually came up to me and said, I" think you'd be really great. God's put you on my heart. I need you to come." And praise God for those people because I don't know that I would have gone into students had he not directly come and said, "I think you need to pray about this because God has put you on my heart to do this."

So he needed someone for eighth-grade girls. I was like, "I have no idea what eighth-grade girls think or do or say or are into." [00:27:40] And he was like, "No, I just need you to love them." Eighth grade is like this awkward in-between phase where you're not completely grown up, you're still kind of like in junior high. You're figuring yourself out. You don't really have an idea of who you are. You're developing that.

And so I got to spend a season with these girls and really walk through identifying who they are and who they want to become and who they are in Christ. So one of the recipes in The Kids Table is this kitchen sink trail mix. And I call it kitchen sink because it just has everything in it.

I think that goes back to scripture where it says the body is made up of unique parts. And these eighth-grade girls were all very unique. They're not the same. I had some that were really into athletics and some that were really into gaming and some that were really into Harry Potter and reading and were uber into books. [00:28:42]

I use this as an example of how we're all different, but when we come together, we make something that is so good. And you need the chocolate Teddy Graham and you need the wasabi pea and you need the saltiness and the butteriness of the popcorn to make this unique flavor that you just can't get enough of.

And that's how God looks at and wants the church to be. That's how he wants his community to be. We don't all need to be the same. We need to identify the uniqueness of each other and look at that as the blessing.

Laura Dugger: I love that lesson that you taught them because you invited each of them to show up with their own snack and then you dump it all together to make this kitchen sink trail mix. And it's photographed so beautifully. I thought it was such a great word picture of that scripture in 1 Corinthians 12 just coming to life. [00:29:43]

I think in general, Abby, you've just given us the inspiration to begin serving, to begin opening our home to hospitality. But now let's transition to a time of unpacking how we can actually do this. So what is your formula for empowering people to overcome their insecurities in the kitchen and to truly invest in opening their homes?

Abby Turner: So a couple of things that I hear over and over again from people of why they don't show hospitality or why they're not inviting people in, one, I hear this fear of rejection of, "People don't want to come to my house. People are gonna say no. Why would they want to come? They're busy. They've got kids." You name it. That's the excuse. It's kind of wrapped up in this "I don't want to be rejected".

What I would say to that is God did not create us as people to be alone. He did not create us as people for isolation. He created us to want and desire and love other people and being around other people. [00:30:44]

There are some profound psychologists and neuroscientists out there that have even discovered that our brain functions at a higher level when we are around other people. And so I just think that that is God and His just kind of creativity and saying like, Yeah, I created you to be with others.

So if you think that you desire to be around others and you're the only person that desires that, you're fooling yourself. Because I guarantee that other people, your friends, your family, your maybe acquaintances that you know at work or in the PTA or in at your tennis, you know, wherever you are, those people are thinking the same thing you are. "Man, I just wish I had someone to eat dinner with tonight."

I can't tell you how many times I've sat in my apartment and said, "Man, I really wish I could go to this restaurant with someone tonight, but I guess I'll just order it out." And then a couple of days later, I'm talking to a friend and she's like, "Oh, I wasn't doing anything Tuesday night. Girl, you should have called me." [00:31:49] I was like, "Well, I almost did but I didn't want you to say no." Like, no, that's the point.

We need to be set. We need to be opening and extending the invitation. If someone says no, they're usually a couple of reasons. One, they already have something. I'm the queen of spontaneity. And so a lot of times when I ask people, it's like, Hey, do you want to go to dinner like in 15 minutes? And they're like, "Okay, well, I've already planned the next 15 minutes of my life."

So I have to remember that sometimes people plan out a little bit further in advance. So they, one, already have something planned. Or two, meet them where they are. That's what Jesus did. He met people where they were. He went to the well to talk to the one. He didn't invite the woman into a house, He went to the well to meet the woman. So sometimes maybe it's, "Hey, let's go grab coffee." Build the relationship outside the home so that you can bring them in. [00:32:40]

And then the second thing that I always hear is, "I can't cook." I think that's where The Living Table comes in. I want to encourage people that even if you can't cook and these recipes maybe these recipes are even more advanced than you feel comfortable for, which I don't feel like they're super advanced. And I'm not a chef or a cook. I want you to think of me as like a friend bringing you just kind of some simple easy go-to recipes.

But I also want to encourage people that there are ways that we can lean into our grocery stores, that there are things that they're doing for us. I mean, the frozen aisle, the frozen pizzas now are like almost gourmet. I mean, lean into that. You don't have to start from scratch. Don't let that be the expectation. I want you to, you know, be empowered to pick something up at the grocery store and just have it at your house.

So those are kind of the two things that I hear is like, I don't want people to say no and then I can't do it. And both of those things tell me that the enemy is trying to creep in and keep you isolated. He doesn't want you building community and we've got to fight that. [00:33:47]

Laura Dugger: It's a good word.

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How do you creatively add generosity and elements of surprise to keep this process fun?

Abby Turner: You know what I think it's always praying through, God, what are those divine appointments? Who are those people that you want at my table? I love having a mix of people. It's not always the same. You know, I have, as we all do, different groups of people for different things that I'm involved in. [00:34:46] And when you mix all of these groups together, it's really interesting how relationships are formed, where conversation goes.

I also think that we can get really intimidated by, okay, well, I want to bring people to my table and then you have really good intentions of I want this to be really deep conversation. So, how do I make that happen? You don't have to make any of that happen. You just have to bring them to the table.

I think that's what's so cool about Jesus is that all we have to do is be obedient and bringing people to the table and God's gonna make whatever needs to happen, whatever conversation needs to occur, He's gonna bring that conversation up. We don't have to worry about anything like that. We just have to show up. And we have to be prepared to let God work.

So praying through who are those divine appointments, who are those people that I need in my home, who are those people that I need to go extend? You know, I had a friend that popped in my head the other day and I'm in a different city than she is, so I sent her a box, like a care package of goodies and it showed up. [00:35:52]

And I had no idea what day was gonna show up, I had no idea kind of what she was going through but Jesus put her on my heart. She called me and said, I can't tell you how much. It was like a soup and kind of roll kit. And she was like, "I can't tell you how much this meal meant to me that it just kind of showed up on my doorstep after one of the hardest weeks of work, my kids are going crazy, my mom is in the hospital and I didn't know what we were gonna do for dinner and then this box shows up. What a blessing."

I didn't have to make that meal. I just ordered the meal and sent it to her and it blessed her. We have to put ourselves in this constant posture of obedience so that we can just be open for what God's tugging on our hearts, what God's putting in our hearts in our minds so that He can then bless us, bless others through us. That's the purpose of hospitality. That's the purpose of community. That's the purpose of why we're here. [00:36:51]

Laura Dugger: What an incredible way to meet such a practical need. We all have the need to eat and drink and we all want to do that probably multiple times daily. So it's always an open invitation. There's one other story that's always struck me. You say it was just a small gesture. But can you elaborate on the experience of taking the orange Julius to someone else with just a little extra thrown in?

Abby Turner: That orange Julius was so, so easy to make. One of my very, very best friends is not a Christian and she is always struggling with the dichotomy of, "Okay, I really, really want this that you have. What is it? I want this." And it's like it's Jesus. So showing her by showing up is "Oh, that's Jesus."

So I've seen over the last three or four years her open her heart, the Spirit begin to work and to plant seeds of hope and joy in her life because of little things of just showing up for her, being there for her. [00:38:05] I tell the story all the time about she has three little boys. And so she's always crazy and I'm single. So she's always running every which way and she loves to hang out with, you know, her friends, but she can't ever because she's got three kids.

So I'm always going over to her house. I'm always going over to her house and making food and kind of playing with her kids and teaching them how to make food in the kitchen. And it's showing up, being the hands and feet of Jesus, being where people are, meeting them where they are. That is so important.

And sometimes it's an overlooked piece of hospitality because we always think hospitality is bringing people into your house, it's having them at your table. But Jesus didn't have a house. Jesus didn't have a table. He was always going into other people's house. In fact, one of His most famous miracles was actually a potluck.

So if we really look at feeding of the 5,000 and we look at the practicality of that, invite people over and say, bring your own food. [00:39:06] It's all about the community and it's all about bringing people together, meeting them where they are. And it doesn't necessarily have to be a perfect master chef meal, five-star meal. It can be bring your own food potluck. It can be meeting someone where they're at. It's just as simple like, hey, I had this two-dollar plastic jug from Target that I got. I filled it up with some Orange Julius and I brought it over on a hot day because I know that you're pregnant and you need a little pick-me-up.

Laura Dugger: I love how you share that because it cost you two dollars for that pitcher but there is such an astonishment from the recipient of that. And like you said, it's just a way to be Jesus to others.

Abby Turner: Absolutely.

Laura Dugger: Abby, you've clearly had a lot of experience with all of this. So what are some of your most? practical steps for us to begin so that we can be prepared both physically and spiritually to host?

Abby Turner: There are two things. [00:40:06] I've said one of them. One of them is just clear the table off. Always be ready. I know that the table is currently functioning as office and school and it has a lot of different uses in our lives right now. But clean off the table and put ourselves in a posture of obedience, whether that's kind of stack your pantry and your fridge, stash it with things that you know you're going to be using.

So it's the beginning of the year, you know what kind of items? Probably lots of soups, probably some breads to go with the soups. Make sure you're stacked up on that because this is the time for those types of meals.

But in the fall, it's game time. I'm in a college town. A lot of times I have these unexpected guests that stay over from the game the night before. So they stay over and I need a lot of breakfast items. So in the fall I tend to carry a lot more cinnamon rolls and sausage roll-ups and all of those things. A lot of them are frozen so they can just stay longer in my fridge if I don't need them. [00:41:04] We go week on week, but I'm always prepared.

And so in the different seasons of life in the different seasons of the year, we might keep different things in our pantry, in our fridge. So always put yourself in that posture of obedience. Number one, clean off the table and kind of stash your pantry and your fridge.

Number two, pray specifically for divine appointments. Pray for just those catches on your heart that the Lord will put and say you need to reach out to this person, you need to serve this person. You need to take a meal to this person. You might not know why but God does. When we are preparing ourselves, when we are putting ourselves in this posture of obedience, that's when we really open ourselves up to allow God to really work.

Laura Dugger: I love that both-and answer. That both that spiritual part and connecting with the Lord, that's going to fuel everything, and your practical application to help us follow through to do this. [00:42:06] So not only cleaning the table but you have a section on page 14 about setting the table. I won't go through all of these But just one suggestion that you give is to start collecting wooden boards. You say that they're fun and versatile and they can be used in plating serving and prepping.

Some of your recipes even go along with that. Like an avocado toast bar that I had never thought of before. So I can't recommend this cookbook enough. It's inspiration for all of us to get started. You also have a lot to add online. So, Abby, where would you direct us to find and follow you online?

Abbey Turner: So coming right out of that, I know that I do give in that hosting handbook a lot of tips and tricks, but I have a 52 Weeks of Mastering the Kitchen. Every week you're gonna get an email that just gives you some practical tips. Sometimes it's a recipe. Sometimes it's just tips and tricks. Make sure you have this in your pantry or these are my tried-and-true favorites. [00:43:03]

So you can sign up for that over on atabletopaffair.com. It should be the first little pop-up that comes up and you can put your email in and those emails will come straight to your Inbox week on week. I'll also send out emails just about, hey, these are my favorite meals going into pumpkin season or these are my favorite meals going in to the Easter season. We've got Valentine's Day and Mardi Gras coming up so I'm pumped for those.

But I am also over on Instagram. I do a fun little Sunday supper club on Sunday nights. It's around 9 p.m. ish Central time. We call it ish because... well, I call it ish because I run on Turner time which means it could be 5 or 10 minutes early or 5 or 10 minutes late and that's still around 9 p.m.

Anyway, it's 20 minutes. It's always over on Instagram TV if you miss it on Sunday nights. But it really I just go through 20 minutes of a really easy recipe. Some recipes are out of the cookbook, some recipes are just recipes that I have made that are just super easy. [00:44:06]

And then sometimes I just put a kind of question box out there the week before and say, What do you want to know about? Whether it's easy meals or lunches or transitioning of seasons and flavors and all that. So super fun.

A tabletop affair on Instagram, A Tabletop Affair online. Then of course, I'm on Pinterest and Facebook if you're on those platforms as well. But yeah, 52 Weeks of Mastering the Kitchen, definitely a newsletter series. You do not want to miss.

Laura Dugger: Wonderful. We will link to all of that in the show notes for today's episode. Abby, you may know that we're called The Savvy Sauce because "savvy" is synonymous with practical knowledge. And so as my final question for you today, what is your savvy sauce?

Abby Turner: I Think my savvy sauce for others would absolutely be go buy The Living Table. I'm just kidding. No, find some tried-and-true recipes that you know how to make that you feel comfortable making and confident making and use those as kind of the first steps to bringing people in.

Open your door, invite someone in. It doesn't have to be a group of people. The first the first night I ever invited someone over for a meal, it was one person and the meal was so bad. But God turned that around. He used that as a stepping stone and said, Okay, one person will turn into three, three will turn into five, five will turn into a Bible study. [00:45:32]

And I had to learn really fast. God was like, okay, the next meal we're gonna make and the next meal you're gonna make and the next meal you're gonna make. So He developed, He started me. He walked with me in that but I had to be obedient. And so practical advice, put yourself in that posture of obedience, clean off the table, invite someone in, and find some tried-and-true recipes. Just a couple that are really easy that you feel confident making. So you can use food as the conduit to get you to the table to experience Jesus.

Laura Dugger: Well, Abby, you are delightful to spend time with and I'm so humbled by your offering of your time and talents to encourage other people of all ages about these biblical truths, about the table and hospitality. So I'm very grateful for you, Abby. You're a blast to spend time with. And I just want to say thank you for being my guest.

Abby Turner: Well, thank you so much. Being a 32-year-old single sometimes it can look a lot different than a mom that has three or four kids or even a grandma that is a widow. So what I found with The Living Table is that we all come around that table the same way. And we can all experience Jesus in different ways. But it's getting to the table that's the important part. [00:46:50] So I hope that's what everyone heard today and is encouraged and empowered to kind of get out of the kitchen into the table a little bit quicker a little bit faster so that we can all be with Jesus

Laura Dugger: Amen.

One more thing before you go. Have you heard the term "gospel" before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you. But it starts with the bad news. Every single one of us were born sinners and God is perfect and holy, so He cannot be in the presence of sin. Therefore, we're separated from Him.

This means there's absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So for you and for me, it means we deserve death and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved. We need a savior. But God loved us so much, He made a way for His only Son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute.

This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with Him. [00:47:52] That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live and died in our place for our sin. This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus.

We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished if we choose to receive what He has done for us. Romans 10:9 says that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

So would you pray with me now? Heavenly, Father, thank You for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to You. Will You clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare You as Lord of their life? We trust You to work and change their lives now for eternity. In Jesus name, we pray, amen. [00:48:52]

If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring Him for me, so me for Him, you get the opportunity to live your life for Him.

At this podcast, we are called Savvy for a reason. We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So you're ready to get started?

First, tell someone. Say it out loud. Get a Bible. The first day I made this decision my parents took me to Barnes and Noble to get the Quest NIV Bible and I love it. Start by reading the book of John.

Get connected locally, which basically means just tell someone who is part of the church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you.

We want to celebrate with you too. So feel free to leave a comment for us if you made a decision for Christ. We also have show notes included where you can read Scripture that describes this process. [00:49:53]

Finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, "In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." The heavens are praising with you for your decision today.

If you've already received this good news, I pray that you have someone else to share it with today. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.

Welcome to The Savvy Sauce

Practical chats for intentional living

A faith-based podcast and resources to help you grow closer to Jesus and others. Expect encouragement, surprises, and hope here. Each episode offers lively interviews with fascinating guests such as therapists, authors, non-profit founders, and business leaders.

They share their best practices and savvy tips we can replicate to make our daily life and relationships more enjoyable!