Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Progressive Dinner


Last Sunday I had the privilege of participating in a progressive dinner for the women’s discipleship group I am a part of. The reason for celebrating – reading through the Bible together in one year. It was the first time we had done it together, and for some it was their first time ever to read the Bible through. What fun to do it as a group and then celebrate together with our Church family at a special Bible Day service. More than 30 people shared verses they had learned in various discipleship classes – even the children got in on the fun. We all danced, sang and celebrated not just the accomplishment but also in thanksgiving to our Heavenly Father for his letter of love to us.




Once the service was over, we all piled into cars decked out with balloons, ribbon and words of celebration…. Things like “You made it! Hooray! Proud of you!” and my personal favorite, “Woo hoo!”

Our first stop on the progressive dinner menu was my parent’s house. There we feasted on a gorgeous veggie tray, homemade dip, butter wafers, and blueberry-grape juice. After that came fresh baked cheesy bread and café con leche, a Colombian staple of coffee and milk.


It was wonderful! And the anticipation of what came next had us all on pins and needles. Although I knew the final destination, I had no idea of all the fun in between.



Well the appetizers were scrumptious and the fellowship was rich. Yet before we knew it the time had come to head out to our second destination: the home of a dear family from the church. This stop was to toast our year together as a group, how much everyone had grown in the Word, and to thank our leader.


Each person received a colorful page with Psalm 148 written on it and a color coordinated toasting glass. How fun is that! With sparkling cider in hand we raised our glasses in celebration. We took turns reading verses from the page in joyous tones and concluded with our hostess sharing her favorite verse and the host reading this verse: 

Psalms 119:103

“How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!”



We then each had a small piece of baklava that was filled with gooey honey. As we bit into it the honey oozed out and delighted our taste buds. We were told to think of how sweet God’s word is to our lives. It was a moving moment of reflection.



From there we headed out to the final destination – out home. And I must say that I had such a wonderful time preparing the house for such a special group.


All weekend I worked on the little details like labels for the water pitchers and dessert tray, place cards, personalized chocolate bars and even a little pennant banner for the death by chocolate trifle {which I forgot to take a picture of! Can you believe it?!?}


It was so much fun! Hubby was a sweetheart and got a wonderful sound system all set up in the front room that played continuous soft dinner music. Just before we all arrived he went around the house and lit all the candles, turned off all the overhead lights and turned on all the little lamps around the house so that it looked, smelled and sounded heavenly.


The dinner menu was spectacular and our conversation meaningful. No one wanted the evening to end.



This year we began a new tradition and made memories that will last a lifetime.

What special moment or accomplishment could you celebrate with a meaningful and adventurous progressive dinner?

All photos taken by yours truly.



19 comments:

  1. sounds like a wonderful night of food and friends!! what a great way to celebrate "feasting" on the word of God.

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  2. What a great way to celebrate such a wonderful accomplishment. Sounds like you all had a very meaningful evening!

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  3. Congratulations on your accomplishment but... can you really seriously call the Bible a "letter of love" after having read the whole thing? I have read the whole thing and the balance leans more toward hatred and xenophobia than love.

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  4. That is the most amazing progressive dinner story EVER!!! Congrats on the accomplishment and what a great way to fellowship with friends and family!

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  5. amazing Dinner and great your post. your dinner idea is very wonderful and nice shared dinner info. i like it and i follow this dinner. thanks

    Romantic Dinner

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  6. I love your blog. Wonderful title Too Bless to Stress.

    Best wishes,

    Janie out of debt

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  7. Oh, Emily-Friend! That sounds like such a wonderful night! And how special to celebrate Scripture...I can't help but think how that made such a life-long impact on everyone involved. WOW!
    I love it!
    *hugs*
    debbi

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  8. Thanks for checking out my new blog! That Death by Chocolate sounds like it's right up my alley! Absolutely love the title of your blog too, I have a feeling that "slogan" is going to be stuck in my head for a while!

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  9. Hello, Emily-Friend! I left a little award over on my blog for you. I hope you can stop by and pick it up. :-)
    *hugs*
    debbi

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  10. I just love the stars quilt you designed! Can't wait to get a look at the book. I'm definitely going to try your stromboli recipe

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  11. very pics and walk-through sister!

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  12. ....i mean GREAT pics - LOL!

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  13. What great entertainment with Champagne and dinner. I will follow your instructions for my best and quality dinner with my friends and family.

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  14. this is a sounds like a wonderful night of food and friends!! what a great way to celebrate "feasting" on the word of God................

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  15. Beautiful Dinner and colorful recipes .

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  16. really a fantastic post i love it a lot nice one

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