Dessert Night

While the physical satisfaction from good food, good dessert and good wine is long gone, my heart is happy and my spirit is joyful. Why?

Dessert night.

I invite you to try it:

Invite a few friends over. Tell everyone to bring a dessert. Let the kids play. Friends chat it up. It’s easy.

I can’t believe I haven’t been doing this for years. We have had Christmas parties and summer picnics with friends, and various gathering around big calendar days are nice, but it just never felt like enough for me. I need time with people who get where I’m coming from, to hear that they are struggling, and to hear the joy of their every day lives, not just their big moments.

We needed a time to say, “I love this life, but it’s hard.” And, “It’s not just me?! I’m not the only one!” 

Honestly, I kept waiting for other people to create this kind of gathering. I spent time mumbling to my husband that we didn’t get together enough, assuming everyone’s life was too busy. I was intimidated by the prospect of cleaning my house a little deeper, so that I wouldn’t panic when people walked in. I made up scenarios in my head where there were toys everywhere and I had stacks of dishes on my counters for days. 

And then, life happened and I simply needed people. 

The isolation couldn’t go on any longer.

I sent a group text, and told a few couples to bring a dessert. Do you know what happened?

They showed up.

And I realized something – that was my biggest fear.

Cheesecakes are one of my favorite and surprisingly easy go-to’s for inviting people over.

I was terrified no one would show up. That’s why it took me 10 years to invite people over with any kind of regularity, deep down I didn’t want one more rejection, one more I’m too busy. Here’s the truth – it’s worth it. It’s worth the risk for connection and growth and life together. 

After one evening with these friends, I was filled up and ready for life. Ready to reach out and continue to fill up others. You will be too, I promise. Isolation is a tool of Satan to tell us we’re all alone in this journey, that no one understands, but I guarantee that someone does. That’s how God created it to be.

So… dessert night, bonfire night, grilled cheese night, Uno night. I don’t care what it is- just do it. Open your calendar, your home, and your willingness for God to create community for you. The risk is worth it. It is His medicine for a happy heart.


What kind of night (or afternoon!) would you or do you host?