Finishing a goal of a year of blogging has motivated me to dig into some of the reasons and purposes behind this practice. Should I keep doing it? Does blogging matter? Why or why not? So this month, I’m sharing a handful of resources about that and other topics that are on my mind now. (see old inspiration lists here).

Can Food Blogging Really Be Meaningful? by Sarah J. Hauser, Gospel Coalition // Written more than two years ago, this post from fellow writer and mom Sarah J. Hauser only crossed my path this week–but at exactly the time I was asking the same question. (I remembered Sarah’s name from this wonderful post on feasting at The Rabbit Room, which is also worth reading, especially in a celebratory time of year like December.) Sarah quotes from Francis Schaeffer, a theologian who has deeply influenced my life, and speaks to the heart of the question of art and its purpose. A favorite line: “It is both wonderfully freeing and personally challenging to know that God watches my work, that my work isn’t futile if it’s offered up to him as an act of worship.” Sarah also blogs regularly at The Homemade Haus, and you can follow her on Instagram @SaraJHauser. I’m glad to have found her.

Ecclesiastes #2 from Ray Ortlund at Immanuel Nashville // This is the message that prompted this blog’s title. I listened to it again this week and was encouraged afresh to eat my bread with joy. If you consider yourself a “broody” person, listening to this will give you life.

Persuasion 147 | Table Talk // You think this podcast episode is going to be about dinnertime conversation, but actually it digs underneath that to how your family of origin shaped your communication style, way of handling conflict, response to differences, etc. I was fascinated. It made me think about something I heard a man say in another podcast this week: “food was made for community.” The way we learn to talk at the table is about so much more than how we talk at the table.

Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, Eugene Peterson (Amazon affiliate link) // I don’t know that I’ve ever been as moved by a stranger’s death as I was Eugene Peterson’s last month. Maybe that’s because He so obviously loved the God I love. Reading this book is not only helpful on a topical level, but it’s like fellowship with kin. I’m not deep into it yet, but it’s already heartening.

The Spirit of Food: Thirty-four writers on feasting and fasting towards God, edited by Leslie Leyland Fields (Amazon affiliate link) // I read this book several years ago and pulled it back out this week. Jeremy Clive Huggins’s essay on a church potluck is alone worth the price of the book, in my opinion.

While where this site is going, moving forward, is still up for debate, this week has provided at least a little clarity, in large part from the above resources. Thanks for sticking with me as I continue to search it out. As always, I’m glad to have you here and always glad to connect. Find me on Instagram @goeatyourbreadwithjoy.