Finding Joy in Discipleship (and the Kitchen)

A reflection on one way that I live out my discipleship and the joy I find in doing so. Posted on my blog in December 2022.

If you follow me on social media, you know I have been more intentional lately about making more plant-based meals for myself and my family. My spouse and I are moving toward a primarily plant-based diet, for both health reasons and, especially, as a response to the ecological crisis and climate emergency. Industrial agriculture is responsible for 15% of greenhouse gas emissions, through both the release of methane from cattle farming and the clearcutting of forests to meet the demand for meat consumption. Did you know that methane has “80% more warming power than carbon dioxide” once it has been released into the atmosphere?¹

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For the record, my kitchen seldom looks this clean! I took this picture within minutes of cleaning it….it was back to its usual joyful chaos a half hour later.

If you choose to eat meat, as I still do on occasion, it is much better to purchase meat from local, small farmers, who typically farm the animals in more humane and sustainable ways. The reality, though, is that the current demand for meat, eggs and dairy will not be able to be met through local, sustainable farming. The amount of meat eaten globally, especially in the Global North, must go down dramatically if we are going to be effective in mitigating global warming.

The Kitchen is My Happy Place

So, I have been in my kitchen a lot lately; It is one of my happy places. I’ve always enjoyed cooking for my family, and dietary restrictions have made the shift to homemade meals necessary. And right now, as I become more familiar with the plant-based diet and learn more vegan recipes, my time in that happy place has gone up quite a bit.

Now, let me be honest about what often happens in my kitchen. Cooking new meals for a family of 5, with hungry kids home from school demanding snacks while I cook, fighting with one another over the TV, and then sometimes (often??) not liking what I make, does not always make for a pleasant time in the kitchen, no matter how much I love to cook.

But lately, I have discovered that I have been experiencing a lot more joy in the kitchen than I normally do. Even with fighting kids. Why is that? What is that about? Why, in the last few weeks, have I felt even more joy in my kitchen, discovering and cooking new recipes?

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