By India McCarty
Food Network star Aarti Sequeira wants us to rethink the way we host this holiday season, prioritizing connection over the perfect dinner party.
“I’ve never thought of food as just food,” she told Relevant Magazine. “It’s always been connection.”
Sequeira explained that preparing a special dish is almost “another language” to her, or “a way of saying, ‘This is who I am.’”
This holiday season, she urges others to focus on that connection rather than having everything fall perfectly into place.
Related: How Chef Aarti Sequeira Spreads Joy Through Cooking and Faith
“There’s so much pressure to get everything right,” she said. “But all you need to be a good host is to open the door, smile and give them a hug.”
Sequeira also encouraged others to reach out to people this Christmas, sharing this lesson she learned: “If I want to access more of Jesus’ heart, the way He saw people and His gentleness, then I have to put myself in rooms of people. And if the invitations aren’t coming, then maybe I need to invite people.”
“When we gather, we get to reflect a little more of His heart,” she concluded.
This is a lesson Sequeira will be sharing in her latest show, MADE TO SHARE, produced by child development organization Compassion International. Each episode sees Sequeira making a recipe shared by a friend, as well as discussing the importance of hospitality and generosity.
“I’m so excited about creating this show with Compassion International, because I think we have a mutual passion for creating human connection, whether it’s across the dinner table or across the world. It’s one of the reasons my family and I have supported Compassion for so long,” Sequeira said in a statement about MADE TO SHARE. “At this time of year, when hope illuminates our hearts, gathering around the table takes on a new meaning, and I know that after creating these recipes, inspired by countries where Compassion is working to serve children living in poverty, I won’t be looking at the dinner table the same.”
Sequeira has also spoken about the process of discovering the sacred in everyday tasks, like cooking.
“How you approach the kitchen is kind of how you can approach the rest of your life,” she told the “Jesus Calling” podcast. “When I cooked, the kitchen became this place of real sanctuary for me, a place where the chaos of my life could turn into order, where I could take a mess of ingredients and turn them into something beautiful, nourishing, helpful, purposeful. It really sort of took me over.”
This Christmas, take a page out of Sequeira’s book and put your focus on enjoying time with friends and family rather than obsessing over the little things.
Read Next: Food Network Star Aarti Sequeira Reveals Moment She Met God
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