the feeding of the 5000...with only an apple pie

When it comes to sharing our parents taught us well! In fact our parents are some of the most giving people I know who give without conditions.  Living in the Dominican though has taught me a different way to share and a different way to receive a gift. Think about this...If you baked some cookies and wanted to give some to a family of 5 you would give them at least 5 cookies and maybe more..right. You wouldn't want to give this family of 5 just two cookies..that wouldn't be fair...right? That is what I thought too until I started to be on the end of receiving little gifts everywhere.  Here you give a little of what little you have. So many times our neighbors have given us one cup of juice to share. One piece of pie. One small bowl of soup. One piece of candy to share. I love it! Giving here is like the story of Jesus and the feeding of the 5 thousand...no joke. One cookie is shared with 5 people and all 5 are satisfied in the end. Once I brought a couple cookies into work as a gift for a coworker and they were shared with the ENTIRE staff and some people in the lobby. They are the most humble people when it comes to sharing. It isn't about getting your fill....it is about relationships and enjoying a gift with as many people as possible. Honestly though it has taken me a while to catch on. I still want to bring over enough for every person in the family and if I don't have enough then I am tempted to just not share it. But this last week I decided to try the Dominican way of sharing with an apple pie I baked. And it really was like the story of the 5 thousand....I thought the pie was never going to run out! I shared a couple pieces with our upstairs neighbors, a few with a coworker who then shared her pieces with about 4 people, a couple with our American neighbor, and still had a couple left over for Scott and I each to eat! And they weren't small helpings....I'm not kidding. It was so fun to enjoy this delicious pie with so many people. One aspect of this culture that has always stood out is how much the Dominicans give even the ones who have so little. Once I went to someone's house and there was hardly anything in their fridge to eat, but she would not let me leave without taking her last avocado. I felt so guilty. And that is just one of the many times we have visited people and left with a little something in our hands.  It is something that has taken me a while to understand. But now I get it!...Or at least I am starting to understand. There is joy in giving a little and to many. There is a connection in sharing happiness. There is a simplicity in sharing that I never knew. There is also an unwritten understanding that as you give the little you have you yourself won't be left empty handed. How did 5 loafs of bread and 2 fish feed 5 thousand and still have left overs? I wonder what joy those people left as they shared the 5 loafs? I think I know a little of how they felt. It all about the joy and the relationship not the object.

Love,
K&M