Funny the things you think about when you are trying to shut down the brain-windows and go to sleep at night. The other night, I got to thinking about my Christmas china all snug and packed away for the time being. It's a pattern called Ribbon Holly by Mikasa. Long ago and far away, Mama had the brilliant idea that I would pick out a pattern and she would add pieces along until I had enough. This was brilliant, however, as I have not yet reached the enough-stage when it comes to any china (plates, not country) this was a dangerous prospect for Mama, and ultimately me. Don't get Hubby (or the Monday girls) started about my china collection-problem-ok-addiction. The only hitch in Mama's plan was as soon as I picked out Ribbon Holly, Mikasa discontinued it. I kid you not. So the gradual addition of a piece here and there became a desperate grab for whatever was available before it was gone. And that's how I wound up with 8 dinner plates, 8 salad plates, 8 water glasses, 4 mugs, a set of candlesticks and a Two-Tier-Tidbit-Tray. Because everybody needs a Two-Tier-Tidbit-Tray. Right? Actually, this has become my favorite piece. In that set. Did I mention that I collect china?
Other than being a pretty little - albeit strange - thing, the tidbit tray (actually pictured above) has come in handy over the years. First, it can be a centerpiece all by itself. If you like to set a Christmas table right after Thanksgiving and leave it in place until mid-January - and who doesn't? - keeping a live centerpiece is a challenge. Fresh flowers - which I love - have to be reworked and replaced several times. Live plants have to be watered (I know.. but I have this problem remembering to water plants). And fake flowers and plants are, well, fake. Enter the Two-Tier-Tidbit-Tray. Voilà, instant centerpiece. Matches the tablescape. And - bonus - holds out the promise that there might be chocolate forthcoming.
Which brings us to the real beauty of the Two-Tier-Tidbit-Tray. I doesn't hold a lot. It only takes a few pieces of candy and a handful of cookies to fill it up. You can put out whatever's left from your Whitman sampler and open up a box of one of those exotic foreign looking cookie choices from Trader Joe's and all of a sudden it's a party! A fancy party, no less! A Two-Tier-Tidbit-Tray takes the little that you have and makes it an extravagant and beautiful offering.
Here's the thing... sometimes life's tablescape is filled with Christmas-dinner-abundance. An embarrassing wealth of goodness and cheer. But I've come to learn that kind of over-the-top-buffet is rare. More often than not, we find ourselves with a few bits of sweetness and a box or two of some extraneous, even random, fare. It is then that we may choose to employ the Two-Tier-Tidbit-Tray principle. Take whatever is offered, arrange it on a pretty dish and make it a celebration. Relish those in-between moments. The rarity of a friendship. The memory of a long-gone tradition. The smile of realized blessings. Because God is forever handing those out. Those little snips of amazing that quickly and perfectly fill a heart-sized plate. Big, generous, boisterous celebrations are a little overwhelming, truth be told. Tidbits are much easier to savor. The little-at-a-time as opposed to the all-at-once.
Take for instance the widow of Zarepath. There was a drought, a hungry prophet named Elijah, and only a handful of flour and a few drips of oil between him, the widow, her son and death. Elijah asked for a little cake and promised that the jar of flour and jug of oil would not run out before the rains came. She made the little cake, fed the prophet, her son and herself and, lo and behold, the provisions held out. There is no indication that a three-year (the length of the drought) supply of baking essentials suddenly dropped into her kitchen. Though I do sometimes wonder what would have happened if all that flour and oil appeared our of nowhere. What a scene - and a mess - that would have been! But it just says that she kept on making cakes and there was always enough. I do imagine that she was grateful for every tidbit. Those bits saved her life. And Elijah's. And her son's - more than once. Miracles, every day. Large and small. Savored a little-at-a-time. (story from I Kings 17)
I admit, when I pray and hope I usually err of the extravagant side... asking for the whole three-year-supply at once. And more often than not, the answers come one little morsel at a time. Enough for today... tomorrow, too, occasionally. Sweeter, possibly, that way. Time for appreciation. Time to savor. Time for appropriate gratitude. Time to soak in the goodness.
And, as luck - and Mama - would have it, I own the prettiest little Two-Tiered-Tidbit-Tray....
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