Marybeth's Blog Internships in Sue Gregg's Kitchen


	Marybeth’s Blog INTRODUCTION Living as the oldest daughter of eight children can be a very strenuous life. Since I was a little girl, I have been fascinated with cooking, and being able to serve people through hospitality. I have grown up in a household where opening up your home is emphatically important. My father has been a pastor all my life, and living in the position of being a ministry centered family, hospitality becomes even more perfected. My mom had often used Sue Gregg cook books as she used many others as well. It was not until I was about twelve years old that I really became interested in Sue Gregg’s cooking materials and even interning with her. It all began one day when a good friend of mine asked me to help her at the Arlington book fair. Tiffany and I worked all day giving samples of coffee cake and explaining the advantages of using Sue Gregg cook books. I soon started using the books for almost everything I made, it was exciting and new. Delicious and healthy recipes were always something I have put my standards to. A few months later I received an email asking if I would come and intern at Sue Gregg’s home! I was very excited about this opportunity, and in March of 2008 , along with two other Texas friends I headed out for Southern California! MY INTERNSHIP MARCH 2008 I was sitting at the airport with Tiffany and Emily. After a long flight, I was tired and hungry. Of course, that did not stop me from being thoroughly excited and giggly! The scenery was so gorgeous. It was a paradise I have not yet seen anything like. The Wondrous Mountains revealed a majesty I could only stand in awe at. The Vibrant colors fascinated me. Citrus trees and blossom trees shed a glorious fragrance, and the palms all around gave the elation that I was definitely not in Texas anymore! Mr. Gregg came and picked us up from the air port and we started for the Gregg home. It was an intriguing ride as well. We had a wonderful tour of Riverside, and learned some about the important plants of the area. When we arrived at the Gregg’s home, I was completely amazed. It was nothing like what I imagined at all. The Gregg’s home was so much more sophisticated and special than I expected, and the warm welcome from Mrs. Gregg was so caring, I immediately felt at home. Stephanie, our new internship friend from Virginia, showed us around. We unpacked and got ready for what was ahead. The adventure begins. Putting in words what I got to hands-on experience those three weeks is inevitably impossible. Not only was I able to learn more about cooking healthy and wonderful meals, I learned how to put them together to make something very special and important from that evening time where the family comes back together in unity. Stephanie, Tiffany, Emily, and I had a convivial time! We learned how to set a table properly; we got to experience cooking to a dimension only very few people get to. Cooking becomes more than a duty; it becomes a part of you. Anything is possible in the kitchen! Floral designs, to gourmet experiments, it was so much more than cooking! Mr. and Mrs. Gregg opened up their lives for us, prayed for us, encouraged us on in our own walks with the Lord, and most importantly, loved us. They gave us the incitement of what food was created to be for. Not just satisfying the stomach, but bringing people together in love and in fellowship. They helped us to see the biblical answers to what food is all about and the importance of hospitality and it’s ministry to fellow believers, and even the lost. I was able to serve two missionary dinners and see the effect of having a true servant’s heart. It was so beautiful, and I will cherish those moments forever. Mrs. Gregg poured into my life. She and Mr. Gregg unveiled the manifest significance of being able to open your home, and let other come in and enjoy the supper, feeling comfortable and loved. They were perfect examples of what they were teaching us. The balance between being a Mary and a Martha, having the ability to serve, and reflecting the love of Christ! I would say, if anyone could every do anything, go and intern with Rich and Sue Gregg and have a beneficial experience of a lifetime! AFTER MY INTERNSHIP Coming back home to Texas was sad, and yet so exciting. Now is when I could bring to practice all that I had learned. It was a blessing to my family, and to other families in the local church I belong to. I was adept in preparing meals and was given multiple opportunities to bring those meals to others who were in need, families who had had babies, sick families, or just those who were in need of a blessed meal. God was able to use me to minister to his hurting or needing children. Of course, most importantly, I was able to make supper for my own family a more enjoyable and bonding time. It is the most beautiful thing in the world to see families sit down together at mealtimes and share what is on their hearts. The larger body of family (the church) was also blessed through what I was capable to doing. Now I could cook, decorate, and serve the church meals we had. The experiences of hospitality and service to the local body are innumerable, and I am still learning more and more to this day. I have always been a Mary, but being a Martha is important as well. Cooking is a gift from God to serve his people, and I am so grateful for the Greggs and their ministry. They have blessed my life, and through me, have blessed the generations to come! It’s a legacy of faith, love, and hospitality that will keep going on forever. I hope many may be blessed through what Rich and Sue Gregg have done. They are worthy of my praise, and many others.






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