We're half way through September and already 3 dinners into the 52 planned. It's been an amazing experience so far and yet I've found myself having mixed emotions as each one approaches. One thing that's been blazingly apparent to me is the pull to blow it off when I'm just not feelin' it, you know? There was one that I had to legitimately postpone as one of our boys had a bad cold and that wasn't the kind of love I wanted to spread. And I've told myself that I'm too tired or I'm too busy or that we don't have the extra money or blah...blah...blah.
And I've just started!!!
As much as I hate to admit to it ~ and publicly, no less ~ this is so me. A struggler with follow-through. And, as I've pressed through each time and made it more about Him and less about me, I (we) have been so blessed.
The first family was one we've known for a while; a husband and wife and two of their children. Daniel helped me make the communion crackers and Evan helped me prepare dessert.
I'd planned on us all taking communion together and had even gotten a split of red wine for the purpose. I wanted it to feel authentic (my whole, "you know...Jesus ate dates" thing; which is another story for another time). We all sipped from the same cup; husbands first, then wives, then the children ~ oldest to youngest. My boys, who'd been bugging me all day to taste the wine, scrunched up their noses at the taste and Jack went so far as to jump up from his chair and spit his out in the kitchen sink; the whole time making gagging noises.
We had a talk later that night.
Daniel, much to the surprise of everyone,didn't bat an eye when he took his sip. It was quite an experience for all of us. We shared in a meal of baked chicken taquitos, spanish rice, black beans flavored with cilantro and garlic, fresh guacamole and a pineapple crunch cake for dessert.
Our second guest was a single woman ~ a widow (hello!) whom I'd heard much about but had never met. I was really looking forward to having her over and it turned out to be a lovely and relaxing evening. She happens to be a therapist and when she shared that with us, I found myself hard pressed not to relate to her as if I were in a session with her. It was just Michael and I with her that evening as Daniel fell asleep on the couch and Jack and Evan were visiting with a friend and it was great not to be interrupted every few minutes with "kid" stuff. That night we ate eggplant parmesan, spaghetti with olive oil and garlic, a salad of mesclun greens, warm bread and a fresh peach and marscapone tart. We received a beautiful thank you card from her just this week.
The third family who came over is also known to us, mostly through a connection between Michael and the husband who were both in the same men's bible study together. They have three children pretty close in age to our three younger boys so it got pretty boisterous at times with all six of them running around with light sabers in hand. We talked about a lot of different things and generally got a better feel for one another. There happened to be a couple of things that came up with Michael and I during that evening which led to an hour long conversation between the two of us after they left. Difficult but, in the end, good and eye opening and feeling closer to one another. Dinner that night was bbq chicken, parmesan mashed potatoes, corn on the cob and peach raspberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream.
Our next guest will join us this Sunday and while I'm not going by an alphabetical list with this one, I felt very led to invite this particular woman over. She needs some tlc and I want to cook something really special for her.
All in all, I'm finding that walking this out has been blessing me and my family as much as it's blessing those who walk through our door each week to share a meal with us. I'm learning a lot about myself and about where and how I need to stretch and grow in my walk with God and in how I relate to others. And...fellowship is important. And needed. Which has been expressed during each evening. I think it's a matter of moving toward it; seeking it out or just allowing yourself to receive it.
