Two Meals

We were gathered up to the table, leaning into the warmth of the burnt orange tapers and the smiling faces reflected on the china before us, and holding our souls out toward each other like campers stretching their hands before a bonfire.

It was a getting-to-know-each-other time: the old-fashioned act of one family being invited to another family's hearth, with a few lucky friends added in. The hearty meal, the companionable talk, the small gestures of thank you for being with us -coupled with the sincerity of the children who dined among us, all these things lent themselves to the loosening of our life-weary bundles.

Lord knows, it is good to break bread together.

Together, we do what loved ones do when they share a meal.
We bow our heads.
We grasp the silver.
We break the bread, the home-made kind which is ground fresh from the wheat berry. The kind that holds its own under a swab of butter.
We pass the warm dishes piled high from hand to hand.
We eat our fill.

Soon the hearty meal of meat, potatoes, and root vegetables is behind us, already warming our extremities. Coffee, tea, and a plate of cookies round out our repast. The children find themselves on the floors nearby, busy at quiet play in hidden worlds of their own making. The grown-ups find themselves in the family room, knees facing each other, souls expectant for a meeting with a God who loves them.

Together, we do what loved ones do when they share a faith.
We bow our heads.
We grasp His truth.
We break open His Word, the rich Word that is able to feed us forever and ever. The kind that holds its own under the fires of life.
We pass His mercy & grace from hand to hand.
We receive freely and are filled to overflowing.

Lord knows how good this is.
It is fellowship so real, so life-giving, so utterly testifying
of Who He is and what He has done in our lives.

I wish it for all of you.

winter's challenge

 Winter brings its own challenges. For instance, the river is frozen -which makes it difficult to kayak.
Also, the wood stove is very inviting -which makes it high-near impossible to leave its cozy warmth.

But with a little foresight and minimal planning and only around 27 emails back & forth, I pulled off a little trip to the Met museum.Some of my favorite people in the world joined me on this winter adventure. It involved lots of driving, an overnight at an historic brick home, a train ride which involved running up & down 6 flights of stairs while yelling, an errant yet short trip on the wrong subway car, and other fun things.

Here we are at the entrance to the Met museum. As you can see, we weren't the only people in the world with this great idea. Would it be entirely irreverent to compare the momentous jog up these steps to entering Mecca?

 My Saturday Friend brought her purse, which came in handy in the Assyrian court. Unfortunately, she forgot her ceremonial headdress.

 We raided a coffee shop, where we souped up on caffeine and also got the skinny on a good Indian restaurant around the corner.

I left out a lot. Like, all the beautiful things we saw there. But as perusers of this here blog may have noted, I haven't been exactly verbose lately. Call it a phase I'm going through.

Let it be enough to say it was a perfect day & trust me on it.