As many of you know we are in the midst of transition. Life looks very different now than it did one year ago. One thing we do a LOT right now is gather around the table for a meal with others.  Since we are in the midst of raising support we are often meeting and sharing about our ministry and the vision the Lord has placed on our hearts, and often this is done around the table or sharing a cup of coffee.

This time has been an incredible blessing!  We always thank people for taking the time to have us over but sometimes I don’t think they know what a blessing it is to us.  When you are invited into someone’s home and share a meal with them you get to experience them and their family in a very authentic way and each one is unique and incredible in their own way. Whether it’s a young family with high-energy kids or a retired couple with wisdom and counsel beyond our years, it’s a blessing.

I think there is a lot to be said about gathering around a table and if I am perfectly honest I think American culture has gotten away from this.  We are all about fast and easy, get it done and move on the next thing.  There is something valuable about being each other’s homes, sharing a meal and letting the conversation carry on. Not to say this doesn’t take effort,it  does. But I do feel it is also about priorities, people have to be a priority. If our schedule or the next thing we need to do is always our priority, when do we have time for people?

A couple of years ago I read Shauna Niequist’s Bread and Wine.  It challenged me in the way I thought about living life together, hospitality,and the gift that God has given us through relationships.  Here is a brief

“In a word that prides people on not having needs, on going longer and faster, on going without, on powering through, the table is a place of safety and rest and humanity, where we are allowed to be as fragile as we feel. If the home is a body, the table is the heart, the beating center, the sustainer of life and health.”

Do  you regularly gather around the table with others? In our world of quick and easy and schedules and programs don’t lose sight of the value of people and the importance of carving out time with others. Invite others to your table.