just for a moment...

Just for a moment...she was a normal woman, hanging out with friends...eating homemade chicken noodle soup and chicken curry salad on a roll. Just for a moment she engaged in conversations about living, eating, kids... Just for a moment, her stomach was satisfied and her story was heard. For a moment, she was warm. For a moment, she mattered.

We threw down a different type of love feast last week. It was a ladies luncheon. There was only five of us. A homeschool mom. A hair salon owner. A momma with three adopted children from Africa (with foil in her hair...she took a break to eat while the color was setting up!). A neighbor and her daughter. A single mom who is head of the local PTA. And a woman who is a victim of the sex trafficing industry. We set the table, like we would in our own home. We used the china and brewed the coffee. D brought homemade chicken noodle soup and I made homemade apple caramel cake. We sat together. We talked. We laughed and we cried. We knew the Holy Spirit had joined us.
I can't even begin to explain what unfolded. To the outsider looking in, it was just another ladies luncheon. For us, we felt a touch from our heavenly Father. It was a moment. A moment of knowing He had laid this feast out for the five of us. A moment where we knew we mattered.

Love Feast at Ridge

I'm writing this after having gotten back from our second Love Feast at Ridge. Tonight was a bit different than the first. The kids greeted us and waited patiently for the food to be finished. While it was cooking, about 20 of us headed out with shovels, rakes, brooms and trash bags. We quietly hit the perimeter of the lot, cleaning up the heaps of cups, broken decks, empty spray paint cans and plastic bottles. Looking at it, I thought we'd never make a dent. But, within minutes a number of the skaters asked if they could help. We filled 14 contractor bags.

Some of the kids lingered this time. They shared their stories and told us about their art. At one point tonight I thought..."have you ever had a moment, the moment, when you know you are exactly where you are meant to be?" Tonight was one of those moments for me. It was a love feast. We met these guys at their table...in their world. We served and ate with them. We listened and we shared. We left knowing, this is just the beginning.