The Table: September 2023
Welcome to The Table! I'm so glad you're here.
What is The Table? It's this community right here, one that we've been growing together over time and distance. Some of you have been here since before I got married or when I lived in Liberia. Some of you are newer; maybe we became friends on social media or you purchased a copy of my book. One thing is for certain, though: you belong here. There is space for you to bring your whole self to this table, space for you to dream and doubt and wonder. The welcome of God is wild and wide, and mine is, too. There's never not enough room. I'll keep pulling up another chair, setting more places, inviting one and all to this place where we can find glory in the midst of our everyday living.
Thank you for being here. xo
I don’t know about you, but I really don’t do well with change.
I know, I know; I wrote a whole section in my book about how all of life is seasons, and we’re constantly caught up in either the ebb or flow. But truthfully, I’m a creature of habit — always have been. I like my regular routines, my plans, my orderly little way of organizing my days into a life. Changes, even if they’re small ones, always have a way of throwing me off-balance. It alters my self-instilled sense of security, and the older I get, I wonder if that might actually be the whole point. Maybe my desire to be in control of my life doesn’t actually always know what’s best for me. Maybe there are ancient, divine rhythms that I should be paying more attention to.
We’re living in a time of furiously rapid change. Society is changing; some might say it’s for the worse, some for the better. The political landscape of our country is changing. Our collective sense of what is just and what is true is changing. Our values are changing and, with them, our beliefs. Institutions that we’ve always assumed would just stay the way they are are changing. The way we, as a culture, define things like community and family and even identity is changing. The very earth we call home is, itself, changing.
And that says nothing of the personal, individual changes we hold inside ourselves. How we’re getting older, and our bodies just aren’t the same as they used to be. How our goals and priorities are forced to shift as we grapple with inflated living costs. How the dreams we’ve held tightly in our hands over the years still haven’t come true, and so we’re learning how to let them go, how to ask the question, “So what, instead?”
Things change, and I don’t know how to stop it, but I do know this: there is a particular kind of gift that comes with the realization that Something far greater than ourselves is holding this all together. And there is deep peace in letting go what was so that you may make space for something beautiful and unexpected and oh-so-brand-new.
We don’t get the resurrection unless something first dies.
Of course, none of this make facing the changes head-on any easier. So if you’ll allow me, I’d like to leave you with an offering — this prayerful song a friend sent to me in the early days of the pandemic, when we all were afraid and unsure and forced to make everything up as we go. As Abigail sings, if nothing else, may your heart find peace in the knowledge you are never alone, in the work and in the hurt. Keep going, friends; I’m cheering you on.
xo,
It has been far, far too long since we last gathered here around The Table, which means you may have missed out on some of my newer posts like:
Some reflections after visiting the Mount of Beatitudes during my time in Israel and Palestine
A sermon that was partly about Jacob & Esau, and partly about humanity’s selfish inclination to take things that don’t really belong to us
A deeply personal post (please be gentle) about my current struggle with secondary infertility
I also share a lot of writing over on my Instagram page, which I currently have set to private (which means you will need to request to follow me; you can do so here!)
If you've been around for a while, you know that food and the table are central to my theology. They represent the wide welcome of Christ to feed on God's feast of goodness, mercy, and love. They're also the great equalizer; no matter what divides us, we all come to the table as equals, as those who hunger and desire to be filled.
Each month I share a favorite recipe so you, too, can taste and see the welcome of God is for you. This summer, we ate a lot of this delicious BLT Pasta Salad with creamy jalepeno ranch dressing. A few tips: the chives don’t add much to the dressing, so I always skip them, and don’t forget to seed the jalepenos — I learned that the hard way!
As always, I’m so grateful for your support and love having this opportunity to share good stuff for the soul to your inbox. It’s such a gift to have you at The Table with me, and I adore this community we are building together!