Life More Abundant

Painting of Lori following our trip to Uganda

With an unexpected phone call and a home visit, I’ve witnessed in awe God bringing to fruition a dream He birthed in the heart of my daughter more than a year ago in Uganda.  There she fell in love with children in a fresh and living way.   There she began to entertain becoming a foster parent.  And now after training and months and months of waiting, Lori shares her well-prepared table with a little boy God rescued and brought to her doorstep.  This week began like no other as she packed a school lunch, bought school supplies, and decorated a bedroom with love, communicating sensitivity to a young man’s preferences, valuing him in partnership with God. 

One of many tables Lori has spread for guests

Just a couple of weeks ago she filled vases with flowers, warmed the room with fragrant candles and glowing hearth, and spread out a feast of appetizers and dessert for close friends.  She did this in part because she enjoys entertaining but also to provide opportunity for a friend to market the silver jewelry she sells.  For a number of years God has cultivated the gift of hospitality in Lori.  From dinner parties, to brunches, to costume parties, to showers, she has opened her home to many a friend and family member in order to nourish them gourmet style.  Not only does she express her creativity in the kitchen, but in the unique combination of ambience and playfully light conversation over tantalizing meals.  She enjoys variety and introducing people to new foods found in all cultures, all served pretty as a picture in her own characteristic style.  All this aside, I believe there has been a longing stirring in her heart to sit across the table from a child and pour in life – her life and the life of God in her, day in and day out.

Fall Decorations at Lori's

My Sweet Daughter Lori and I

To better acquaint you the reader with my daughter, she has never been able to walk past a stray animal.  Early on in life she hoped to be a veterinarian, but due to allergies elected a different career path.  Nonetheless, her current menagerie includes two rescued pups: Ben (short for Benjamin Franklin) and Lexie (short for Alexander Graham Bell), a cat with dermatitis named Einstein, a widowed canary named Bonnie, and a horse named Molly.  A champion for justice, she opted to pursue a law degree long before most students know what on earth they want to do in life.  Undeterred from dreaming big she hoped one day to be the first female president of the United States.  Her life in brief review amazes me as I see things “coming together” like the elements of a Renaissance mural.  I begin to see and appreciate with wonder the layering of fine details by the Master.  Her preferences, desires, bents, and strengths mingled with a zeal and gift for sharing life around the table with those she loves have congealed in Lori in this season of becoming a foster Mom.  Years of preparation have equipped her for the role and stoked in her a fire that burns to live for the good of those less fortunate that they too might live blessed.

Lori and the Ugandan Child Who Won Her Heart

Merriam Webster defines hospitable as follows: 

“1a : given to generous and cordial reception of guests b : promising or suggesting

  generous and cordial welcome c : offering a pleasant or sustaining environment

2: readily receptive : open…”

This describes the evolution I’ve witnessed in my daughter from loving to lavishly entertain guests, to opening her heart to offer a pleasant sustaining environment, particularly to one who might not otherwise experience consistent sustenance in all its forms.  To me this epitomizes a table well prepared by one eager to sacrifice and invest wisely, one who has chosen to practice true religion (spoken of in James 1).  A table designed not to impress or purely to meet a personal need for fellowship, rather to foster an exchange of love, hope, laughter, security.  A table promoting and empowering life to the fullest!!

Lori with Lexie and Ben

As this year draws to a close, I am extremely thankful that my daughter Lori has been granted her heart’s desire and that her life will never be the same for the decision she has made to know, love, and express God’s favor to a very special young man.  I pray he is filled out of the overflow of her heart, and blessed to be set in our family to be unconditionally loved and prized. 

Lori and nephew, Baby Jax

Prepared Along With Lori to Love,

Grammy

Investing Round the Table

Preparing a table is more about setting the stage for cultivating relationships than place settings and interesting tablescapes.  A prepared table invokes a mood, serves as the background for fond memories, and showcases beauty and creativity, contributing to a greater appreciation of seasonal changes.  Celebrations demand a prepared table where favorite dishes grace familiar plates, and loved ones gather to express love to the one celebrated and to each other.  The act of preparing together time-honored recipes establishes traditions – providing structure and a healthy framework for family life.   By inviting younger ones to bring their stool and don their apron, or entrusting them with the all important task of laying out the utensils, they are made to feel valued and given a sense of belonging.

Pausing at the table often to take it all in, to digest both what is served and more importantly what is said, allows for testimonies of God’s goodness to pass between generations.  Just as God prepared a table land for His sheep in dire need of a Good Shepherd, we have opportunity to prepare a safe and nurturing environment in the midst of a dangerous and destructive culture.  God goes before us and addresses the dangers, the poisonous plants, the snares, wild animals, steep cliffs, polluted watering holes, and makes provision.  Not only does He prepare the table land, but He accompanies His sheep, making Himself present and available to feed, protect, and rest His loved ones.  May we as under-shepherds, parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, elder siblings do likewise, and know the deep joy of investing at table!!

I spent last weekend assisting my multi-talented daughter, Charlcie, with decorating her home for fall.  With a few sprigs of fall foliage, a fairy tale pumpkin, and pictures of Baby Jax, we went to work transforming her living and dining room.  Old bottles repurposed as vases stood tall in their appointed places.  A banner swagged across the kitchen window celebrated our newest family member, Baby Jax, both in pictures and captions.  (Visit Storehouse Crafts at http://storehousecrafts.blogspot.com/2011/10/instagram-polaroid-banner.html for the tutorial for making a polaroid banner). 

We carried the theme out into the entryway to warmly welcome all who visit her home.  From the guest room closet we pulled out pillows no longer in everyday use and mixed them in for a pop of fall color.  To top off our experience of ushering in fall, we went out for a wonderful fall breakfast, to the pumpkin patch for pictures, and on Sunday to the park for a walk along the river and sugar cookie decorating (see previous post).  What a joy to prepare a table with my daughter for her family!!!

Please share in the comments section how you prepare your home for fall and usher in a spirit of thanksgiving long before the turkey is purchased.

And for a real treat, visit Charlcie's website,  http://www.facebook.com/#!/AndersonEythPhotography  to enjoy more of her photography.  Have a wonderful week preparing tables and dining in the presence of the Lord!!

Charlcie and Baby Jax in the Pumpkin Patch

Filled with His Goodness,

Terry

For more inspirational reading visit http://www.bloggerspirit.blogspot.com/

A Table Prepared Is Born

While driving to church, sugar cookies warm and fragrant on the seat beside me, I imagined sitting across from my children and grandchild icing them.  Preparing tables on grassy knoll or in dining room candlelit has long brought me pleasure.  No surprise therefore that God inspired the creation of this blog built around our shared passion for fostering communion.   At His table, I’ve come to appreciate His delight in creatively preparing feast after feast for His loved ones in the very presence of their enemies.  I pray for a deeper revelation of His joy as I abide in Him, preparing tables for purposes of building relationships and edifying those in OUR company.