if you really want to be close to me, you have to share a meal with me.
i don't mean eat off my plate but talk to me for a few hours while eating something
and definitely not rushing off as soon as you are finished.
there is to be said about the importance of blending quality time and breaking bread.
which, to me, says "i value you and you value me."
life is more special that way.
Team Luminous has shared many meals together
and because the Lord specifically created me as I am,
i remember these events most vividly as compared to almost everything else.
my absolute favorite meal thus far was
pizza night at Pastor Ivan’s house with Team Reckless Pursuit.
Fernando did me a huge favor and got me out of sanding and sealing wood on the mission school a couple hours early so he, Katie and i walked down the street start making dinner at Ivan and Nancy's. Reckless Pursuit had a recipe and all the ingredients. and we definitely had all the manpower. with at least 12 of us volunteers in the kitchen, it was mayhem! i chopped green onions, way too many regular onions, i cubed more American ham than ever in my life. couldn't keep up with Ivan though, he's kind of an iron chef. i never thought knowing how to convert milliliters to ounces would come in handy outside of a veterinary hospital. we used our Nalgenes to measure water and then flour and immediately regretted it. ask Katrina about it. we calculated 11 pounds of flour and when that looked ridiculous, we only used about ¾ of it. we all got a lesson on using this weird block of yeast because Nancy bakes bread to sell every morning in the family store. and Coca Cola in pizza sauce may not be the way Italians like it, but when in Ecuador, it's all good!
what a relief to, after all that, simply sit and enjoy the results of our hard work.
it was like I just tasted pizza for the first time!
the conversations were off the wall all throughout dinner.
it was so loud I could barely hear the people around me.
Fernando kept teasing us and telling half truths in Spanish that took me so long to translate in my head. everyone had truly bizarre stories to share about themselves.
i know that i saw facets of people that might normally not surface. and that is what i want to see more of.
thank You for Your family,
that is now
and has always been,
my family.
i am excited
because one day,
a meal like this will last forever.
in Jesus' name,
AMEN
