Come to the table.

It’s been too long. Sometimes I don’t write because I have nothing to say, other times I don’t write because I have too much to say. My problem this summer was the latter. I have far too much to say and not enough space, time or adequate words to communicate it all.

I think I’ll start by saying God is good. So so good.

This weekend I attended a Young Life regional retreat. The weekend was true to it’s title. I retreated from the chaos of the change, the transition and the fast pace of the world and sat in the woods being in encouraged by the Word and other believers. The weekend came to a close with a simple and beautiful act of remembrance. The bible was opened to Luke 22:17-18 and someone read,

“After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, ‘Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.’”

After the reading of the scripture the retreat speaker invited us to come to the table and remember.

For some reason those words sunk deep. I’m not sure if they struck a cord because the idea of being invited to a table, stirred in me a picture of what I love so much – gathering the people I love around a table to eat and laugh and talk about Jesus. Or if the reality of the table that I was being invited to set in for the first time, but the Lord used those words to so sweetly speak to my heart.

Christ invites us to come to the table. His table. He invites us in our brokenness, our ugliness, our wickedness and our mess to dine at His table. To come to His table and remember. We are called to remember His cross and His blood that was shed so that we may walk free and forgiven. We are called to remember the way he has shown up and never stops showing up in our lives. We are called to remember the banquet table that is waiting for us in eternity and that our time in this dark and scary world is brief and fleeting. Praise Him for that.

Gosh, y'all! He is SO GOOD! 
I want to start each day at His table remembering His goodness. 

The camp speaker also reminded me this weekend that God, in all his might and creativity and glory, has created you and me to be storytellers. We are created to speak His story; His story on the cross, His story in our lives and His story in the lives of those we encounter.

Friends, Jesus moved BIG this summer. I learned new depths of his grace and new heights of his love. I saw him break and restore and heal and save. And oh boy, do I have stories to tell. I can’t wait to find the words to share them with you.