Serving

I haven't written in so long that when I come to this page (as I have several times) I freeze up and decide I have nothing to say that is worth reading. And that is still true, but I need to write. It is imperative. Well maybe not imperative, but it would feel good to be putting something up here regularly again.

Part of my problem is that so much of what I ponder involves other people and I'm not really willing to put their lives into my blogs.

Church Dinners.
Our church has a lot of potluck dinners. The cooks bring out their best in large quantities and there are overwhelming varieties of desserts. But church dinners are different now than they used to be.

If my memory is correct, people used to be more thoughtful at church dinners. There were always some dishes that looked especially good, desserts that were extra gooey, pies that had the 'made from scratch' look. As people went through the line they were careful to take small portions of those dishes so that as many people as possible could taste them. The dessert pans would empty in an orderly fashion. The first piece taken would be a corner piece and then pieces would be taken so that each row cut would be emptied before the next row was begun.

I think we must have assumed our children would just pick up this etiquette and forgot to tell them the unwritten rules. The best casseroles get emptied very early in the line, and the desserts are even more blatantly abused. People take all the middle pieces first leaving the slightly drier edge pieces for those who come later.

Our church is pretty good at being servant minded. This potluck behavior is the exception rather than the rule. It seems kind of weird, though, to bring home a pan of brownies with the middle gone and the edges remaining. Our servanthood doesn't seem to extend to our table.

Speaking of servanthood, we are entering a new phase of life. Our busyness has gone out of control and things are changing around here. Because I do not have gainful employment (and Chuck puts in pretty long hours on the farm) I have always been the designated driver/cook/errand runner/laundress/cleaner, etc. But now the schedule has made it impossible to be all those things at once. The transition has been amazingly smooth so far. Chuck has been offering to drive sometimes and cook other times. He starts the dishes and picks up more, sees me grab a laundry basket and jumps up to bring in the wash from the line with me, checks to see if I need anything, tells me to take a break and lie down for a while. I feel appreciated.

*******

James moved home today. It has been about six years since we have lived in the same house and I am hopeful and excited and a little scared. Right now he and Chuck just finished carrying wood for the stove and are installing mini blinds in James' bedroom windows. We bought clothes and got a driving learner's permit, and did a lot of other errands today. We will be very busy and we will be careful around each other and we will take things one day at a time.

Comments

SubSub said…
Good to see you posting again and always good to read your thoughts. You guys are in my thoughts all the time.

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