love song
03.23.2012 
Today I did something sneaky. I bought Joshua the Hunger Games book 1. It sits on his bed now waiting to captivate him. He’s been asking me for weeks now if he could read it. I need to read it first, I always said. This morning he wistfully told me that he had wanted to read it before his cousin Dan’s birthday. Dan’s plan is to go see the movie for his birthday. Newsflash. Today is Dan’s birthday.
He’ll get this gift when he gets home. I won’t be here but later he’ll hug me big and say he loves me. He will forgive me for not getting it sooner. We’ll read it together and talk through all the characters and plot twists and turns.
I wait in anticipation for Joshua to get this gift. I’m probably more excited than he will be.
Today I’ve been hearing God’s love song to me. I’ve been noticing all the ways he spells out his love in the magenta blooms falling like so much snow in my neighborhood. The scent of wisteria wafts in through the windows and reminds me that winter’s reign is done for now.
Tonight we will gather with seven other couples as we did fifteen years ago around this time. We dreamed together back then of a church. We desired to go deep in our faith and plant and give our lives together. As it happens with a mustard seed, God took our tiny dividend and blew it up. Fellowship Bible Church exceeds any of our dreams.
As I prepared the sacred dip (recipe below), I raised one hand in worship. Who but You, God? Who but you? I thought of myself at 30 years old. I still worked hard at my faith. I hadn’t learned yet about resting. About how Jesus sat down when He got to Heaven and it was ok if I did too.
When I think of all the places we’ve been, I stand slack-jawed at the grace of God. Through victorious and joy-filled days and through the pits of hellish nightmares, God has walked with us. He’s never left us. All along, He’s doled out gifts.
He waits for me to find these gifts. Gifts He’s been anticipating me opening. And I hear the song of His love for me.
gigi
Sacred Fellowship Dip
1 block of cream cheese
1 can of black beans, drained, rinsed and dried
1 can of rotel, drained
lots of cheddar cheese
Pre-heat to 400 degrees. Spread the cream cheese into an oven-proof dish. Top with the drained, rinsed and dried black beans (this is the secret). Spread the rotel out on top of the beans. Add lots and lots of cheese on top. Bake until the cheese bubbles.
This recipe is originally from Mary Pierce. We ate this dip at virtually every gathering for the first 3 years of Fellowship Bible Church. It's the secret of the church.
Joshua, The Bride of Christ, grace, gratitude
Reader Comments (7)
Gigi,
How beautiful this writing is. And I know God rejoices in you finding His gifts and in your rest and receiving so much from Him. Thank you.
Love
Gail
Great post, Gigi. We had a blast last night and wondered, "Why don't we do this more often?!"
Maybe it was because I knew we'd be getting together, but last Sunday during church, I took time to look around at the many faces. This wasn't done in a "hey, look what WE did!" attitude but was one of reflection where I asked myself: was it worth it.
My answer? Like yours, despite the ups and downs, the tears the laughs, the hurts and the joys, without a doubt...without a moments hesitation...
We'd do it ALL over again. ABSOLUTELY!
I know this is not very spiritual, but I got stuck on Rotel! (I had to look it up--not in my concordance)...I guess they didn't make it this far south. :( talk about a secret!!
miss you!
Seeing the Sacred Fellowship Dip last night took me right back to Sunday nights at the People's Church! Bob McKinney might say our first Sacred Community Group Dip was the block of cream cheese w/salsa on top--I had to scale back from 5 ingredients to 2 as the years went on. Thanks for the memory and your gift of writing. And thanks to the Shadrachs for getting us together.
thanks again for another great writing of yours! i see a book in progress :)
i am thankful for our friendship & for you & Matt welcoming us to Nashville the first night & first week of our journey. you are an important part of our journey in FBC! thanks for putting your thoughts on "paper" in your blog. God is so good!
Marilyn, no Rotel!!! Well, I never! Give me your snail mail address and I'll mail you a case. Your life will never be the same!
And by the way, Rotel is totally spiritual. :-0
Well, I wish I had been able to tell you that I never had any intention of taking a bunch of 11 year olds to see a PG -13 movie...but then we wouldn't have such a cool story here! Gi, your writing is so beautiful and I agree with Lisa--a book in progree indeed!