Feeling 22

I had my dream party in honor of my 22nd birthday. I invited 22 (not planned) of my closest friends, cooked really good food, and bought tons of craft beer to have a beautiful party outside. I held the party outside of my house and my neighbors were so kind as to hang lights in the trees. I made two types of soups - chicken white chili and corn chowder - sweet potato fries with bread, and various types of vegetables. My friends, unknowing to me, prepared toasts, making me feel extremely loved and honored as each one went around the table and relived precious memories. Everything on the table, from the floral arrangements to the name place cards, was handmade. It was truly one of the best evenings of my life.

The night reminded me of a quote from theologian Toby J. Sumpter
"We live in the world He is telling. So we talk, we preach, we argue, we baptize, we sing, we laugh and drink and sleep and do it all again. And somehow, somehow God is here with us, in us, working through us, through the Word, through our feeble words, through our prayers, through water, broken bread, and shared wine, through dinner tables, candles, pies, through it all, and He draws us on. God is always free to suspend His normal rules. He can part the sea; He can speak through donkeys. But usually He uses His ordinary magic. He uses the magic of well reasoned arguments, the magic of friendship, the magic of hospitality. We can't reduce any of these things to a formula, to an exhaustive list of ingredients, but we don't need to and we don't need to throw up our hands in despair or give up arguing or preaching or sharing or loving.

This is because He is the One persuading all of us. He is the One who plays and sings and calls us home, and we come."