Dinners

Well it's been a month since my last post and I guess i've gone back to slackin.. I seem to get into these love hate relationships with my computer.. it's really awful and taxing.. but I must persist because you my avid readers need something to read..
so here goes.
Dinners. I love to cook it turns out and i'm not too shabby.. I'll be the first to admit that i definitely cook with a casual attitude and never really to impress-- that's what my roomie Susie does.. when she makes a meal she makes a meal. i'm more of the down home cooking i just wanna feed whoever is around and socialize... but i've also come to the realization that i'm a bit of a martha when I have company. I find that I make myself busy trying to make everyone comfortable...definitely just need to be more relaxed when the guests arrive and if it's not done.... oh well.
So all that to say I've loved having people over to the casa.... Ok here's the deal. I've always wanted to have a home to open to anyone where they can feel comfy and there can be some real fellowship with my brothers and sisters and also building of relationship with my unbelieving friends..
These past few weeks i've been blessed to do both.
A few weeks ago I was able to entreat a group of some of my favorite bros and sis.( Amy, Armando, Gabe, Wess and Ismael) My lovely roomies Suz and Elisabeth were gracious enough to do the cooking and I'm pretty sure everyone enjoyed the chili verde, sopapias and molten lava cake. will upload pics at end of post. I love to sit with people i love and just get down and talk and share what God is doing in our lives. Although I gather the people I must admit.. i am always the most blessed by the time because i realize how marvelous my God is that he has given me so much... He is rich in mercy and grace and how blind am i that I do not relish in this more often.
A week or two after that new friends and old friends came for another visit. Kevin and the Heathers were our lovely guests and the guinea pigs of sadly my cooking.. sweet and sour pork con arroz. I'm so Chinese I know typical me... anyways again I'm amazed by God and who he has brought into our lives and the desire of my brothers and sisters to serve in the missions field.
Then we have an impromptu invite for my co-worker Diane who came to help finish Susie's lasagna... it's been a week there's still a big wedge in the kitchen.. i tell you she is training to have a big family. I've been wanting to have Diane over b/c she has been on my heart and i've been trying to share with her the gospel. She is very receptive although a universalist taking parts of religions and piecing together her own version. She definitely has read some of the bible and knows some scripture and even the gospel but there's this disconnect or really accepting the Gospel for what it is... Christ's death for our loathesome sins and his risen body as our king in heaven. So as we are talking about work, life etc.. she begins to talk about God and the bible and heaven and well 3 hours later... I'm left very encouraged b/c I truly felt the Lord pressing upon my heart to share with her and to see how she reacted with understanding. One thing that she said reassures that God is constantly working his plan and that I am just his vessel.. Diane said that she enjoyed talking about religion and God and after we talk she finds herself thinking about what I've said and what she previously thought and there are times when she admits to herself that what i've shared with her is the truth.... WOW that is 150% God right there. He is tugging at her heart. Lord use me more. More dinners.

So now most recently this past Monday we had a few people over from Carson Bible to have our supposedly last Supper Six. Now I'm the youngin in this group. The others are wiser older folk who I've come to love and have been blessed to get to know. So here we are Las tres amigas, our dear brother Gabe( usual Monday prayer buddy) and Pete and Peggy, Marie, Babs and Brenda and my adorable Mom sit in our makeshift dining er/ living room space.. I can't help but be in awe of a God who brings this kind of a family together. Our common bond.. our faith in Christ. Amen.. So here's the prayer point of this long novel blog. As we are sharing various facts about our walks, things we should pray for, what gifts we have, what we would do if we only had one year left before we die... well the question comes to my mother and first of all if yall don't know my mother... let me preface with Mom is not a very open and emotional person. She is quiet, observant and at times timid.. My mom spoke and then God opened her heart to share. She said she would like to be happy because she was lonely. As she's speaking she begin to cry and leaves the room temporarily. I follow her and try to console my mother but my heart is breaking too.
I remind her that happiness is a temporal state and that she has joy true joy in knowing that Christ died for her sins. She acknowledges this but still she is depressed because of the marriage she is in. From her perspective I cannot understand this not having been married ever... but as someone who had previously lived in the household where she feels this I do have an inkling of the sadness she is continuing to experience.
Though my mom has been a believer for a few years now, she still struggles with an unbelieving husband who's words cut deep and who's life is lived for the temporal treasures of this world. And this is hard but God still asks us to submit. Submit and show the transformed life that you may win your husband to Christ through your love and respect. Please pray for my mother that she would be encouraged by the older ladies who as she and I were in my kitchen talking were also discussing how to come along side Mom and encourage her. Pray that she realizes that she is never alone when she has Christ and the family he blessed her with b/c of her faith.
Pray also that I would have wisdom and show compassion and help my mother by spending more time with her.

Well that's it folks Dinners -- Just a Meal around a table and the hearts of those willing to hear. Praise God for his word -- Food for the Soul