House Gatherings...

I think I have already mentioned our Wednesday night house gatherings.  I love them.  Each Wednesday night we have anywhere for 5-25 people show up at our house from our neighborhood.  It's a time for neighbors to get to know each other and come together to share a meal.  This past week we had a full house.  Our house is not so big.  The three rooms of living space that we have max out pretty quickly.  We also aren't very clean people so Ava and Jay's room/playroom was a disaster!  There was an extra mattress on the floor, toys everywhere, and about 8 kids.  But, the beautiful part is that they didn't care...no one cared about the lack of space or mess of dishes or that we ran out of dishes and started using kids plates.  We were all just there...present...a part of the conversation.  I loved watching our older neighbors interact and encourage the teenagers.  I laughed listening to Shaqwanda (who I met during my first month in Atlanta during Mission Year) "jones" with Angleo, our friend that often stops by to chat, grab a snack, and keep an eye on things for us.  I loved hearing Ms. Betty passionately share from her heart of her experiences with faith and church and how God is so personal and real to her.  I REALLY loved that Karim made us all buffalo chicken tenders!  They were incredible.  I love that Annia and I get to cook together every Wednesday night.  I share these things to remember them.  Many times I have been discouraged that we bought our house right before the housing market crashed.  I have wanted more space to be able to host gatherings of people.  I have wanted more space for people to be able to have a place to stay if they needed it.  This week has been a good reminder to me that this space that we do have, can still be used.  We prayed the first night that we moved into this house that we would see it not as "our" house, but as an open place where people could gather.  I guess that's still my prayer.