Ladies' Christmas Breakfast 2010: Comfort and Joy

Every year on the first Saturday of December, our church hosts a Ladies' Christmas Breakfast. The sanctuary is transformed into an elegant dining hall, each table uniquely and creatively decorated by about 30 different women. Other women (and sometimes the same women who also decorate tables)bring either a French toast or sausage casserole, while the church provides hot tea, coffee, fruit and pastries, served by the youth group. In addition to the breakfast, there is always beautiful music; this year our girls' choir sang. A fun group game gets everyone laughing. Door prizes keep people anticipating a take-home extra. But the piece de resistance, for me, is always the drama. Sometimes comical, often tear-jerking, but always thought-provoking.

This year was the first in about 10 or 12 that I didn't decorate a table. As much as I love to do tablescapes and bring both friends and newcomers together around food, and give little gifties to each, I took this year off. My health has limited me to what I can lift and carry.

Believe me, I was tempted by the tripod of creativity, fairly new white dishes, and a few calls that table decorators were needed. But I prayed for wisdom and this year it was as if God was saying, "Rest and receive." On days of weakness and pain, I could easily say, "Sure, God! No problem. I'd love to just come in and plop down at someone else's lovely table." On good days, though, when the energy was there in mind and body, I would say, "But Lord, I really get into table decorating and I'm sure I could get help carrying the heavy baskets of dishes and stuff." Each time, He would answer, "Rest and receive."
Each time I had peace. I called it a table sabbatical.

This morning I felt completely spoiled, taking just a French toast casserole and my purse. No boxes, no baskets, no nothin'! I was simply looking forward to the surprise of seeing where I'd be sitting, and with whom. The table was set by a fun gal named Pebbles, and I call it simple elegance. I like a clean, uncluttered look (even though I seldom achieve it after fussing much with napkins, centerpiece, gift and candles).Her table incorporated traditional red, white, green, and gold plaid, and she graced each plate with a Starbucks gift card in a tiny stocking. I love to receive little gifts!

Seated to my left was my good friend, Kathy, who became my dear friend 25 years ago at our old church. Now she and her husband have recently begun attending our church and it's a wonderful feeling of "the good ole days" to see them week after week. To my right was another good friend, Renee', who has been my guest several years because loves our LCB. She says our church really excels at hospitality which starts with our senior pastor's wife. "You can feel the love here," Renee' says. "Other churches could learn a lot from you guys." Also at our table was my friend Donna and her mom; this year Donna's sister passed away, a kind of pain I cannot fathom. And then there were two happy sisters, Lydia and Kate, taking turns holding Kate's beautiful new baby, Isaac.

I didn't take my camera; debated it in the driveway, but Sarah (at the wheel) convinced me that plenty of other people would take pictures. And she was right.

For your viewing pleasure, and mine, see the photos over at Briana's blog. Briana was also an actor in the moving drama which featured five women, each decorating a table, each trying to cover with a smile some of the sadness, grief, fear, anger, longing, and other emotions that can easily dominate one's thoughts at Christmas. Each character was dealing with her own God-ordained circumstances that tempted her away from experiencing comfort and joy. A cancer diagnosis causing fear.Unwanted singleness and desire for a family. Painful widowhood and loneliness. Sudden unemployment and depression. Exhausting juggling of work and family, with waning desire for God or church. I don't think there was a woman in the audience who couldn't relate to one or more of these circumstances. The hope--the comfort and joy--came from replete scriptures spoken to each woman, by our own "voice of God," a man named Randy. (I don't know if any other church on the planet has that claim to fame! If you don't know what God's voice sounds like, come to our church. The guy can also play a mean keyboard.)

Again, if you want pictures, jump over to Pleasant Places and see our dining extravaganza. It truly is one of the highlights of my Christmas season.