My belly is full, but my heart is what really might burst. Basin Bridges hosted its second annual ‘Friends Giving Thanks’ Feast, and we had food and friends from 21 different countries. Cora has been looking forward to it all week... “This is when you bring food you’re familiar with and eat food you aren’t familiar with,” she said. Our children ran around the room asking new friends where they were from, finding and coloring countries on a map to see who could find the most. I loved watching kids approach a grandma from Cameroon who sat across from me... some would launch right into their questions, and with a twinkle in her eye, she’d ask, “Won’t you please say hello first? And then tell me your name before asking mine.” Her niece laughed and shook her head, “She’s always teaching African manners.” And thank goodness for that... the world needs longer tables and more good manners and children who grow up believing the world is full of friends waiting to be made, not to mention dishes to be tried
A few months ago, Alea started talking about learning to play the ukulele - “the one with four strings, Mom, not the guitar with eight.” To be honest, I didn’t take her too seriously. A few weeks later she cornered Mac, the guitar player for our worship band at church, and asked him to teach her. He told her he played the guitar and not the uke, but undeterred she suggested he go to the library and get a book or watch some YouTube videos so he could teach her. The following week she asked me several times to text Mac and ask what time they should meet. Mac and I were laughing about her persistence together the next week at church; another guy overheard and offered to give Alea a uke he didn’t want. Needless to say, Alea’s persistence paid off. She got an instrument and Mac watched some YouTube videos and showed her a few cords... and then in a moment that brought a rush of memories back, he played her the song she loved most as a baby... she didn’t speak and responded to very little, but when Mac played ‘My Lighthouse’ she came alive. I’m so grateful she’s seen and known and loved... so grateful we all are.
