Extravagance

I just feasted on the most extravagant meal. From the most perfectly seasoned and grilled steak and shrimp to fresh corn shaved off the cob. There were juicy tomatoes with mozzarella and fresh basil, a huge pan of baked macaroni and cheese, bread with basil butter, and a delicious blueberry cobbler (reminiscent of my grandmother's) to finish off the feast. It is some of the best food I have tasted in months, perhaps the best meal I have eaten all year! I sat at the table and just smiled and savored. I didn't really worry with my kids goofing off at the dinner table because I was so absorbed in the display of love in front of me, love in the delightfulness of each morsel, love in the sheer extravagance of the number of dishes brought and the enormous quantities of each. I felt so indulged in, so delighted in, so loved.

I guess I'm just so in awe because of the way it all happened. A person (unaware of my last blog entry in which I wished for God to show up for me as that big black woman and cook me a meal) came up to me and just said, I want to cook for you this week. Out of nowhere. Just like that. Tears filled my eyes. Really? Okay. And then more tears. I told her my story from the shack and how I'd been feeling and she just laughed. This sweet, petite little white lady told me about her family teasing her that she was really a big black woman deep down in her soul. Coincidental? I think not. It gives me chills to think that God really cares about the tiniest detail of my life. That he knows how much I have been hurting, how crazy things are in our life right now, how many uncertainties, and how I just longed to be loved in a very tangible way. So he goes and whispers into this lovely woman's heart and she acted on it. And there it is. Love made visible. Love revealing itself in relationship, in people caring for one another and reaching out to one another. Love made visible in the extravagance of a feast.