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Christmas Tea

Recently I read an incredible book called “The Lifegiving Table” by Sally Clarkson. One of the things she does every year is have a Christmas Tea as a way of celebrating her friendships. She invites her closest friends over every year around Christmas as a way of thanking them. I thought that was a great idea and something I could do. So I made a list of my closest kindred spirits and sent out an invitation. My mother-in-law is amazing and had the girls the whole day of the Tea so I could prepare both my home and the food and then they also spent the night at her house so I could rest the next morning. That was a wonderful gift and I’m so thankful for her because it allowed me to also really enjoy and be refreshed by the evening. And it was so much fun.

We started out mingling and then filled our plates and mugs and sat around our dining room table and chatted all together for almost three hours. I had a few questions lined up to help conversation flow and to help us learn from one another. One question was, “what is a lesson of wisdom you have learned this past year?” And the answers have given me lots to ponder since. One of my friends has a husband who has ALS. She is a constant inspiration to me as she has two young boys and loves Jesus passionately through it all. She said she’s learning that whenever you ask “why?” (As in why me, why is this happening?) the answer is always “to make known the glory of God”. I can’t get that out of my head. But that is so true and I’m so encouraged by her. Everything we do, how we respond and how we act in spite of our circumstances, it’s all about bringing glory to God. Simple yet so profound that I can’t stop thinking about it and realizing how much I need to grow. Another friend said she’s learning to reach out in community with others and she’s being very intentional about that. They just bought a house after living in an apartment for their whole married life (and they have three young kids). She is using her home so intentionally to form community. Just last night their family had the girls and I over for dinner while Wes was working and we left so refreshed and so blessed. One of my dear mentors at the table said she’s looking for ways to reach out to her physical neighbors. Oh yes. That’s a good one. Lord, help me with that. And finally the last gen of wisdom I gleaned from that night was from a sweet college girl who said the highlight of her year was the vacation she took with her family, and we all had a nice long conversation about the importance of vacations. They are expensive but that they are always worth it and so important. I’m starting to scheme up our first annual Alexander family of 5, 2018 vacation and I can’t wait.

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