Evenings with Friends

One of the things that I have come to appreciate most in life is sitting around with friends over dinner. Friday night we had three friends over; one coworker family and one former coworker. Our dog even had a social evening as former coworker brought little Mr. Tucker along and the two dogs had a delightful evening chasing each other around the yard or the house with hard-earned intervals of little naps between romps. I made the main course and garlic bread and guests brought salad, desert and wine. Conversations ranged over lighthouses (no surprise), stamps, garden plants, seashells, work, arrowheads, and antique furniture. We laughed and talked and told stories of both shared experiences and individual adventures over the years.

At our church we also have informal dinners called "Dinner for Eight at Six." This happens once a month on a Saturday night and includes anyone who cares to sign up. There’s no agenda except getting to know each other. Couples or singles are assigned to host homes and usually about 8 people end up together, hence the name, each bringing a part of the dinner. Tonight we had our second social evening of the weekend, meeting new people and learning about new lives. Participants included gardener, firefighter, veterinarian, computer geek, accountant, bookkeeper, adoption caseworker and former banker, current home school mom. Conversations ranged all through these lifetimes of experiences and we learned the things we held in common and new things about people that formerly we simply familiar faces on Sunday.

What a fun weekend. Good food, good friends, good times. Jesus said once that 'not even when a man has an abundance, does life consist in what he owns.' Our evenings were simple and in no way elegant. None of us owns a lot. But the evenings were also rich in experience and memory, filled with love and laughter and peace. A veritable feast of friendship.

And, as icing on the cake, on Friday night at our house, guess who showed up? Yes, little guy Anna, sitting on the feeder and entertaining friends with his interest in his observers. So very fortunate am I, surrounded by friends, pets and visiting little birds.