Thanks Muffin

We had a delightful day yesterday. Our good friends from Texas stopped by to spend a few hours. They're here to take care of some life change matters with estate issues, final accounting, transfer of deeds. All those difficult grown-up words...

When we knew they were actually on their way, I called to see if they had a preference --- shall we relax at home or is there somewhere you'd like to go eat that you've missed horribly since you made the move out to the Big Country? There was not really more than a polite pause --- "LET'S GO OUT!" Ah yes. I "order well." Just jokin', I know they would eat my cooking if I made them...

Anyway.... we went to Mimi's which we all enjoy. DJ says it's a bit of an old people's place, but we like it, so maybe we're old now. Ordering was really comical. Somehow DJ thought our friend Gigi had called the waitress "Muffin" as he was studying the menu when she was ordering and she was actually just delighted they had the seasonal lemon cheesecake muffin as an option. The waitress was a very sharp young lady named "Blythe." It seems to me that young ladies named Blythe should be studying in the UCLA library, not taking your order for low-fat blueberry or carrot spice, but we had a lot of fun with her. JJ was along. He was not calling her "Muffin." Let's just make that clear.

Obviously, there were five of us --- at a table designed for four. If you've ever been to Mimi's, you know that they give you a five inch round plate for each pat of butter. The table was crowded. And three of the five of us are left-handed. You're getting the picture. The tight squeeze and stacks of plates only contributed to our constant laughter. I would not allow one of us to order liver. That is just not right. Liver is something your mother makes you eat when you look pale. It should not be ordered for a special treat.

To conclude, we requested dessert, then changed our minds because we decided on the dessert sampler. (What a lovely option!) So Gigi's husband went off to find Blythe in the kitchen. You can imagine the scene. The ordering continued as they wanted muffins-to-go for their drive back to Northland and to share with family for breakfast today.

All in all, it was just so wonderful to spend time with old friends. No, not friends who are old (despite that we went to Mimi's) but friends we've known ever since. We chatted for hours back at the house. Life is bringing interesting changes for all of us; our roads have twisted here and there and may take different directions in the future. And we know God knows what is ahead for each of us.

Now this is not a serious theological statement (please don't send letters to George Wood about me) but I've often thought that when Christ encouraged us to "Do this in remembrance of Me" he could just as easily have meant, "Spend time with each other. Laugh. Talk about Me. Encourage. Love." Finding strength in the midst of difficult grown-up matters. Yes, that is quite similar to communion.