“Last minute plans. A mutual friend is in town. We are planning for a BBQ to start in two hours. Come, join us.”
The text message came in the middle during the middle of my workout. While it was a relaxed day, I did have plans. As I glanced at the time, it was already almost time for the event to start. Should I go? What was I giving up to go? Is there where I wanted to spend my afternoon?
There were no obvious answers to my mind’s questions. I was free to abandon earlier plans or stay with them. I doubt anyone had a view that would help me decide. In any event, the choice was ultimately mine to make.
“Just finished my workout. See you around two-thirty.”
What followed was an afternoon with one group of friends morphing into dinner with some left as others joined. It was a relaxing time filled with conversation, dialogue, and laughter. We covered serious topics as well as frivolous ones. We agree to take action and we also laughed with and at each other. The combination of great food, fantastic conversation, and friendships that grew stronger reminded me that it is the simple things in life that make the difference.
I wake this morning, reflecting on the conversations, reminding myself of actions I committed to follow up on. Remembering is helpful. Life uses it to reminds me of the how critical the foundational elements are in our lives. The process does not stop or end with a meal. I find myself extended the foundation to each corner of my life. In doing so, the differences and unevenness seem to go away and I am left with a simple foundation that makes all the different. I am also left repeating David’s psalm, “God! Let people thank and enjoy you. Let all people thank and enjoy you.” (Psalm 67.5)
Our afternoon conversations had gone late into the night. I left filled, my stomach overflowing. My heart renewed, healed. I was sure I saw Hope’s star as I rode.
