Family Dinner

Last summer, my boy Drew and his girlfriend (now fiancee) Emily got me hooked up with some pretty cool people. Every Monday night, some awesome girls invited everyone they knew to their home for a potluck they referred to as "Family Dinner." The people that put this weekly event together and the regular attendees have never known how much I love the opportunity to spend time with them.

The main purpose of Family Dinner is to provide a community for people. Inside of that community, everyone is welcome to bring a dish or beverage of their choice, along with all the great things going on in their life and all the garbage they have to deal with. At a time when I was new in San Diego, going through tough transitions and in desperate need of community, everyone at Family Dinner welcomed me and made me feel wanted and loved. Although there were a couple of strong personalities that were completely too forward and intrusive at times, they were always ready to welcome me, accept my loud mouth and sense of humor and have a lot of fun. All through last fall, I could not miss family dinner when I was in town for it. At one point, when I was having a hard time over an extended period, I remember telling Drew that a particular trip to Family Dinner was the first time I had been able to forget about the things that were weighing on me and just enjoy myself in several weeks.

The community that has been created at Family Dinner is a marvelous manifestation of God's love. The table is full of smiles, jokes and encouragement and anyone is welcome to a seat. After eating, everyone is encouraged to share a little bit about themselves and talk about their highs and lows from the preceding week. Although there is no evangelistic pressure, we share about God and pray over every meal. Following many of our prayers over the meals we ate, we also recited the Lord's Prayer. The simple act of this recital ignited in me a love of the Lord's Prayer that I had not previously possessed.

I cannot say enough about Family Dinner and what it has meant to me during my time in San Diego. To everyone that's ever been a part of it, Thank you.