An Abundant Table
Recently, while walking the suburban mall near my childhood home, I ran into an old friend. We know each other from past ministry careers, meeting almost 15 years ago, our friendship rich with shared conference speaking memories. It had been several years since we had last seen each other, so as we stood in the mall catching up, we were shocked to discover that—wait for it—we currently live across the street from each other in the city.
Like, I gave him my address and he said, me too. But on the other side of the street. Shock. Chicago is literally the smallest city that I've ever lived in.
When we got over our shock, I naturally said—you + your wife must come over for dinner. We exchanged numbers and on our way we went.
Listen, a dinner invite is sacred to me, and I've learned over the years to only extend one if I really genuinely mean it. And I did. But then life got stressful and overwhelming, and I moved into a scared scarcity posture. Do you know this?
When I'm scared or overwhelmed, I hoard and hold tightly to my things/time/food/money out of fear that there won't be enough down the road. Less sharing, less guests, smaller tables.
But the anecdote, for me, to overcoming scarcity is to practice abundance by creating a wider + abundant table, even if that's not how I'm feeling. It's a practice. When I invite friends to dinner, I see with my own eyes that there's always enough, and the rich conversation and connection fights away my fears.
So, last week, I followed up and sent the text, confirming dinner with my old friend + his new wife, who just so happen to live across the street from us at a time when I need to practice a wider + more abundant table. Lucky us!
Widen Your Table This Week:
What could practicing abundance in a time of stress look like for you? Possibly buying an extra bag of groceries to share, or paying for a friend's coffee, or even letting someone know that you feel stressed and could really use a homemade meal. Don't let scarcity lead you to a smaller table. Invite abundance to find it's way to your heart as you sit at an ever widening table.