Blessed Fellowship

I've had some great times of fellowship in the past week. Here's a couple snippets:

1. Last Friday night (1/4), I had a potluck dinner with two friends from church, Margaret and Bethany. Margaret's retired and Bethany is in grad school. I made Sweet Potato Black Bean burritos, Margaret had a delicious Italian salad with olives and tomatoes, and Bethany made a delicious chocolate pudding cake. We just had the most wonderful time talking together all about life and our Christmas vacations and families. I love hanging out with people of all different ages.

2. The first Tuesday of every month is a lunch with Partners friends that we call FIRED, Food is Really Ethnically Delicious. We moved the lunch to the second Tuesday this month because of New Year's Day, and we had the most wonderful experience. We were going to eat Thai food, but the restaurant was closed, so we ended up eating at an Ethiopian restaurant in a gas station/convenience store that's just opened about a mile from work. The couple that runs the restaurant came from Ethiopia 10 years ago to give their children a chance to get an education. It was our first truly ethnic meal for FIRED. We didn't order, though there was a menu. Rather, the owner brought us each a dish she made, a sampling from the menu. Before we ate, she walked around to each person with a special bowl and pitcher. She poured a warm stream of water over our hands while we scrubbed and then we dried off with a towel. We did this because you eat Ethiopian food with your hands by wrapping pieces of Injera flatbread around the meat and veggies. The food was delicious and the owner also roasted coffee beans and made us strong Ethiopian coffee. I even tried a bit just for the experience. It was fun!

3. On Tuesday, despite rather treacherous road conditions, five women met together at one woman's house for our montly Colbert Women Connecting With Women event. Because there were only five of us, each of us had a longer time to share than normal. We shared all about our Christmas breaks and the emotions that accompanied our vacations. It's always so good to share in these circumstances because several of us were experiencing similar emotions, especially reflecting on how family dynamics change as children age, move out of the house, and get married or have kids. Did anyone experience a different Christmas with these kinds of changes? What was it like?

4. On Thursday, my friend Kari who is visiting for the week, my housemates Pam and Heidi, and I had Blueberry Yogurt Multigrain Pancakes for dinner with grapefruit, scrambled eggs, and kale/craisin/goat cheese salad. It was so fun! I love breakfast for dinner. After dinner, we had an awesome dance party! Yay for Owl City and One Direction! :)

5. Yesterday morning, my housemate Heidi and I had book club with our former professor Laura Bloxham. We've been discussing a book of short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri, which I highly recommend. But the most lovely part of the morning was the way Laura asked thoughtful questions about my and Heidi's lives and about the story we were studying. She is always interested and listens attentively and graciously. It gives me the wonderful feeling of being heard and understood. It was a good reminder to me that I need to continue to cultivate these qualities. What a lovely gift to give to someone: careful listening and thoughtful questions!

Each of these experiences and many more this week are evidence to me of God's continued and unmerited grace in my life. I tell these stories to inspire you to look for times of fellowship in your own life and to thank God for them. And honestly, my weeks vary. I'm not always surrounded with such opportunities for fellowship, but when the opportunities arise, I want to relish them.

The last thing I want to write about that's unrelated is the snow today. It's been simply gorgeous the past two days with blue skies and sun and continued so today. As I was sitting in church this morning, I looked out the window and the snow was falling so gently and quietly that it looked like it was floating in slow motion. It was magical. When I walked to my car, the snow sparkled on the ground like crystal. Thanks for the beauty, God!

May God bless you each with times of precious fellowship this week!

Car Shops and Sushi

I have two main stories to tell in this blog, one from home and one from Spokane. Last Wednesday (6/22), I drove home to participate in some wedding activities (Bridesmaid Tea, Rehearsal and Rehearsal dinner, and wedding) of a good friend from my home church, Cassie Shaw (now Cassie Plucknett). It was so good to be home and spend time with family and friends. I had a lovely couple hours with my grandpa at his farm on Thursday and enjoyed my graduation party on Sunday. Thanks to all the friends and family who were able to make it to my party. I am so grateful for your support in my life!

On Friday, my dad wanted me to take my car to a shop in north Portland for a tune-up. I invited my friend Ruth Benzar to join me. We were at the shop by 9 a.m. on Friday. I expected that we'd be done by noon, if not sooner. "What are you planning to do while you wait?" The shop owner asked us. "We'll probably take a walk," I answered. "It'd better be a long walk," he said. "We don't expect to be done until 2 or 3 p.m." I was shocked, as I'm sure Ruth was, too. We left the shop and sat outside a nearby Starbucks, trying to decide what to do. In a burst of inspiration, we decided to walk to the University of Portland, Ruth's school, though we really had no idea how long it would take. What did it matter? We had all day.

After setting off in the direction of UP, we happened upon New Seasons, an upscale grocery store with tons of organic, ethnic, and whole grain food. Not paradise, per se, but something very close! We wandered through the store for a good half hour before deciding to buy our lunch here. We bought two freshly-baked rolls, a big yellow heirloom tomato, hummus, and a pint of Oregon strawberries. The walk to UP seemed long, especially because we were hungry. And I really think it was a long walk, perhaps six miles round trip. Halfway to UP, we got a call from Stan.

"Okay, your car is ready to go, Miss Brink."

10:52 a.m.

"Umm...we're a couple miles from the shop. Can the car hang out there for a couple hours?"

After his "yes," I hung up the phone and told Ruth the news. We were properly outraged. The folly of people! But soon we were able to see our situation in a better light. We resolved to continue our walk to UP, where we enjoyed our lunch immensely. And, as usually happens, the walk back to the shop didn't seem nearly as long. We were pleasantly full and had yet much to discuss and talk through. We retrieved my car and set off, an adventure under our belt that we couldn't have anticipated. Who knew that Stan the maintenance man was also a prophet? We had indeed had a long walk!

That's a rather long story, but the second story is too fresh in my mind to not write about. If you're bored, save the next story for another day. :o)

Today was June's FIRED lunch at work. (See the previous post for an explanation.) The elected choice was Wasabi Bistro, a sushi place on Division and Hawthorne. I've had sushi once before and enjoyed it, so I was excited to try it a second time.

I ended up sitting by Bob Bowen, Bob Savage, and Jon Lewis, a VP, a long-time PI employee, and the president of PI, respectively. I ordered a Philadelphia roll, which is sushi with smoked salmon, avocado, and cream cheese. My plate came with eight tidy sushi rolls and a pair of chopsticks. Everyone else at the table picked up their chopsticks with confidence and began to eat. I had a choice before me. I could fake chopstick confidence or look like a total novice. I decided to look like what I was and admitted my ineptitude to the three men.

I was promptly shown three different ways to hold my chopsticks by Bob, Jon, and Robert Huggins. I rotated back and forth between the methods, not wanting to offend anyone. I was actually able to manuever pretty well. But I did not want to put the whole sushi roll in my mouth at once. I was sure it would be a disaster. However, these men would have nothing of it. All of them have traveled in Japan and China and assured me that slurping noodles, chipmunk cheeks, and the like are common sights. They wouldn't continue eating until I had downed my roll. I did. They applauded. As I thought about it later, I figured this was a pretty good way to develop humility, all things considered. :o)

The only other mishap during lunch was that I swallowed an ice cube by mistake. My face must have looked ghastly because I thought Jon was going to freak out. But there was no real cause for alarm. Fortunately, I felt better when Bob Savage admitted that when he had eaten wasabi (a VERY spicy paste) for the first time, he hadn't known it was hot and so ate the whole ball of it on his plate. He claimed that he went unconscious for a full minute and saw bright lights. In light of this, I'd swallow an ice cube any day. :o)

Other than that, I had a delightful lunch. It was so fun to get to know people better and feel comfortable with them. Thanks God! And thanks to you for reading both stories.

Wishing you a blessed Fourth of July weekend! May it be fun and restful!