Who You Do Life with Matters As Much As What You Do: Day 41, 100 Days to Brave (And a visit from Shauna Niequist!) (Advent, Day 3)

Last year, a handful of friends joined Big Strong Man and I for a monthly dinner club. (Check out some Dinner Club posts: Dinner Club for Beginners, with recipes, and T-3 Days 'til Dinner Club.)  and It was exciting to sit around one another's tables and gush over the food prepared with love for us all. Intentionally, we would feed our children beforehand so that the adults -alone- could sit together and talk, eat, and enjoy the moment.
This worked well for four months, enough time for each family to host, but after that it, well, stopped.
During the end, one family was prepping for the arrival of a new baby, my family moved to a new house in the same town, and life just got busy for everyone.

Admittedly, I was super sad to see the end come. Jen Hatmaker and Shauna Niequist had me perfectly convinced this would last forever and we would bear witness to one another doing life together. Forever. 

              

I tried to resurrect the mantle once we moved into our "old/new" yellow house. I invited everyone over and we ate long and hard into the evening. But no one carried the torch past that evening.

In her devotional, Annie references the Stone Soup-Starving Artist- Sunday ritual that was a handful of friends, whatever food everyone could bring to the table, and a meal, made entirely with love.
The point of her ritual, and my Dinner Club, is community. 

Who you do life with matters 

as much as what you do

At this time of the year -Christmas Time!!!- Big Strong Man is working long and hard for the government. There is little-to-no time for him to rest. Although he doesn't get much of a choice around Christmas (do you want a paycheck, or not?), when life slows down, rest is a priority. Family is priority. Community, entertainment, and sitting in on a Friday night to do nothing but do it with one another, is priority.

We've got to be brave enough to find balance. ...We have to be brave enough to balance work and life because we need relationships. 

Be Brave: 

Eat dinner tonight with someone. 

Call a friend. Text your family. 

Find someone to hang out with, and share your story with that person. 

Advent, Day 3:

David Bowie, I mean, the Owl