The Tribe.

So... how is the weather?

Seriously. How do you follow up that last post? (Missed it? Come read about my broken nature here! Fun times!)

Well.  I must say, following that post, which I was quite honestly nervous about making, even though I generally consider myself an open person, the amount of support I have received has been astounding.  From people who get it to people who don't live in that dark place from time to time but still reached out, it's been amazing and incredibly heart warming to read.  Trust me.  Part of the dark comes from a place of extreme loneliness. So thank you.

We moved to the cities in August.  I mean, I've mentioned that once. Or twice. Or A THOUSAND TIMES DEARLORDPLEASESTOPBRINGINGTHATUP.  But because I am an introvert/hermit at heart it's been excruciating for me to find my people.  And it's entirely on me.  I know that.  I have met some lovely people, been to some amazing groups, but if the setting I am in has me having to initiate small talk in group... I'm done for.  I close up, shut up, and try to hide in a corner.

But I did a lot of thinking yesterday.  And no, all of my problems were not solved in a day, but I made some progress on figuring out what my actual problems were... so... Progress!

I did something similar to a pub crawl yesterday... but instead of beers, I was sampling coffee and pastries at different cafes.  It was just me, a great book, and my thoughts. It was lovely.

And you know what I figured out?  Food is my passion.  Feeding food to people is my passion.  Feeding food to people while sharing and SHOWING the love of Christ is my passion.  And all of my woe-is-me thoughts that centered on me not having a Tribe here began to show its cracks.  I have People here.  There are people hidden in this city that love good food, love quite talks in cafes, love curling up and reading, love getting together and enjoying the chaos.  They are here.  They just don't know me yet.

And I cannot tell you what that thought did to me.  My perspective shot up from looking at myself to looking out into the city.  Who is it? Where are my people? They are here. They are here. They are here.

I am blessed beyond belief with the Tribe I have that is literally spread out across the planet.  They love me, they fix me when I am broken, they laugh when I accidentally run into poles in movie theaters while trying give a dramatic wave while dancing backwards.  They are my People.

But I am so excited to find my People here.  To have the capabilities of having a Tribe Member walk in my front door and see my chaos and be ok in it.  So Friday Night Dinners are coming back.  But probably not on Fridays.  But that doesn't matter.  All that matters is the Table, the Food upon it, and the People around it.