When I was in the Ukraine last month we worked with women in two cities in Crimea and tried to add touches of joy and spontaneity to the events. We had arranged to have "breakfast on the beach" on morning but soon discovered that in the town of Sevastopol no one really goes to the beach for breakfast. It was an outrageous idea! A slight change of plan was made and the breakfast would be held in the courtyard of the church where we were staying.
About 7:30AM we were carrying tables out into the garden, bringing dishes and picking flowers. Our host church had a magnificent garden with a glorious bouquet of flowers, colours and scents. The Russian olive tree provided shade in the bright morning sun where the tables were set up. One team member had been given various pieces of fabric to give away in the Ukraine and we draped burgandy tulle on the tables. Next flowers from the garden were arranged, bowls of homemade jam, dishes of sour cream, a bottle of maple syrup from our gift bag, the jar of instant coffee, tea bags, sugar (from sugar beets), fresh bread from around the corner, sliced meat and cheese. Outside the gate people hurried by on their way to work looking into the garden at this strange scene! This was something very unusual to them. Lina, our wonderful kitchen hostess brought out plates full of steaming little pancakes. Nina and Tamara took turns as the 24 hour caretakers of the church and joined us as well. The appointed time of 8:30 arrived and the only guests were our 3 ladies who cared for us with such love and honor.
Here in the morning sun, birds singing in the Russian olive trees, colour and beauty on the table, our team and 3 friends sat down to an extravagant and outrageous breakfast in an country that knows so much scarcity! Laughter, tears, stories - they were the seasoning and sweetness to the morning. These 3 women had cared so tenderly and diligently for us in our week there and they honored us with truths about our work that were so extravagant.
For me this outrageous breakfast held some deep wisdom. I believe Lady Wisdom sat beside me opening my heart to accept some new truth. As many of you know I love my art with food, sharing it with others, seeing how it draws them together at table and the sacred space it facilitates. It is a significant place of worship for me - but one where I tend to remain silent. Sitting under a Russian olive tree, thousands of miles from my "art room" the Spirit revealed to me, through our 3 friends, that my voice is just as essential to my "art room" as are my creative mind and hands. We sat as equals in our Kingdom work with words of truth and our stories to honor each other with.
At Linwood House we seek to let the abundance of the Kingdom affect your senses. In Sevastopol I was sitting at the table, not serving, and drinking in the abundance that all my senses were experiencing. I sat stunned to realize how profoundly this abundance affected me, and as I write I am again overwhelmed by it. This is what Yeshua offers to each of us who hunger and thirst to live passionately. This is what the Spirit wants to fill us with and let flow from us - embracing the extravagance of his outrageous settings! I am humbled to have been shown the honor of what I am doing, and to have been nudged to speak into it more.
It may not be an outrageous breakfast, but for each of us, apprentices in the Kingdom, may we have the opporunity to sit on the "other side" and observe what we do and see how much Abba is enjoying sharing it with others. Perhaps Lady Wisdom and the wind of the Spirit will whisper it to you today.
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