Lori Florida

Remember back in elementary school when you would meet your girlfriends under the slide during recess and talk about your "club?"  The very best of these moments involved groups of nice girls who laughed and talked together while beckoning for other girls running by to join them. I'm part of a club like that and I don't want you to miss it!  The Glorious Table  is a place where life is shared and grace is poured out.  You will meet some new friends there who will encourage you right where you are and will find a conversation you will want to join. Subscribe to the email list and like The Glorious Table on facebook so you don't miss anything.  There will be new posts every weekday and a special devotional series on Saturdays. Jump on over, check it out, and pull up a chair.  Today's writer is an old friend of yours - ME!   Enter your email address: Delivered by FeedBurner

Her name is Tigist. So many things about us are the same. Although it's said in different languages, we share the title, Mom.  One of her sons is named Ts'aga which means "grace." I have a daughter who's middle name is Grace.  She squeezes her kids and smothers them with kisses. I squeeze my kids and smother them with kisses.  She dreams about her children's future. I dream too. We share many deep similarities but also some startling differences. She speaks Amharic. I speak English.  She lives in Ethiopia. I live in the United States.  She is a single mom. My husband comes home every night.  She walks everywhere she goes. I only walk for exercise or on vacation.  She works to survive. I have a savings account.  She carefully measures out food between her three children. I have leftovers to give to my dog. She is sick. I am healthy.   That difference is what made us sisters instead of birth, proximity or even adoption.  ...

The Clay Center is all about building relationships that allow for the spread of the Gospel and Biblical mentoring in young adults.  There seems to be a new openness to Christianity among this current generation and eagerness to learn healthy habits in family life and marriage.  The Fords and Comptons hope to use the Clay Center as a place to connect with University students through sports and English and then begin one on one mentoring.  Relationships like that start slow and begin with learning trust.  Many of our team activities were for the purpose of beginning to build trust in the name “Clay Center” and give the Fords and Comptons an open door to future ministry opportunities in a Buddhist culture. We spent 3 days doing just that in public schools.  Each day, we drove down a driveway under the dead of eyes of a Buddha who had fresh offerings of flowers and fruit laid out before him.  We unloaded trucks full of soccer balls, footballs, sports pinnie...