Come to the Table

Something incredible happened to me the other night, or rather, I got to be part of something incredible, and I have to share it. 

A little over a year ago, Jon Acuff, a Christian blogger and writer I really admire posted on his blog that he was looking for adventurers. Risk Takers. No questions could be asked in either direction. You simply had to email him to accept the challenge. No details given. No clues. 

I want to say that I was intrigued, but it was more than that. Somewhere in my Spirit, a spark ignited. A quiet but insistent yes. I think I was hoping it was my chance to be part of something bigger, something that mattered. But I had no idea how right that was. 

I received an email a few days later. Several of us had been chosen. We were, together, going to stop living complacent lives, and start chasing those deep dreams of our hearts that we had pushed aside for so long. To pursue a life wrung out for God in the passions He, himself, had placed in our souls. There were no guidelines, or judgements, or limits on what your dream was. And we all agreed from the beginning to encourage one another always, never to tear one another down. As Jon so eloquently stated it back then, “This was not a democracy, it was an awesomeocracy, and wolves would be expelled from the group.” 

And so it began. We were the Dreamers and Builders. We all began chasing our dreams, sharing our successes and our failures. Our heart-cries and our heartbreaks. And the group grew. It grew beyond what any of us expected, Jon included. And it became an unbelievable community of support. This very blog is alive today because a fellow dreamer answered my call for help above and beyond when I asked. I have watched so many amazing people achieve dreams they only dared whisper about in their most secret prayers before.  Together we conquered fear, and doubt, and failure. And we were strangers to one another. 

Sarah Harmeyer is a fellow Dreamer and Builder and she started an incredible ministry called Neighbor’s Table. The sole purpose is to gather people together to share a meal, and hopefully their hearts, with each other. She hosted a neighbors table event with Jon and his wife Jenny, and invited all the Dreamer’s and Builders that could come. I bought a ticket right away, but as the date drew closer, I thought that maybe I shouldn’t go.  I had long-since begun to feel like I didn’t belong in this group anymore.  Somewhere along the road, I had let the busyness of life take me away from hustling after my dreams, and I had stopped participating in the group online. Of course, I had started working towards my dream-job, and I had started this blog, and God had brought me to so many of my goals despite myself, but I hadn’t taken the same steps everyone else had. I  felt like a fraud any time I logged on to the group and I knew if I went, they would all see what I truly was. Not a dreamer. Not a builder. Just someone who happened into their life by accident, who didn’t deserve to be there. 

But for some divinely orchestrated reason, I wound up going anyway. And I am so, unbelievably, overwhelmingly grateful I did.  

As I walked up the driveway to Sarah’s house,  I was apprehensive. I don’t normally do new things or go to big parties by myself. I like to have a friend by my side to buffer the awkwardness. I had no idea what to expect.  But as I stepped into Sarah’s backyard, everything felt warm, and calm, and comfortable. Her yard was full of the sounds of laughter, conversation, and soft live music. As Sarah called it, “A gentle roar.” Throughout the whole evening, there was no awkwardness or walls up. Everyone was there to share their hearts, and their dreams, and to love and serve one another. I was moved as we all stood in a circle and Sarah introduced each person (many of whom she had just met that day) by name and was able to tell you something truly significant about them. She has a gift that makes you feel known and loved right away.

I sat down at my table and talked to Marvia about her gift for writing memoirs, and Heather about her work in marketing. And I pretty much died when Jon and Jenny Acuff took their places directly across the table from me. We all sat down over great food and good wine and shared our hearts with one another. I got to celebrate with all my fellow dreamers that I had been able to quit my day job just the day before to work full time in the coffee shop I so dearly loved. We took turns serving one another, and placed our selfishness aside for the night. And as deserts were passed around, we shared toasts to Jon and Jenny, who inspired all of us so much.  I watched Teri bravely show off her voice for everyone, and Melissa share her gift for words in a beautifully written poem.  And then it was my turn, and I got to personally and specifically thank the people who’s words have brought me so much healing over the years for being so generous with their lives, and inspiring us all to live a life wrung out. Finally Jon spoke, himself, about how this group had affected him, and what he's learned over the last year. We celebrated together all that God had accomplished in these last several months, and it was truly overwhelming.

We are the Dreamers and Builders. We all chase our dreams, share our successes and our failures. Our heart-cries and our heartbreaks. I watch so many amazing people achieve dreams they only dared whisper about in their most secret prayers before.  Together we conquer fear, and doubt, and failure. And we are family.

As I sat at that table, I realized that I did belong, and this group of incredible, loving people, welcomed me in, and all the lies the enemy had been whispering to me were shot down with sure arrows of truth. I realized I am part of this family, and there is nothing quite like the feeling of total, unconditional, belonging.

I wish I could have frozen that night. It felt so unreal that you didn’t want to move or blink, because surely you’d wake up from this dream and it would be gone. But it was real, and Jon said it best, “There are some moments so perfect you get to reminisce while you are still in them.”  

“There are some moments so perfect that you get to reminisce while you’re still in them. You don’t have to wait for time to pass and prove in memory that a night was wonderful. Last night was one of them. The community that Sarah Harmeyer has built in her backyard with neighbor’s table proves that none of us are strangers if all of us are brave. Dreams take courage and they take people. Throw open your doors to both and I promise you’ll be amazed at what can happen.” -Jon Acuff

Friday night wasn’t about meeting Jon and Jenny, although that was pretty. freaking. awesome. It was about community.  And I can’t help feeling I got a glimpse of Eternity. We will sit down at a table full of strangers, and we will be family. There will be no awkwardness of not knowing one another. There will be no walls, or mistrust, or selfishness. We will be - in the deepest sense, on the greatest level - family. We will serve one another. We will laugh. We will eat great food and drink good wine. And we will celebrate together all that God has done and all that He is. It will be pure Joy. 

So in the end, it wasn’t just "one of the top 5 most amazing nights of my life” because I got to meet two of my heroes, or had a good time, or met cool people, although those are all really cool and good things that happened. It was so because God gave me a glimpse of what it looks like when the struggle ends, and it brought Hope. Ultimately, that’s what Friday night was. Joy, and Hope, and Love, and Faith, and a picture of all the good things we are promised. 

I wish I could bring each of you reading this back to that moment so you could feel it.  I will never be able to convey what we all felt that night. But I am praying that God will bring you your own hope through these words.