Posts Tagged ‘community’

A Salad Party

May 2nd, 2010

Last night we hosted our first real dinner party since before Thaddeus was born. I had been looking forward to it all week and I wasn’t disappointed.

Bryan and I have always loved opening our home and sharing a meal with friends. The first year we were married we had a standing open door policy every Thursday night. Thursday nights all our friends knew that we would make a big dinner and they were welcome to join us if they wanted. When we moved to Prague we dropped the weekly open dinner, but continued to regularly invite a variety of people over for meals. Since having Thaddeus though we haven’t really done this at all and I have missed it a lot. So, tonight feels really significant to me – in a way it feels like coming back home to something I love, that I momentarily set down.

There’s been a lot of that lately – a lot of stirrings in me to return to former loves. During my pregnancy I sort of set aside many of my hobbies, interests, and former passions. I don’t know why but pregnancy and the transition into motherhood felt all encompassing for me. So, blogging, writing, photography, cooking, health, yoga, reading, and entertaining all sort of fell by the way side. Now they are calling to me again. So, tonight feels like opening a door to these former interests and saying, “Yes, come in again. I’ve missed you.”

So, what did we do for our entry back into dinner parties? A salad party. Ok, I know that there are probably some people out there who would think this sounds a little lame, but believe me it was awesome!

Basically Bryan and I provided lettuce, salad dressing options and homemade bread. We asked everyone else to bring one thing to contribute to a salad for dinner. I think everyone brought more than one thing though, and we ended up having such a great variety and a really beautiful salad. Our salad had three types of nuts, three different cheeses, tomatoes, apple, dried cranberry, and bacon all atop a salad of three different kinds of lettuce. YUMMY! For desert we had everyone bring a fruit and we made a big fruit salad and topped it with homemade whipped cream and a drizzle of honey. Strawberries, coconut, pineapple, banana, mandarin oranges, candied ginger – Even more yummy!

My favorite thing about this was that it was so communal. Everyone contributed whatever they had or wanted to offer. Honestly, I wasn’t sure about how some of the flavors would go together at first (apple and tomato?) but in the end it was delicious. Everything came together to create a beautiful colorful tapestry of flavors. To me this is a beautiful little picture of the body of Christ.

We all are so different and unique. Sometimes we aren’t sure if we really have something to contribute to the body or the kingdom, but we all do. Each and every one of us adds a unique flavor to the salad. Each and every one of us makes the kingdom “taste better” through our involvement. Even if we think that we might not “go together” well , often we’d be surprised that our “flavors” mix just perfectly to create exactly what the salad needs to take it to the next level. As I ate my salad I couldn’t l help but think about all that.

The other great thing about this dinner party was it didn’t cost much. In fact it may have been the cheapest dinner party we ever hosted. All Bryan and I had to buy for it was some lettuce, and whipping cream, and yeast. We already had everything else for bread and a whole jar of Czech honey at home to contribute. Everything else for the dinner came from everyone else. And since everyone only brought a few things it shouldn’t have been very expensive for any of them either. I really thought it was a great way to divide the cost of a big dinner, so that it was really manageable for everyone. These days that’s a big plus around here.

So, next time you’re thinking of a doing a dinner party feel free to steal this idea. You can’t really go wrong with a great big salad! And you can use this idea over and over – each time you do it your salad will turn out completely unique and different from the last time.

What are some of y our favorite dinner party meals?? Or what things are you picking up again that you’ve set aside for a while?

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

Never Miss A Post – Receive free updates via RSS or Email

If you like this post please consider buying me a cup of tea (Suggested: $3 a cup)



“Friends” and Community

January 12th, 2009

“So, no one told you life was gonna be this way
Your jobs a joke, your broke, your love life’s D.O.A.
It’s like you’re always stuck in second gear
When it hasn’t been your day, your week, your month, or even your year
But I’ll be there for you (when the rain starts to pour)
I’ll be there for you (like I’ve been there before)
I’ll be there for you (because you’re there for me too)” – Friends Theme Song

So, I have a little confession. I LOVE the show “Friends”. We own all 10 seasons and I’m guessing that I’ve probably seen from season 1 to season 10 straight through in order close to 10 times. I enjoy Friends because I find it funny and a bit mindless, which means it’s relaxing for me to watch (unlike some of my other show additions, like LOST). But, I’ve realized lately that there is something deeper portrayed in Friends and it’s probably the real reason that I love Friends, because, it’s a core value of mine… Community.

I don’t know why it took watching the show for so long in order for me to realize it, but Friends is a great picture of true community. Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, Ross, Joey and Chandler aren’t just Friends they are a community. They live life together in a very real and consistent manner. I thought of so many examples of this, here’s just a few:

1.       They share meals together regularly (basically daily or almost daily)

2.       They share their homes with each other – when Ross loses his job and apartment he moves in with Joey and Chandler, when Phoebe and Rachel’s apartment catches on fire Phoebe moves in with Monica and Rachel moves in with Joey, etc.

3.       They take care of each other when one or more of them is in a difficult financial situation – Chandler pays for most of Joeys expenses while Joey’s trying to make it as an actor, Ross gives Monica money for rent when she loses her job, Phoebe loans Monica money to start a catering company, they all pitch in to pay for Rachel to go on a vacation with her family, etc.

4.       They encourage each other and cry with one another through break ups and deaths and job losses and infertility and everything life throws at them

5.       They are always there for each other even when it means sacrificing something that they wanted – for example when Rachel brakes a rib and Ross takes her to the emergency room instead of going to his TV interview

6.       They know each other inside and out and share their secrets, hopes and fears with one another.

7.       They fight with each other – they are real and open and themselves around each other and sometimes that leads to fights and messy situations and they don’t try to avoid that or just put on a mask, they are real and that means they get angry with each other and show it – but they are also always able to work past it and forgive each other

8.       They go above and beyond the norm in order to make each other happy and fulfill each other’s desires and dreams – with this I think of the time when Ross found out that Phoebe never had a bike and so he goes out and buys her a bike for no real reason other than care for his friend.

All of this happens largely by choice – each person chooses to love and care for each of the others. But, it also happens largely by proximity. For most of the show at least four of them live across the hall from each other and the others aren’t far away either. This allows for things like sharing breakfast together before work, meeting at the coffee shop down stairs after work, and hanging out countless other times together. When you spend that much time that close to another person it becomes so much easier for you to meet their needs and be there for them because you know what their needs are and you are already present in their lives. When you live in that close of a proximity with someone else it’s also really difficult to be fake and put up a mask – because that person is always there they naturally start to see the real you.

I enjoy Friends for a lot of reasons, but I think the reason I love Friends is because it’s a picture of what I’ve always wanted… real, honest, authentic, caring, holistic community.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany

I recently read this post written by Alan Knox at The Assembling of the Church and think he has some great things to say about community.

Never Miss A Post – Receive free updates via RSS or Email

If you like this post please consider buying me a cup of tea (Suggested: $3 a cup)



12 Dollars of Christmas: The Mudrik Family

January 3rd, 2009

This post is part of the 12 Dollars of Christmas series I’m doing, sharing with you about different charities and people who are making a difference for God’s kingdom and asking you to join me in praying for them and in giving $1 dollar (or more) to each of them.

 

 

Elaine and Marek Mudrik and their five kids are seriously one of my favorite families ever. They are bringing God’s kingdom in Prague in many beautiful and unique ways. I wish I could say that I know them well, but honestly I really only feel like I know them from afar (at least at this point). But, even from the brief occasional interactions I’ve had with Elaine, Marek and their children I have learned so much. In fact just this past week God spoke to me so clearly through a conversation I had with Elaine and it was such a moment of healing, repentance and redemption for me that I really feel changed.

The Mudrik’s have been in ministry in Prague for quite a while now and it seems they are involved with a number of different things here, but the thing that I am most excited to tell you about is their farm and the vision they have for it. Marek and Elaine recently bought a farm in Divoka Sarka (a national park on the edge of Prague). The property has 3 buildings that will be turned into homes and an old barn that will be turned into a conference/retreat center. They also hope to have a garden and some animals (goats, chickens, etc) and a prayer garden.

They wrote about the farm on their web site describing it through this beautiful picture:

“The home of Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha in Bethany seems to have been one of Jesus’ favorite places to go. We’d like our home to be like Martha’s – a place of service; like Mary’s – a place where one can sit at the feet of Jesus and receive things that will not be taken away from them; and like Lazarus’ – a place of healing, hope and even new life! All of us are like travelers on the journey of life and when we get tired or hurt it is a blessing to find a safe and welcoming place of rest.
At the same time, a place of rest is not a place of hiding. Jesus left Bethany for Jerusalem to fulfill his life’s calling. We seek rest to be healed, changed, and empowered to return to life and face its challenges with clearer purpose and greater confidence. We believe that God has been calling us to help create a place like this here in the Czech Republic – perhaps one of many such places around Europe and the world.”

I love this vision of a “family or a community, which creates a specific spiritual atmosphere, lives out certain values and even has a specific spiritual rhythm of life” (quoted from their web site). It’s beautiful and it’s definitely something that Bryan and I want to pray for and support. And I encourage you to do the same.

Currently the houses at the farm are in need of serious restoration. They are without sewage systems, running water and many of the amenities that we consider necessary in the modern age. The Mudrik’s and our friends the Schwender’s (who will also be living in one of the homes at the farm) have plans in the works for reconstructing the buildings of the farm, but it will be a lot of work and will require the prayers, help and support (both financially and otherwise) of many for the vision to fully come together.

I love that even the buildings themselves and the property as a whole has to be restored and in its own way healed before it can be a place of healing and restoration for many. I feel like the work of restoring the farm is a beautiful picture of the restoration they pray will happen in people’s lives through this place.

If you want to learn more about this beautiful family and their vision for this retreat center and community please visit their web site.

I also ask that you would join Bryan and I in praying for the Mudrik’s and for the farm in Divoka Sarka. Pray that it would be the place of redemption, restoration, rest and healing that they desire. I also invite you to join Bryan and I in giving $1 dollar (or more) to the Mudrik’s and their vision for a haven of hope in the Czech Republic. You can do this by sending cash, spare change or a check (made out to Vineyard Christian Church with Prague Mission on the memo line) to:

Marek and Elaine Mudrik
812 Lynn Lee Drive,
Averdeen, MD 21001

If you live in the Czech Republic you can also donate by depositing money in the Mudrik’s account (acct. number 1420279153/0800).

Lord, you are the giver of dreams and visions and I thank you for the beautiful vision that you have given Marek and Elaine for the Czech Republic and for this much needed retreat in Prague. Lord, I pray for the farm as it is being restored and reconstructed – I pray that you would lead even in that very physical, detail work. I pray that as they draw floor plans and rebuild these buildings that they would do more than just rebuild a building, but that they would build up spaces for healing to happen, spaces for growth to unfold, spaces for your spirit to indwell. Lord, I pray that you would permeate the buildings and grounds of the farm so that all who step foot there now, during the construction, and in the months and years to come would walk away restored and rested, served and loved, healed and having heard from you. Lord, make the farm in Divoka Sarka into a “thin place”, a place where people experience a deep sense of your presence.  Lord, I ask that you would hand pick the community that lives there on a regular, daily biases – as you build up and reconstruct the buildings, build up and reconstruct a community of people who, though unique and called to a unique and individual journey with you, would also be knit together and woven into a true community that would love each other and, through their proximity and your spirit at work within and between them, share life together. I pray that you would be preparing those who would live full time at the farm for lives of service and love for those who would pass through for times of retreat, prayer, and rest. Lord, bless this venture – bless it and use it as a blessing for many here in the Czech Republic and all around the world.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

Photograph by Beth Stedman

Never Miss A Post – Receive free updates via RSS or Email

If you like this post please consider buying me a cup of tea (Suggested: $3 a cup)



The Beautifully Broken Body of Christ

November 9th, 2008

Yesterday I realized something…

Let me set the stage: I was making lunch for a community gathering/retreat we were having. I had all these thoughts bouncing in my head about the communion experience I was helping to plan and about our community and what it means to live in community. I was feeling nervous about the time we were going to have together. The culmination of all this was the thought that would lead to my realization:

 “This is my body broken for you.”

With each tear of the lettuce and each cut of the knife the thought came:

“This is my body broken for you.”

As I set out the elements for communion:

“This is my body broken for you.”

And then I started to think about and pray for different members of our faith community the thought came again even louder this time:

“This is my body broken for you.”

I had never before thought about that statement as being about anything besides the bread of communion and Jesus own physical body broken on the cross. But suddenly it dawned on me that we have TWO things that we are told ARE the body of Christ Jesus: the bread at communion and the church (or the family of God). And it suddenly felt very real to me that when Jesus says, “This is my body broken for you” He is talking about how he himself will be broken, and about how the bread will be broken, AND about how his church and the members of his church will be broken. And this weekend I experienced that a little bit.

I feel like I experienced my brokenness and my past story and my personal expectations rub up against the brokenness and past stories and expectations of others in my community.

And it hurt…

… but today I find myself thanking God for it.

Thank you, Lord that I am part of your broken body!

Thank you for the darkness and the tension and the differences.

Thank you for hurting me so that I could more clearly see my own biases and brokenness.

Thank you for a community that is willing to be open with one another, and share our hearts and hurts with each other even when that’s really hard and when doing it might be really difficult.

Thank you for a community that is willing to love each other, and love the differences we see in each other even when those differences hurt us.

Thank you for a community that is willing to stay in it together instead of choosing the easier path.

Lord, thank you, thank you, thank you, for sending your son to be broken like we are.

Lord, I know and I trust that you are a God of restoration and redemption and resurrection. I know and trust that you love to take that which is broken and make it whole again. That’s what I see you being about and that is what I want to be about. Lord, forgive me for the ways that I have broken instead of redeemed, forgive me for the ways I have done that even tonight. Lord, continue to work in me – don’t give up on me – work in me to take all my broken pieces and make me whole. Lord, work in us as a community and make us whole. Make us a community that is about restoration and redemption and resurrection.

Tonight I still feel a bit sad and tired, but I also feel deep hope.

Tonight I was reminded of why I choose to be a part of this community, and why I love each of the unique members of this community.

Tonight I experienced more of what it means to actually live in real community.

Tonight I feel thankful.

Tonight I am encouraged to be part of God’s broken body and I look expectantly towards the resurrection and wholeness that is coming.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany

Never Miss A Post – Receive free updates via RSS or Email

If you like this post please consider buying me a cup of tea (Suggested: $3 a cup)



Tonight…

November 8th, 2008

Tonight I experienced this truth: Living in real community with other people can be more than just messy, it can be painful.

Tonight I felt really disappointed, sad and even angry.

Tonight I cried uncontrollably on a crowded public bus.

Tonight I feel exhausted.

Tonight I ask that you would pray that I would be able to respond in grace and love, while also being honest and authentic.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany

Never Miss A Post – Receive free updates via RSS or Email

If you like this post please consider buying me a cup of tea (Suggested: $3 a cup)