Millenials have turned coffee shops into the place you go for everything: business meetings, first dates, friend dates, devotional time, study time, interviews, and more. Of course, all generations can enjoy time in a coffee shop. We would like to encourage you to use this “coffee shop for everything” idea to invite someone you don’t really know to coffee. Bonding over coffee (or tea for the non-coffee crowd!) is a great way to build a friendship or relationship with someone.
What if? If not now, when? If only….
For a little two-letter word, “if” packs a big punch! Here’s another if phrase: If Table groups.
The first time I heard about IF Table groups was two years ago when our Women’s Ministry offered the opportunity to sign-up for one. It sounded interesting, was a short time commitment, and involved food and conversation around a table with a girl group. What’s not to like about that? So, I signed up, agreeing to co-host. Turns out, if I had not, I would have missed a great time of fellowship with a multi-generational, small group of women. Some of these women I knew and some I didn’t, but all were all focused on growing closer to God and in their faith.
I attended my first Southern Baptist Convention as a “messenger” (a registered voting attendee) in 2015 when the annual meeting was held in Columbus, OH. There were 5,407 other messengers in attendance, and for this first timer it felt massive. Since 2015 I have been to nearly every convention, and they have all been larger than my Columbus experience.
Like most of the world, a little over a year ago, I left my job on March 13th (do I even have to write the year 2020? It will be infamous…) with rumors of an extended spring break due to COVID. Little did I know, when I said goodbye to my students that day, it ended up being our final day together. I know we all have a lot of feelings when we reflect on the past year and all that it brought.
I feel like a broken record, but when Covid-19 impacted our world last March, I wasn’t prepared to still be talking about it almost a year later. At least the first several months of 2021 will be touched by safety measures, vaccinations, and other things that have become a “new normal”. What if we looked for hard-won treasures in a hard-lived year that we could adopt as part of our new normal?
