Carrying Humus in my Bag
Reid and I have been off and on visiting a church, but we don’t know anyone there. At all. I looked into joining a small group for moms last year, but chickened out on joining mid-semester. But, they kicked off this semester with a women’s brunch, so I signed up to go.
Jack modeled his backpack before we left. I bought it a while back when I thought he’d be going to Mom’s Day Out, so we don’t get to use it much.
He finally decided he likes to use it and I’m happy I don’t have to carry his crap things anymore.
Our neighbors’ dog gave us a hearty farewell.
I dropped Jack off at his class and he was fine. I feel like this is still a big victory with how much trouble he’s had in the past with going to church childcare.
I walk into this building I’ve never been in before. Smile at the greeters. Walk by this long, full food table. Get coffee. And stand there. Holding my coffee. Watching everyone walk about and mingle and get food. And I’m still standing there.
Awkward central.
Here’s the kicker. I can’t believe I’m about to own up to this.
Everyone was encouraged to bring food to share. Not knowing if this was a big deal or not, I felt I needed to bring something. I couldn’t come up with anything, so we picked up humus and pretzels on the way there. I brought a platter and bowl to put it in.
So, I’m standing there, holding my coffee and holding my big bag that has humus, pretzels, and the servingware in it. But the table is full. And people are getting food already. And I’m already wishing I was at home and realized how awkward I felt.
I was like, uh, do I really want to move people’s food around to make room for my lowly humus? “Hey, guys, what’s up? I brought some humus!” Do I really want to be THAT girl? Who wants hummus at 9:30am? What was I thinking??? I froze up.
While contemplating the ridiculousness of the whole situation in my head, someone comes from behind and says my name.
Someone I knew!!! hallelujah. It was Kara, a very sweet girl I hadn’t seen in years! We got to catch up and awkwardly find a place to sit among other tables that were saved with stuff.
Long story short, we had some really fun ladies share a table with us from all walks of life- single and just graduated from college, married with young kids, married with children grown and moved out, single with kids.
We all really clicked and had a lot of fun laughing and sharing stories.
There was a speaker, a woman from the church, who shared her story, which was extremely moving and so encouraging.
I left not knowing which small group I’m going to join up with, but I left feeling a sense of community at this church for the first time.
I think I may just go to a different one each week and see what fits for me. I think I’ll probably end up with a larger group that meets on Wednesday for a Beth Moore study.
I picked Jack up, 2.5 hours after I dropped him off, and he was in the best mood. They painted, had a lesson, multiple crafts, and most importantly, had snacks. Success, my friends.
the end.
