An Alarming Lunch

Beep!  Beep!  Beep!That awful noise is designed to catch and keep your attention—and it works.  The insistent screech stopped all conversation and activity.

We were having a delightful lunch together—seven friends whose husbands work together.  This was the first time we had all made our gatherings in more than a year.

My home was the setting.  My friend Carolyn loves to help me with entertaining—she makes all things beautiful and delicious.  The table was set in blue, with lovely hydrangeas matching my great aunt’s lovely blue china.I made Texas chili and green and yellow split pea soup.  Both were yummy—in my opinion.  Carolyn created three salads—broccoli slaw and almonds, shrimp and fish ceviche, and quinoa with veggies and onions.  Wow!  And Carolyn’s desserts were simple and artfully arranged on a tiered glass dish: chocolate strawberries, lemon bars and chocolate-dipped cookies.

After early lunch general conversation, we took turns updating our lives and sharing a highlight from our years with the ministry.  We learned amazing new truths about each other.

Just as we prepared to pray for each other, it happened.  That obnoxious beeping began.  Carolyn brought the small ladder, and Christy, the tallest, climbed up.  But stretch as she might, she could not reach the smoke alarm.

So Carolyn went out to the shed to get a taller ladder.  Again Christy mounted the steps.  Surrounded by several “spotters,” she ascended to the next-to-top rung.  Again stretching up, she the reached the offending alarm and finally managed to disengage it.

But the piercing noise did not stop.  Carolyn ran out with the whole alarm and finally managed to get the battery loose.

So with that memorable climax to our lunch and a good laugh, we spent sweet time praying for each other, our families, our ministry.  Touching lives and the world right there in my Florida room.