How good and pleasant it is
    when God’s people live together in unity! – Psalm 133

Friday evening our house passed its first serious test as Rebekah and I hosted a fellowship event that was attended by – best guess – upwards of sixty people!

Even though our home is not that expansive, the flow allows for everything to work, even offering space to escape the noise and find refuge for quieter conversations.

The main action, of course, was in the dining room, where – for the first time and after five homes – we finally have room for a long table. Then the kitchen island housed drinks and extra hors d’oeuvres.

It is no exaggeration to say that this was one of the best spreads of food I have seen in a long time. Tarboro is absolutely not the social milieu where “bring a small dish” means chips and dip from the grocery store, a sleeve of Oreo cookies, or a box of pizza rolls from the freezer section!

Here in the Howard Memorial Presbyterian foodosphere people show up with home-made crab dips, baked brie, smoked salmon and capers, stuffed mushrooms, gourmet appetizers too complex to describe, fudge they labored over for hours, cakes made from scratch – and so much more.

In other words, you would have thought our casual Friday night mixer had been catered as a collaborative effort by “On the Square,” Martha Stewart, and “The Chef & the Farmer.”

For Rebekah and I to host the event simply meant tidying up the place and smiling at the door as people arrive. And Max, of course, was delighted. He had the best evening of his life.

So, massive kudos to Gwen, Ellen and their HMPC hospitality team for organizing everything so seamlessly and for making us look so good.

It really does take a village. Just in this case, the entire village was in our house!

In love, and because love comes alive when our church comes together – DEREK

I took a series of photos just before guests arrived – it’s a good look at the house: