Gathering People

I organised a Tea Party to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee today. As I did my last minute shop this morning, accompanied by my 1 yr old, I thought this party is such a bad idea - I have no time and I'm inviting all these people round to messy, unorganised house, no bunting, no baking, no nothing!  Feeling quite alone and stressed with my 'to do list', before the 3 o'clock party, I put the TV on to watch live coverage of the Jubilee Thanks giving Service for the Queen.  I started my baking and listened to the calming voices of the BBC commentators filling me in on who's who, the outfits, the cars and the months of precision planning that go into days such as this. Still focused on my task I seemed a little less stressed and continued with icing cakes.  Everyone seated in St Paul’s where the service was held, the fanfares sounded with the Queens arrival and the service began. The theme of the service was to thank God for The Queen's humble, sacrificial service. The main Bible reading was Romans 12: 1-18. The verses talked about using your gifting to serve others. I was reminded why i was doing the task at hand. One of my gifts is hosting and gathering people for parties, fika whatever the event and The Jubilee was an opportunity to do this.  In the busyness of hosting I might not get to have meaningful conversations with everyone but, taking a step back and watching people, I see that others might be connecting and I think that's one of the main things that brings me Joy about gathering people!