I’ve been musing on something for the past few weeks as we have visited some of the various apartments that the STINTers live in. Much of the furniture and furnishings that we bought/found/acquired by some means/moved multiple times/etc, are still floating around the city. It is so funny to me to walk into an apartment and see my old comforter, or our dishes, or wardrobe, or table, or couches, or artwork, or bookshelves, or quote books, or things from former teammates apartments. I’ve never really felt attached to things, or at least I didn’t think I was, but seeing all of these things makes me feel super nostalgic. It is not just the things themselves, but the memories attached.
Take tonight, for example. I walked into the apartment where we were having dinner, and our awesomely rickety and sketchy table from 08-09 STINT team was sitting there! Still alive and kicking after all these years….it’s a miracle, for sure. There were so many times we thought that table was going to disintegrate into firewood, but it just keeps going! It made me think of team dinners, board games, Raclette S’mores, aaaannnddd skillet cookie. Mmmm so good.
Or last week, at another apartment, our old quote book was sitting on the bookshelf. Still funny after all these years, and I love that it is still around! I was reading through it and laughing until my stomach hurt at the things we said. Some of them don’t make much sense anymore, but that almost makes them funnier, without the context to go along with them.
The couches, futons and chairs are probably the most memory-evoking items though – so many conversations that spoke truth, grace, courage, love, kindness, and blessing on one another happened over the years on those seats. Conflict resolution was something I learned how to handle in a Christ-like manner sitting on those couches, and we laughed, oh how we all laughed together.
Anyway, I don’t have a pretty bow or analogy or anything to wrap this up. It has just been special to be reminded of the Lord’s goodness and blessings when we were on STINT through the furnishings He provided for us, and I have been praying at each apartment that the things that have been passed down will continue to be used by the Lord to draw the team and people in the city closer to Him and to one another.
A Mosaic 