Some good ole' fashion fellowship

Today was the first of four "Dinners for Eight" we signed up for at church. We thought it would be a nice way to get to know some other couples in the area-- hopefully expand the friend circle slightly-- and meet some other people who might potentially bring copious amounts of lasagna to the house if someone was bed-ridden or something. 

But before I continue, an insightful tidbit on me: I have the chronic problem of instantly dreading most anything I've never done before (and some things I have done before) and then, after the event is over, I usually end up having a fine time, if not better. This was no exception. 

To be honest, I had this image in my mind of us gathering with 60-something couples, eating dry rump roast at someone's Queen Anne-style dining table and intercepting questions about how we came to Jesus, or even better, Why On Earth we hadn't started a family yet. Right.

I've found that there's a beauty to expecting the worst- and that's that you're most always relieved. Such was true with this case.

The couples were normal. A bit more Christian-y/family-with-kids than we were used to, but normal. They were mostly forty (?)-somethings that brought up travel (!!), hunting (?), kids (?), and wine (!!). We were able to bring up our trip to Provence (one of the couples was going to Tuscany this April.) When the guys talked about trips to Michigan for hunting/fishing, Jed and I politely stared on. So I think, all in all, we did okay. The very American twice-baked potatoes we brought were a hit (no going out on culinary limbs at 1st-time church functions.) 

At least we know that cracking open some of the Batavia Vintage 2007 won't be out of line at our turn for hosting in September. Though, we will have to rehearse the blessing ahead of time and remember to hold hands...