Tuesday With Teri

            I know God has a sense of humor.  I can attest far too often to moments in life where I am pretty sure I could actually hear His holy laughter at His own cleverness in dealing with me.  This last Sunday was just such a moment. 

          It began as a normal Sunday morning.   My husband and I were leading our adult Sunday school class through a study from the book of John.  This day’s lesson followed the first public miracle which Jesus performed.   As a class we read the account of Jesus and His disciples attending a wedding in Cana along with His mother, Mary.  The host of the wedding ran out of wine and Mary asked Jesus to help.  Eventually Jesus would turn water into wine.  One of the discussion questions had us considering what the host of the wedding may have been feeling.  

          It is easy to imagine the burden the host must have felt when he realized he would not be able to honor his guest with his best wine.   Trying to comprehend the emotional need of the moment and the stress felt by the host helps us better appreciate this particular miracle.  It would impact everyone from the servants who did as Jesus commanded and had a firsthand view of His working, to the host and his guest.   It was at this point in the lesson I should have heard God begin to giggle.  I have no doubt that it was at this moment He said to Himself….”Just in case she missed this point, I’ll make it more clear…later tonight when she is not looking for Me, I’ll  bring this point home.”

          Fast forward to later that night…as my husband and I prepare for his men’s Bible study which meets in our home.  It has grown considerably and each Sunday night 10-15 men gather for a shared meal (which they take turns providing) and Bible study.  It was our turn to provide the food.  We discussed the possible turn out.  Class attendance was down considerably that morning due to the flu season, various family members being sick or out of town, so we figured the night’s attendance may also be reduced.   We decided on 4 LARGE pizzas, figuring left over pizza is never a problem.  

          I’m sure as you read this you can predict what happened, but trust me, at the time it was not so evident.   Soon the men began to arrive, and arrive, and arrive, and arrive,….that’s when my husband poked his head around the corner of the room I was in and said these terrifying words, “Teri, there is only one slice of pizza left!” and with that I heard our door swing open as 4 more men joined the gathering.  YIKES!   Don’t get me wrong; we were THRILLED to see so many be able to attend.  But I felt so badly.  They were our honored guest and I couldn’t just say, “oops…sorry, some of you guys will need to sit through the hour long Bible study hungry.”  

         I dove into the arctic depths of my freezer searching for provisions.  I praised God in my heart that a local grocer had put frozen hor d’oeuvres on sale last week, and I that I had stocked up on a few boxes for upcoming events.  As, I loaded up baking sheets with the miniature food items one of the men from class just HAD to say it…. “Hey, didn’t we just learn about this in class today?  So, how does it feel?”    I am sure I would have heard God’s heavenly laughter over His earthly lesson if not for the rather loud laughter rolling through my kitchen from all of us. 

           Let’s just say that after that night, I am not likely to forget the precious implications of Jesus’ first public miracle.  And for the record, real men DO eat quiche.