Fully Known & Fully Loved
Table Talk
Setting the Table
You are welcome here. Come just as you are, bringing whatever is on your heart today. Take a few moments and allow yourself to just be. Take a couple deep breaths, grab yourself a cup of coffee, light a candle, do something that brings you comfort. Allow yourself to be present in this moment.
Imagine being held in the arms of someone who truly knows and loves you. Consider the comfort, peace, and rest that moment offers you.
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”
- Saint Augustine
Psalms 62:1
Truly my soul finds rest in God.
Psalm 63:1
You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
My soul thirsts for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.
Food for Thought
In college, I spent my summers in Orlando, Florida on a summer project with my college ministry. After the first five weeks of my first summer, my parents came for a visit. I had just gotten back to the hotel after a long, hot day at work when I saw them. As soon as I hugged my parents - the first hug I had given them in five long weeks - I burst into tears. It was like I hadn’t realized I’d been holding my breath for a month. Once I felt their embrace, I could exhale and fall into their open arms. Happiness flowed from my eyes. In that moment, it didn’t matter what else had been going on – how difficult work was, how tired I was, how difficult relationships were – I was now with my parents who knew me and loved me, and my heart could settle down and rest. What a gift it is to feel this way.
The welcome I experienced in the presence of my parents after a long month away reminds me of a welcome I believe is extended to each one of us, in Christ, by a God who loves us, who created us, and who knows us by name. It is a welcome that allows us to exhale, to fall into open arms and find rest. The Lord has promised that one day, we will be embraced by arms that fully know and love us perfectly - a beautiful welcome I long for and will look forward to for the rest of my life.
We all long for a place where our soul feels most seen, loved, welcomed - where we can be completely ourselves, fully known without judgement or shame. We all long for a place of rest and safety that covers us in the midst of all the world might throw our way. A hopeful promise that holds us in all that is awful and all that is awesome.
I can only imagine the joy that will come the moment I am united with the One “my soul longs for.” In the light of that welcome and rest, peace and joy, I imagine I won’t be thinking much of the suffering I have experienced. My body, mind and soul will be made ever more aware of how this is the rest I have longed for, and my heart will rejoice.
Every warm welcome I experience in this life - sweet as is it - is simply a dim reflection of God's goodness in the welcome… And looking toward this future welcome changes how I do everything in this short, beautiful life. My hope no longer resides here. My hope has been anchored in eternity.
Spend a few moments thinking about who or what brings you rest, comfort, and peace. Write those things down and carve out time in your schedule to make them happen!
Maybe get in touch with your artsy side and illustrate a scene that brings you peace (doesn’t have to be fancy, use whatever you have on hand). Perhaps it is an image of heavenly welcome, a quiet moment at the beach, or a joyful time with loved ones.
Blessing
Dear loving Lord,
thank you for offering us
a place of comfort and peace -
a place of rest and refuge
in a world that can break our hearts.
Help us to love ourselves as you do
so that we may offer that same grace
to one another.
A little Table Talk for your table...
Discuss a few things or people that allow you to feel peace, comfort, and rest?
Talk about the welcome extended to us by God. What does that look like to you? What does it feel like?
How could this promised welcome affect what we do and how we live our daily lives.
Try taking it to the Kids Table...
Sit down with your kiddo and create a list of things that bring peace. (Is it when they’re with family, friends, doing a particular activity, etc.?)
Talk about what makes those things special and why they like them.
Carve out a few moments in your schedule to do one of the activities on their list.
Meet our Welcoming Voice!
Olivia Bunce is a graduate of North Carolina State University and a current graduate student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. She is pursuing her Masters of Arts in Marriage, Family and Individual Counseling with the hopes of becoming a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She resides in Raleigh, North Carolina and enjoys reading, going on walks, and spending time with her family and friends!
To hear more from Olivia throughout the week, follow along on our Instagram!