Coming Home to the Waffle House
A year ago this Thursday morning I got dressed, grabbed a book (I was finishing the incredibly interesting Black Flags, Blue Waters on the history of American piracy), and headed to Waffle House.
Why Waffle House? The same reason I didn't get very far in my book that morning: I was nervous. When things don't feel solid around you, is there anything that beats the reliability of just going home? I had just moved to Mississippi on New Year's Eve and with my recent home, my college town home, my birthplace home, and my hometown home all several hours away, I knew I could count on Waffle House. As Micah Cash wrote in his photo essay for The Bitter Southerner,
[W]hile we wait, we need a place to commune, a place where we feel unjudged and accepted. A place where you can find shelter and calm for a long day on the road or share a meal with your family on a Saturday morning. A place that opens the day after a hurricane because their neighbors need food. A place that allows you order to hash browns exactly how you want them.
I was nervous because as soon as I finished my All-Star I was headed north to Madison where I would be signing onboarding paperwork to become your youth director. Look, don't get me wrong--I was thrilled, but being thrilled doesn't mean you can't also be nervous. Honestly, the two usually go hand-in-hand if you're doing it right.
I have cherished the year since that solo brunch held in the liminal space between jobs. Obviously there are some globally significant aspects of the last year that haven't been ideal. But what a blessed community with whom to walk! You have been so welcoming, helpful, and supportive, and that absolutely includes your students. If you haven't taken the time today to be proud of who they are and who they're becoming, you've already gone too long without doing so.
I don't just bring up Waffle House as a remembrance of that morning; rather, I hope the quote I included tugged at your heart because I hope that sort of welcome is your desire for the church. And I hope you know you've been that for me. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
As I think back on the last year I can't help but also be excited about the year to come and the ways our youth will continue to grow into Christ's calling as we focus this spring semester on what the church does. That gets going Sunday night as we welcome back our confirmands from their special time of formation and get to know each other better by looking at where we each fit in God's vocation for the church.
This new year is going to be filled with opportunities to make our youth feel at home and empower them to extend the invitation of home to others. But first I might have to swing by the Waffle House to safely pick up something to go.
In Christ,
Geoff
