The Special Day

I was kidnapped.
I was daughter-napped, really.
I was told to be ready at 7:45 am.
It was my birthday celebration and I was told to ask no questions.

My daughter, who just got married, planned this excursion.
My youngest daughter was also in on the secret.
I got out to the car and discovered that my dear friend was slouched down in the back seat.
Sneaky, I reprimanded her since we had just had an afternoon together the day before.

So what are you doing for your birthday? she asked me as she sat in my kitchen.
She knew all the while what my daughters intended to do.
We drove on the Turnpike.
I knew the general area we were in but had no idea where we were going.

After driving for a while, we pulled into a parking lot.
There it was; a charming studio named, REology.
I still had no idea what we were doing.
I got inside and was greeted by a birthday message on a chalkboard sign.

I did not know where to look first.
Upholstered furniture was painted with chalk paint and made to look like leather.
Wire baskets turned upside down became lights hanging from the ceiling.
Even the main desk in the studio was an old player piano found in a basement.

The slogan that was on the walls and on the aprons was: Paint, Create, and be Merry.
I was thrilled.
It is exactly the kind of place I love.
All sorts of projects can be done during your two hour appointment.

The four of us made wooden signs on which we could put a verse or quote.
My daughter was able to put one of her wedding pictures on a sign for her desk in her classroom.
I knew just the quote I wanted, which was actually a verse from an old John Denver song.
Joy was just the thing that he was raised on, Love is just the way to live and die.

Joy and Love.
Things that are sorely needed now.
Things that I want to be reminded of.
Things that I wanted to permeate our home as my children grew, and want to fill it still.

We stained wood.
We hand painted our signs.
We sanded the edges.
We oiled our finished work.

I looked at the description on REology’s brochure.
A Creative & REimagined Studio Event Venue.
I thought of a verse from Psalms.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14)

Here in this studio ordinary things were REimagined.
Ordinary things were made new.
I felt at home.
I have been made new with endless possibilities and REimaginings.

We left the studio and went to lunch.
We were in the center of my favorite place, the city of Amish buggies.
We ate in a cafe whose name was its address.
We had healthy organic food and enjoyed being together.

My youngest daughter wanted to show me a little coffee shop.
It is a coffee shop by day but it is a church on Sundays.
It is a shop that mimics The Eagle and the Child, where The Inklings used to sit and write.
The Inklings were C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Owen Barfield along with a few others.

These literary giants would meet at the same table and discuss their works in progress.
Oh, to be a fly on the wall for those conversations.
This little coffee shop, The Rabbit and Dragonfly was like a walk back in time.
As soon as I walked into the shop there was a coat closet that was actually a wardrobe.

I entered Narnia with Mr. Tumnus and Lucy painted on the wall.
A large lamppost was nearby.
Fur coats were hanging just as they would have been when Lucy stumbled upon them.
I was like a child in a candy store.

I looked on another wall and there was a full map of Middle Earth.
I felt as if I was looking over Tolkien’s shoulder.
A typewriter was perched on a wall with pages pouring out from the carriage.
Upon closer inspection, I saw the first twenty pages of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

I did not know where to look.
Shelves of books lined the back wall.
A chess board was out on a table begging to be played.
And then I saw her.

A young woman had ordered her lunch and was sitting by herself at a table.
Others were on their laptops at various tables scattered around the shop.
The young woman had her head bowed and she was praying.
She was oblivious to the birthday girl trying to discreetly take pictures as I walked around.

Here, celebrating writers who told a great story, and weaved their faith throughout, she prayed.
In this place, where one would think of the Stone Table and Aslan’s great sacrifice, she prayed.
With everything going on around her, she prayed to the one who joined her at lunch.
It was so simple but it touched my heart.

God is everywhere.
This little coffee shop is a church on Sunday mornings.
I looked in the next room and saw where people meet for worship.
My daughter brought me out to the courtyard where church picnics are held.

The prayers of the people of God were in every crevice of this place.
It was felt.
It was evident.
People are fed here; people are FED here.

I was so glad I came.
I have been made new with endless possibilities and REimaginings.
I am ordinary but God is not finished with me yet.
I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

And so are you!

 

For more information on these special places, click the links below.
http://www.reologystudio.com/
http://www.therabbitanddragonfly.com/

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