Mimi's-mi-mi-mi!

5:44 p.m. Today's project was to meet my girflfriends for breakfast at Mimi's a few miles away on the border of Riverside and Moreno Valley. It had been months since I last joined the group, due to Christmas, my lack of funds, various trips out of town and illnesses, so this was much anticipated. We catch up on ministry, family, prayer needs, current events and one another. Our core group, which is by no means exclusive, is Jill, Sherri, DeAnna, Christine, Vicky, and sometimes Yvonne, Linda M., and most years, me. We got to the point that we could have ordered one another's breakfast!Visiting daughters can join us at any time, of course. On my younger daughter's wedding day in 2008, bride Heather, her older sis Heidi and a number of her bridesmaids joined us at their own fun table. (Train up a child, amen?)

Since Steve's caregiver was on duty until noon and my dad was slated to come visit at 10:00, the 8:30 meet-up time worked.  It wasn't easy to get up at 5:30 after coming in late from Long Beach last night and staying up visiting on Facebook, but several cups of coffee, starting with two at home while I did my daily devotions and Bible study, would do the trick! Our Korean houseguest has flown to Las Vegas for the 3-day Martin Luther King holiday weekend, so I've been feeling rather free of responsibility for the weekend, not that she is any trouble at all. Just one less person at breakfast and dinner through Monday night, and no lunch to pack...

The monthly or every 6 week breakfast date has been going on for several years. My daughters were just out of high school on one memorable Saturday when Steve had gone to work out in Rancho Cucamonga, and I was with my pals. Well into my meal, I got the call in our cozy booth at Mimi's that there had been a two-car collision at our corner, a huge silver truck had come through our flimsy wall, taken out two small trees and broken our wooden fence just feet from our house! With the neighbors and police were already there, and the girls were on the porch in their robes, what was I to do? Despite major auto and property damage, apparently no one was hurt. Heidi was over 18 and had already signed the police report as homeowner, so I finished my fabulous crab and avocado omelette,  called for my check, paid and took a last sip of my latte --after all, I paid for it--and left for home.

I guess wild hysteria is not my style, at least when nobody's been hurt. I've found that I need to trust that the Lord has just the right personnel, both family and professional, on the scene, and I am not indispensable in every circumstance--or let's face it, the Lord would have had me stay at home that morning.  Isaiah 28:16 (KJV) says of a believer's sure foundation and confidence in Christ,

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation; he that believeth shall not make haste.

Once I got home, what a mess. Knocked-down tree limbs were everywhere. A policeman was taking pictures on my walkway with his cell phone, the drivers were talking it over on the sidewalk, our insurance guy showed up momentarily, and Steve was still on his way. A neighbor lady I'd never seen was sitting on my porch with her toddler, and our neighbor  Emmanuel was there, having been the first one to hear the thunderous crash and wake the girls up after he'd called 911. This was quite a neighborhood event! I wish I still had the picture of our forlorn Golden Retriever Kena staring from the backyard through mangled wood slats. Praise God that none of our patio flagstones went flying from the impact! God was definitely there.

We now have a reinforced brick wall and a brick and cast-iron gate. No more easy-breaking wood in the front facing our dangerous corner, with two collisions in 14 years landing in our front yard. The Lord has kept us safe, and that's what matters to us!

Today's breakfast brought two new friends to the group, new commonalities and even new menu items. But our fellowship is golden and unchanging, because it's from the heart. Not one of us has a life the world would call ideal. Illnesses, disability, grown kid issues, house issues, issues afflicting loved ones and friends. All of us would be there for any one of us in a heartbeat. That's because we have the one true source of strength and hope--the Lord Jesus Christ, His word and His promises. He doesn't promise to remove trials from us, but to walk with us through them, carry us through the depths of tragedy such as we are experiencing with Steve's Alzheimer's, and deliver us in His timing. Deliverance could mean healing, the solution to a vexing problem, or a believer's triumphant entrance into heaven!

And Jesus has even provided us slices of heaven such as we enjoyed today--the fellowship of believers. No wonder Hebrews 10:23-25 says,

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together...

We need one another!