A Road Side PicNic Table

  Let's take a trip. Drive on Hwy 242 East out of Roseboro and keep going right into Bladen County.  Go all the way to Hwy 53 and make a left and then an immediate right onto Hwy 701 and drive into Elizabethtown. Be ready to stop at the traffic lights because if you've ever driven through E-town, you know you'll run into a red light. When they turn green keep going down Hwy 701 to Hwy 87. I believe I've had to stop every time at the traffic light at 87 and 701. When it turns green, go straight across. A short distance down on the right hand side of the road you will see a blue NC DOT sign that reads "Roadside Table Ahead". Sure enough, a short distance further on the left side of the road is a roadside picnic table that is chained to a tree.

  When I first saw this picnic table it brought back memories of my childhood. My mom and dad separated on Halloween, 1972, but before that I remember that every Sunday we took day trips. Don't remember where we went but I know we went. You wouldn't find a fast food restaurants on every corner back then.  If you wanted fast food you would pull over and go to the trunk of the car, because that's where momma would keep the basket full of fried chicken, potato salad, homemade biscuits and the jug of sweet tea.

  On our family day trips, daddy would pull over at one of these tables and all of us kids would jump out of the car and take off into the woods or the fields and go exploring or playing. Daddy would walk around or sit at the table and just seem to relax. Momma would go to the trunk of the car, get out the baskets and go to the table, spread out a table cloth and put out all that food. When it was ready, daddy would holler for us to come and eat and we would come running. At that time I was next to the youngest which meant I had the fourth shortest legs so I got to the table behind my two older brothers and sister. This meant my younger brother and I would be left the two chicken legs.

  After we finished eating, off to the woods we would go and momma would clear off the table, repack the baskets and dad would call us to get back into the car and off we would go to continue our journey fully filled and refreshed for whatever came next, and we would never know what it would be.

  We as Christians and we as the church are like roadside picnic tables.  We should be a place where one can pull over from the journey of life; be a place where one can find a place of peace; be a place where one can receive the nourishment of the faith we share and gift of the Spirit that we hold dear.  We should be the place where one can be ready to continue the journey of life prepared, equipped and ready for the road ahead and the missions that God lays along the way.

  When we describe our churches, just maybe, instead of describing the beauty of the churches in which we worship, just maybe, just maybe we can say "We have four legs, we're wide at the bottom and we're flat on top and we're here for you."