Notice. Pray. Show Up. Love.

Editor’s Note: Welcome to Sit & Listen Saturday featuring Devotionals Daily on Alexa. Enjoy reading as well as listening to your devotional today from The Turquoise Table by Kristin Schell.

In the beginning, the day the unpainted picnic table arrived at our house, I posed a hypothesis: What if we were to take all of our backyard activities — our birthday parties, bubble blowing, messy art activities, barbecue suppers — and simply move them to the front yard? What would life look like if we lived as Front Yard People?

I had a hunch, but not a plan. There was no Front Yard People strategy, no 10-point Turquoise Table action plan, or hokey “Howdy, Neighbor” schedule. Heck, I didn’t really even think about it.

Everyone asks me about the first day, the very first moment at the Turquoise Table. It’s one of my favorite stories to tell — how Susan showed up just a few minutes after I sat at the table. But as much as I love that story and Susan, it is not the most significant moment. The defining moment happened long before the Turquoise Table was even a twinkle in my eye. It was the moment of surrender in the middle of the conference at the Austin Music Hall. When I was so desperate to hear from God with a plan, I begged Him to “SHOW ME! Show me what hospitality looks like to You. Show me how to love others in real community.”

I was broken. I cried out for help. God showed up.

It’s still the same today. Although gratefully not as dramatic. While there is no one- size-fits-all formula for life at the Turquoise Table, in my experience, there is a pattern: Notice the needs of others. Pray. Show up. Love.

Notice. Pray. Show up. Love.

Absolutely, there are days when it’s blazing hot outside or I am tired, but showing up — even fifteen minutes at a time — matters. Love adds up. Love spreads. Love builds community.

Of course, community was always there, ours for the taking. We simply needed a nudge, a new way to see through the busyness and distractions in life. A place to slow down, sit down, and be present.

Excerpted with permission from The Turquoise Table by Kristin Schell, copyright Kristin Schell.

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Your Turn

How has God nudged you out into your community? Are you a Front Yard person? How has that changed your life and neighborhood? Come share with us on our blog. We would love to hear from you! ~ Devotionals Daily