Friday, June 16


Saying Goodbye to Portugal:
Fresh Bread for Thursday Dinners


I am going to miss Thursday nights, when my buzzer starts humming at 18:50 with teenagers hungry for dinner. Tonight at 18:25, I realized I needed some nice bread with the stroganoff, so I ran downstairs to the Panisol cafe and breadshop on the first floor. It's a Portuguese holiday (again) today, so they were all out of bread, except for 13 fresh rolls. I bought them all, and the nice bread lady laughed, "uma festa, nao e?" (A party, eh?). And I agreed. And then I burst into those happy-but-sad tears as I walked up the stairs to the second floor.

Yes, it was a party. Tonight was the last dinner at my house with these teenager friends who've become like family
over the last three years. We'd cram around the table, share our stories over hot meals, and then saunter into the living room with coffees and teas to sing to God as honestly as we could. And then we'd open our Bibles to ask how to walk like Jesus did. We learned what it meant to be a family, and how to feast on the fresh bread words of God.

4 comments:

lisa said...

oh best nelly in the world! your apartment here has been a shelter where good food for needy souls was generously provided! blessings on your farewells and may we somehow break bread together often in the future!

spain dad said...

hi jenelle. nice place you have here! looks like it didn't take you too long to get the hang of things. If I didn't know better, I would have thought you were blogging for years.

i look forward to stopping back soon.

Melissa said...

I'm getting teary....

I miss it too...

Ellerrad said...

wish i could have been there. love you.

lets break bread in europe together, say like, 5 weeks from now? Does that work for you? : )