Take. Eat.

NYC was a fabulous surprise for TBC. It started and ended with food, but not the food one might expect from a New York City excursion. No Zabar's. No Carmine's.

Surprise party at Einstein Bagels went well with expected hugs and hurrahs. We Vamoosed it to NYC and eventually missed dinner before the play because we miscalculated the time. Woke up the next morning dreaming about Real NYC Bagels for breakfast Wednesday, and so our search began. But we were distracted and by the time we found any bagel spot at all - much less a great one - it was almost time to leave town. We grabbed a quick snack (leftover Reese's Pieces from play and a pretzel so stale the vendor didn't charge me) and hopped on the bus for the return home - exhausted but happy and reassured that the bus would make the usual stop at a NJ rest stop halfway home.

But then we both got a surprise: the bus driver - channeling my father on road trips ("This car stops for no one") had no intention of stopping at any rest stop. Yikes.

So, there we were, a little hungry. And to make things theologically rich, I was reading Sara Miles' truly great book Take This Bread: The Spiritual Memoir of a Twenty-First Century Christian which is all about every kind of hunger. (Read it.)

And by the time we'd been in that bus for almost four hours, I was starting to claw at the windows every time we passed a Roy Rogers.

So, TBC and I developed a plan. When the bus stopped in Bethesda to drop off the Maryland passengers, I would sprint to the Starbucks across from the stop, grab a couple sandwiches (no time for coffee) and hightail it back before it drove away. I was literally standing up ready to be the first one off the bus when Mr. I'll Drop Them Off When and Where I Want Bus Driver parked a full two blocks away from Starbucks and TBC was concerned I would not make it back in time. So we ditched the quick sandwich plan.

Little did we know, our silly window clawing and conversation about how a stale Starbucks muffin was sounding pretty good had been noticed by our fellow travelers. Almost as soon as I sat back down, the woman behind us said, "I've got an extra Luna Bar. Would you like it?" Before we could say, "Wow, thanks" another traveler had dropped a baggie full of goldfish crackers into my lap on his way off the bus. "I'd love you to have these," he said. And then before we processed this quick act of kindness, another woman handed us a granola bar. Suddenly we had a feast. Our own fish and loaves.

So, as always, God is good and people can be surprisingly generous, and we are home again ready for a new day. There will be people for me to feed, God-willing.

Sara Miles talks about the importance of noticing and trying to understand each other's hungers - especially that of the stranger - and we can't really do ministry until this happens. Ministry is about feeding people.

"It's all about 'Your table is ready.' "