a Holy communing

Mug 'n Muffin arrived at LCC this weekend. Just in time for the ladies here on campus, or so it seemed. It was an idea that came to mind sometime for me last fall, briefly shared with some fellow gals on our Student Life team and then brought back up in our conversations at the start of the new semester in January. Mug 'n Muffin refers to an event just for ladies that started back when I was an RA at Northwestern College. It occurred on a couple of Saturday mornings during the semester and almost guaranteed feminine bonding, all scripted to happen as sleepy female students wearing slippers listened to wise older women share their life stories openly and honestly while sipping homemade mochas from their mugs topped with extra whipped cream. It was an intentional way for women to pass down wisdom to those of us in the next season of life. As a student, I absolutely loved it. My adoration of stories has only continued to grow since then.

I observed early on in my arrival to LCC International University that there is a large female presence on campus...and later found that over 60% of the student body are women. Thus, the ladies have a strong voice in the classroom and are generally the leaders in extra-curricular activities on campus. I started to think, What better way to treat the hard-working ladies of LCC than to their very own Mug 'n Muffin? So, there you have it. I gathered 4 other staff that are about my age, organized a few meetings, shared my vision of what I thought a Mug 'n Muffin could look here, and poof! our very first Mug 'n Muffin appeared this last weekend.

390 handmade invites were sent out to every female student beforehand and about 35 RSVPs were returned. I was impressed by the turn-out as it was a non-traditional way to advertise for events around here. The typical approach is to send out as many emails and hang up as many posters as possible in order to lure in all sorts of unsuspecting attenders. My desire was to create a meaningful time for the women on campus that were wanting to be present. The only problem was that students didn't have any idea how to know whether or not they wanted to be at this women's gathering that invited them to wear their slippers, bring their own mugs and show up with a smile at the early hour of 11 o'clock on a Saturday morning. All questions were supposed to be directed to bjohnson@lcc.lt. No questions appeared.

We were overwhelmed by the crowd that filled the 6th floor hall kitchen on Saturday. The only delay we were experiencing in our preparations was that the homemade chai tea recipe was taking longer than anticipated. Otherwise, the couches were arranged, the coffee was steeped, and the muffin platters were stacked. We watched as ladies continued to file in through the door, taking time to put on a name tag and fill their mugs with their own delicious hot beverage creations - complete with whipped cream & cinnamon-sugar sprinkles. There were almost 65 women in total once we had a chance to count them all. I was even more impressed by the eager spirit I was sensing from this room full of ladies that I hadn't felt at LCC before now. I started out by sharing my hopes for this time together as women and then introduced the 4 women from our community that had been invited to share that morning. Our topic to guide the sharing for our time together was on the different roles that women are able to play in the professional world & at home within the family, as well as all of the combinations of ways you can combine the two. We had women representing all seasons of life share pieces of their life story, including the joys and struggles and decisions along the way.

It was beautiful. The girls seemed to hang onto every word that was spoken. The openness and vulnerability was refreshing. There was lots of laughter and there were sometimes tears. The time for questions that followed lasted more than an hour. All of the questions we had prepared in case no one was asking questions were tossed aside... it seemed as if everyone in the room couldn't get enough of the realness being offered to them so graciously. I was in awe of the respect that filled the room. It truly felt like a Holy moment in which God was smiling upon us. This group of women were giving and receiving wisdom so naturally with one another, in spite of the fact that we were all coming from different backgrounds and beliefs. I am honored to be in a place where provision met a need so effortlessly. It's one of the more encouraging stories to share about being here and why I am grateful for the opportunity to serve. Thanks for celebrating with me.