TUCSON BORDERLANDS YOUNG ADULT VOLUNTEERS

  • Home
  • About
    • Current Volunteers
    • Community Partners
    • 2020 Annual Report
  • Get Involved
  • Donate
  • YAV Stories
  • 20th Anniversary
  • Community Workshops
  • Home
  • About
    • Current Volunteers
    • Community Partners
    • 2020 Annual Report
  • Get Involved
  • Donate
  • YAV Stories
  • 20th Anniversary
  • Community Workshops

Foosball. by Emma M

12/24/2019

0 Comments

 
This summer, one of the things I found myself doing with my younger brother was going to this local pizza place in Swannanoa where they had a foosball table and good pizza/subs/wings. Miles and I would sit down, decide what we wanted to eat which was usually sharing a Cuban sandwich, order, and then immediately go play foosball. We would play many games before our food came and after before heading back to our normal summer lives. I didn’t realize how important that time was with my brother until I was leaving NC and started missing him when I got to Arizona. It was a chance for us to just play, have a little friendly sibling competition. It was a time for me to just spend time with a great not-so-little brother and catch up with him. 

When I arrived at The Inn for the first time, one of the first things I noticed was a foosball table. There were kids playing at the table. When families arrive here, often the first things the kids notice is the table/people playing foosball. Their eyes light up and they run over to the table immediately to join a game/start playing. The other day I watched a dad who arrived at The Inn half an hour earlier walk around while singing a lullaby to his infant who was falling asleep on his shoulder. As soon as the baby fell asleep and was placed on a bed, the dad ran over to the foosball table and joined a game with some older kids and another dad. A few minutes later, his wife came up and reminded him that he should go shower while the baby was sleeping. The dad reluctantly went to go shower. 
Picture
Over the past few months here, I have seen how this table is a source of joy for so many people of all ages. Every day there are kids playing constantly for most of the day. Occasionally parents in the evenings will kick the kids “out” (away from the table) so that they can have an adult-only game. Usually, moms vs. dads is how that works out with the kids cheering around their parents. On the day I wrote this, December, 16th,  two moms, a dad, and three kids were playing a game. Hearing the laughter, seeing the smiles, feeling the excitement in the room from other kids watching, was something very life-giving for my Monday. 
Picture
For Christians, “the table” is a very important concept. We are referring to the communion table. For almost as long as I can remember, I have been taught that the table is open for everyone. The table extends past all boundaries and is a place for conversation, peace, fulfillment, and the joy of the love of God. At The Inn, I get to witness this table, a foosball table, welcoming people of all ages. When a six-year-old invites a four-year-old to play by pulling up a little chair for the smaller human to stand on so they can reach the handles, I see the table in a different context and setting. 
Picture
The Communion Table from Montreat Youth Conference 2019 in Montreat, NC.

Playing with Miles this Summer was an easy way to pause, breathe, reconnect with my brother, and just play. It provided me time to not think about my work schedule, moving across the country at the end of the summer, drama, or other stressors in my life. I could just be. Watching people of all ages play, laugh, cheer, and be together over this table at the Inn  is truly special to see. It is always fascinating to see other forms of God’s table being extended. At the table, we receive nourishment in the form of bread and wine (or grape juice). At the foosball table, folks are nourished by finding joy in a hard place on their journeys.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    2017 2018
    2017-2018
    Agua Prieta
    Biking
    Border
    BorderLinks
    CHRPA
    Colonization
    Community
    Community Food Bank
    CRREDA
    Deportation
    Desert
    Education
    Emily Oshinskie
    Expectations
    Faith
    Flash Blog
    Florence Project
    Frontera De Cristo
    Grace Dover
    Hospitality
    House Of Neighborly Service
    Immigration Detention
    Iskashitaa
    Jake Crowther
    Justice
    Keep Tucson Together
    LGBTQ
    Migrant Resource Center
    Migration
    Militarization
    Pandemic
    Posts In Spanish
    Primavera Foundation
    Privilege
    Race
    Refugee
    Sermon
    Sojourn
    Southside Presbyterian Church
    Spiritual Practice
    The Inn
    Tucson
    YAV 2014 2015
    YAV 2015 2016
    YAV 2015-2016
    YAV 2016 2017
    YAV 2016-2017
    YAV 2018 2019
    YAV 2018-2019
    YAV20192020
    YAV Life

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    December 2017
    September 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014

Tucson Borderlands YAV
Send mail: 400 E University, Tucson, AZ 85705
Call/text: (520) 355-4YAV Email: tucsonborderlandsyav@gmail.com
Connect with us on instagram and facebook: @tucsonyav
We are located on traditional Tohono O'odham and Yaqui homelands.

Donate
Creative Commons License