"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit, and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all."
-1 Corinthians 12:4-6-
"Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!"
-Psalm 133:1-
We just finished a week where the truths in the verses came alive in new and meaningful ways. Our church hosted the annual Great Lakes/Gulf Presbytery meetings February 27-March 1, 2014. From meals to transportation to housing delegates in homes, it was encouraging to see the Body of Christ with varying strengths and gifts unite together and offer warm hospitality to all those who attended.
Our family volunteered to coordinate all the snacks and meals for the three days of meetings. What a task that brought much joy and fellowship! True, there was much labor involved, but the satisfaction of serving our teaching and ruling elders and seeing their needs met far outweighed the early mornings and late nights.
Preparation for all this actually began a month ahead of time. Every Sunday afternoon, Mom, Kathy, and I would sit down with cups of tea in hand and go through our list of questions, make a new list of to-do's, hammer out menus and amounts, and finalize our shopping list. It proved to be a fun family project! And it was rewarding to see all the planning come to successful fruition under God's blessing last week.
On Wednesday afternoon, Mom and Kathy made the final food and supplies delivery to the church, and I helped them unload the van, organize the kitchen, and set up the dining room. Here we are trying to figure out where to put everything. Thankfully a system of organization quickly developed!
We tried to add a feminine touch to each of the tables:
Our dinner on Thursday night consisted of a noodle casserole, salad, steamed carrots, homemade bread, and cake. Everyone seemed to enjoy it.
The mid-morning and afternoon snacks always looked so colorful and delicious.
Reinforcements arrived mid-morning on Friday with homemade Italian Vegetable soup and Caesar salad. We are grateful to the Pokone family for preparing this meal for us and bringing along some extra help! Here we are hard at work:
For the Friday evening meal, we arranged for a fresh set of workers to come throughout the afternoon and evening to help with setting the tables, preparing the dinner, and washing all the dishes afterwards.
The menu: roast, mashed potatoes (albeit a little burned... :/), salad, bread, green beans, and pie. It all tasted wonderful! Pat Turner's homemade pies were a particular hit with all.
Many hands made light work that evening. Even with all the messy tables and dirty dishes, we made it home by 9:30pm.
On Saturday morning, we prepared a light mid-morning snack and offered sack lunches at the conclusion of the meetings. Here are the lunches ready to go:
Once the last person had eaten, we went about packing up leftover food, cleaning the kitchen, and loading up all our supplies.
What a full week! Not to mention the regular office work, in the midst of all this, my office printer had to be repaired. On Thursday afternoon, it looked like this:
And the parts were all over the table...
Thankfully God provided a competent repairman and I was still able to complete all the office work and print needed documents for the meetings. It's ironic how things break down the times you need them the most...
It was a wonderful week of serving together with the Body of Christ. God richly blessed our efforts, and we thank Him for all that was accomplished and for the memories that were built in His house.
