How Beautiful

After so many years of putting on the Sweetheart Banquet each February, you'd think that perhaps we'd reach a point where it's standard...predictable...same old, same old.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

God taught me so much in the past week that my mind is spinning.

It started when I received a phone call a few days before the first banquet. One of my kitchen helpers was down with potential swine flu. The next day I got a call that another of my kitchen helpers was "stranded" in Hawaii and wouldn't make it home till Sunday. Breathe in, breathe out. It's gonna be okay, I told myself.

Then I did a trial run of our banquet menu for our high school kids at the SB dress rehearsal. Despite the fact that I'd made the beef tips & mushrooms on the stovetop with much success at home, this time the end result (from the Nesco) was not satisfactory. So two days before the first banquet, my stomach was in knots, trying to figure out how to remedy the problem.

The day before the banquet, I was achy. Feverish. I had a sore throat. No, no, no! I couldn't be sick! I tossed and turned all night (and therefore so did my husband). I think I got about 3 hours of sleep.

The next morning, still feeling feverish, I went downstairs to throw a load of laundry in the dryer and promptly fell down the stairs, hitting my head on the stairs as I did so. I dissolved into a rush of tears at the bottom of the steps, so overwhelmed with all that had been going wrong these past days. I considered laying there till someone found me, but fearing that might take too long, I dragged my sobbing self upstairs to where I might find some sympathy.

An hour later I stopped at the grocery store to pick up my 40 heads of lettuce, reached into my purse to pay for them, and realized my wallet was missing. You have got to be kidding me. Yep, it was still on the computer desk where I'd left it the day before when I was paying bills. So with my kitchen crew waiting for me in the church kitchen, I had to quickly return home, pick up my wallet, and return to the store.

It goes without saying that I was feeling discouraged, overwhelmed, and weak when I finally pulled into the church parking lot that morning. With half my kitchen crew unable to make it that day, I knew the tasks ahead of us were time sensitive and daunting.

But when I walked into the kitchen on Friday morning, I found it already a buzz of activity. For there, God had assembled a team of amazing women that I didn't even realize were planning to help. What a beautiful sight. And I was overcome by emotion, so thankful for the family of God. Despite the fact that seemingly everything was going wrong that week, God once again showed Himself faithful. He provided exactly what was needed in that very moment: reminders that I'm not alone. And I was newly, freshly grateful for the beauty of the body of Christ: His cross that unites us, not to mention our shared burdens, joys, and heart cries.

This weekend could not have happened without the unexpected (yet somehow, completely expected) presence of women who just want to bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ in the way they love and give. The way they selflessly served makes my heart weep with joy! Thank you, ladies, for giving me such a beautiful snapshot of the body of Christ this weekend. I'm left feeling tired, yet so unbelievably full and blessed.

And to all who are wondering, both nights of the banquet were a smashing success! Night two even culminated in a surprise marriage proposal---doesn't get much better than that!