Who could that be? I wondered as the cell phone in my purse rang. We were exploring a new store in Stillwater yesterday that I had thought wouldn't open until January, but the clerk said it had been open since Labor Day! "Are you going to go to the Sectional Ministers' Christmas banquet tonight?" our pastor was asking. "I meant to ask you last night at church, but I forgot," he finished.
Oh, we hadn't gotten the info on it, or I had overlooked it on e-mail or something, I realized. I was surprised that Howard wanted to go on such short notice, but we were up for it, especially since we had missed two other Christmas events due to illness. But first, we had to finish our shopping. I found what I was looking for at this store, then we were off to Belk's for their big sale I had read about in a brochure that came in the mail.
Oh, my! That new store must be some competition for them, for they had marked a lot of things down drastically, equal to 80% off! Not much worked for me, but I did find some nice black pants and a sweater. "You saved $95.25," the clerk said as she handed me the receipt! And I had spent less than $15! Thank you, Lord! We had prayed before we left home that God would help us in our gift selections and guide our purchases, and He had!
I had just enough time at home to hem the pants so I could wear them last night with a black sweater. Howard said my outfit looked nice with my red, ruffled shawl my grandson gave me recently as an early Christmas present. I know it felt Christmasy! It was good to see old friends, meet new people, enjoy the food and laugh at a "church signs" video clip for our entertainment. (The funniest was a sign with the name that had blurred into "Meth Church." ) A thoughtful word of encouragement was brought by a young minister who spoke after the meal, and a beautiful Christmas chorus from church youth had begun the evening.
It was a fun evening, but nothing compared to our own church party, held in the private dining room of a restaurant, which turned out to be largely a "roast' of our pastor! He seemed to enjoy it as much as anybody when he was ribbed for long sermons, being a perfectionist, and insisting things be done "his way." All this was put in a song, punctuated by his favorite interjections and warbled to him by one of the braver members of the congregation, much to everyone's mock horror and delight. Outlandish games involving those drafted from among us contributed to side-splitting laughter and good natured fun.
A tender moment came in bidding goodbye to a favorite member who was being transferrred. Someone suggested he lead in a worship chorus he had sung in church on Sunday, and we were soon wiping our eyes in the sweet sorrow of parting, but joyful in the knowledge of the Lord's presence and His keeping power. We left for the nearly hour ride home with full hearts and refreshed spirits. "A merry heart does good like a medicine," the Bible says. A welcome change from bottles of pills from doctors recently!
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