NOW THAT'S BAZAAR!

I wanted to share some pictures of our annual bazaar with you! Our church has held a bazaar nearly every year for as long as I can remember. I've been there almost 30 years--so that's a long time!

We almost always make raised doughnuts, which are a highlight every year. Often people would line up for the doughnuts well ahead of the opening time. We could hardly ever make enough! Here is a picture of some of them along with homemade cinnamon rolls.

Several dedicated workers get up in the middle of the night to start making the doughnuts so they are fresh and ready for customers at 8 am.

As well as the food, we also have a baked goods area and many handicrafts. Notice the quilts and comforters. All the stuff pictured with the quilts was auctioned--among which are the antique embroidered kitchen towels that my Mom and I saved out of a box of stuff given to us last summer. We washed them and ironed them the day before the sale. They ended up being a $50 item and we were thrilled with that.

Several years ago we started a rug project. You can see the many lovely rugs hanging on the bars also. The ladies of the church sew up the rags or new material that's been donated and then send them off to be woven. The rugs are a popular item each year. The comforter on the far right of the bars was not sold but ended up being donated to a family who lost their house in a fire that same week. The love of Christ was extended beyond our walls with the present of a comforter. In addition to all that we sell lots of crocheted items and Christmas decorations. We even have a bit of a rummage sale. The bazaar is unique each year because of the donated items. No two bazaars are ever alike! We once cracked over 100 dozen eggs to make noodles and angel food cakes!

For the last several years we have had a few hogs butchered and had whole hog sausage available. This is a very popular item. Some of the men grill it as well and sell sandwiches. I had my share--yum, yum!

All the proceeds go to missions. Despite the poor economy, we did well this year and the money will be appreciated by the various groups that receive it. A lot can be accomplished with everyone working together. With everyone pitching in, each little effort goes a long way! Isn't that the way it is in the body of Christ? Few of us are the big evangelists that draw large crowds and minister to thousands upon thousands. So we still need the local church. We learned a valuable lesson about all this last week. Clint taught Bible class for a local Christian high school back in the mid 1990's. He had just a few students but he faithfully presented the truths of Bible doctrines to these teenagers. In the recent election one of his former students was elected to the United States House of Representatives! Another lady from our church was one of this man's school teachers and one of our men in the congregation coached him in basketball. This was a sobering thought for us as we realized we never know who we are impacting when we think we are just doing the little things (like teaching three or four kids around a little Sunday School table). Though this man was not from our church and now lives a ways away, who would have ever thought that someone from such a rural place would end up in Washington for "such a time as this."? I like to think Clint was able to positively impact this person's life who is now serving the United States in Washington, DC! Keep doing the so-called "little things," that God assigns you to--you never know what the impact will be! Blessings, LORI

A LITTLE REPORT

I'm taking time to give you a little update and explanation! I wanted to post pics of Tennessee, but Rhiannon tells me we must go use a different computer in order to do so since her mega pixels (do I have that right?) are set much higher and etc., You get the idea! So for a few days, bear with me, please.

If you can, please pray for us in the next few days. I took my mom to the e-room this morning at 6. She thinks she had a gall bladder attack. She had one a year ago and was scheduled for surgery when other complications set in preventing it. She's been fine ever since and so did no more about it. It's been a long, ongoing problem that crops up only occasionally. Kind of an annoyance and not a real big emergency. Still it's very hard on her and I have had a tendency in the past not to handle sickness in the family real well. I rarely ever get sick myself and the thought of visiting the hospitals and dr.'s offices is uncomfortable to me. I have fought worry alot in my life and this challenges me, though I have grown greatly over the years by feeding on the Word. I believe worry is a sin since Jesus warned us against it. I have tried diligently not to allow it to have a place in my life. This situation of a family member under the weather is one of things that will attempt to set worry off in my life. I would therefore, appreciate your prayers for our wisdom and discernment as a family and my ability to live in peace and confidence. I believe according to scripture we have been given all we need for life and godliness--that includes peace and wisdom. Therefore, I am just needing to learn to draw that out from the riches of Christ in me. (Read the first 3 chapters of Ephesians for an explanation of the great power that resides in the Christian!) That's where my friends who pray come in! If you pray for me, pray that I will walk in the will of the Lord and not in fear and worry through this and any other challenges.

I also would appreciate your prayers for the last few bits of work on the publishing of the sequel to "The Fields of May," which is "A Sturdy Fence." I have a few things to do that should have been done two weeks ago. It involves computer stuff that I don't completely understand. I am therefore, behind schedule. This new development of mom's possible surgery threatens to shove that further back. Please pray for things to fall into place with the speedy release of this book.

Our church bazaar yesterday went so well. Our total proceeds were up to nearly $4000. We are thrilled in such an economic downturn to have generated that much. It's all going to missions and that is a big blessing! I helped with the baked goods. We had more than we've ever had donated. We were absolutely flooded with homemade goodies! Also we had quilts, woven rugs, and many other handmade items to sell. Some of the food included, raised doughnuts, pies, fried pies, soups, biscuits and gravy, whole hog sausage, etc. Wonderful! This morning a teen ministry group was with us and church was followed with a fellowship dinner and a pastor appreciation session! We were presented with a cake and several folks brought cards and gifts. How lovely!

I appreciate so much that you take time to ready my posts. Til, I can tell more wonderful and interesting Tennessee news.....Blessings, LORI