MIDWEEK MESSAGE #85
Hello! First, did you miss me? Well…did ya? Then again, maybe I don’t want to know. As you
probably figured, I took the week of Thanksgiving off from writing a MM but I’m back! I hope
you had a grateful Thanksgiving weekend with family and friends, but most importantly with
God, the giver of every good and perfect gift.
We had a terrific Thanksgiving dinner at the Lions Club. In case you were unable to be here
Sunday and were unable to watch or listen to the live stream, I shared some stats from
Thursday’s dinner. Please keep in mind that these stats are as close as I can get since I am
involved in lining up drivers for deliveries.
- Deliveries totaled 77! That number includes personal deliveries with multiple meals at
the same address. We delivered as far as Quincy and even the old Gosport airport. Some
didn’t even know Gosport had an airport. I jokingly called it the “Gosport International
Airport” but it was an airstrip on someone’s land. Fun fact: the one who delivered there
had also taken flying lessons years ago when it was owned by another individual. That
total of deliveries also included all the businesses which were open (gas stations, CVS,
Dollar General, Sheriff and Police departments and EMT’s). - Curbside pickup totaled 5! This was the first time we tried this. The jury is out on it since
we told them to call me when they arrived and they came in anyway to tell me they
were there. - Eat in/pick up totaled 24! This is where my number is a bit shaky since we had people
coming in to eat and others came in asking if they could have a meal to go. We had
approximately 14 come in and ask if they could have a meal or meals to go. We gladly
fixed them for them to take. One woman came in and asked for 4 meals and said how
lonely it was to be celebrating Thanksgiving alone. At the last minute she got a call from
family that they were coming. When she talked about being alone, one of our young
boys went over and hugged her. Way to go Tanner Wood!
So if your math holds up better than mine, we served approximately 107 people (not counting
the leftovers which went to the EMTs). That is the most we have ever served! And we were
thinking we might have too much food. Speaking of which, we ran out of corn, green beans and
pies. But that was quickly solved. As it was we had one pie and a few slices left and no corn and
green beans at the end of the day.
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- Thanks to Jeanna Srinivasan and her mother, Marcia Morris for spearheading the effort
this year. - Thanks to all of you who worked by cooking and baking turkey, hams, and all the fixins.
Without you we would have been sunk. - Thanks to all who came to help serve, pack meals and be “used” wherever you were
needed. - And a special thanks to all the delivery people. This is more of my territory so I need to
say a special thanks to each and every one of you.
- Thanks to Jeanna Srinivasan and her mother, Marcia Morris for spearheading the effort
We received several thank you texts and notes of gratitude (cards and vocally) for our service.
To know someone was blessed by our ministry/service makes it all worthwhile. All of you had
help in making an impact in our community.
Someone said to me Sunday, “We are doing this for Christmas also, right?” I had to tell him no,
because we don’t yet have a coordinator for the Christmas breakfast. I’m going to step out on a
limb and say that this will be the last time an offer will be made for a coordinator. That leaves
just a few short weeks to get the breakfast together. And I will also have to re-reserve the Lions
Club building. So…any takers?
Several weeks ago I mentioned Caleb Hutchison graduating to fulfill his lifelong dream of
becoming a DNR officer. We have another milestone. Congrats to Shelby Wood for completing
her work for a Masters in Human Resources. She walks the plank at Purdue this coming
weekend. This was all while holding a full-time job; being a mom and dad to three active
children (Nikk is deployed right now); and (get this!) doing it with a 4.0 GPA! (In my dreams).
Way to go Shelby!
Something you might (will) want to remember: Sunday, December 26th (the day after
Christmas) we will be having only one service at 10:00. We are unsure of the crowd for that
day so that could be a challenge. Then again, since it is the day after Christmas it might not be
one at all. Each week our Worship Team commits to two services. It is time to give them a
break as well. Please mark your calendar. The youth program will continue as it normally does-
supervised nursery and youth classes.
This past Sunday I started a new series designed to lead us to a special time this Christmas. I’m
calling it “Expect the Unexpected.” My prayer is that this Christmas will hold special meaning to
and for all of us as we think again about the Unexpected Child who became a King.
Couple of extra notes: Jo and I will be gone to Ohio this weekend to visit our daughter and
grandson. Pastor Ryan will be preaching. Also, please be praying for Lindsey Sparks and her
family as they travel to Logan, Ohio for her cousin, Bryce’s funeral.
Have a great week this week. Love you all.
Pastor Bill