Meow Mix Banquet

Due to the fact that I had surgery and was required to take time off from work (I was not allowed to left more than 10 lbs so I obviously wasn't allowed to lift people at the nursing home), I was able to plan an event at my church. The College and Career Sunday School Class always has a project to minister to the church. This year it is the "Jerusalem Project." The Jerusalem Project is a plan to raise money to send our pastor and his wife on a Holy Land tour with Bob Jones University. The event that I had planned was the "Summer Romance Banquet." The college students had decided to have a nice romantic dinner for the married couples in our church, one that would not cost them a fortune.

Set up was on Friday following my surgery. We decided to turn our old gym into a nice romantic restuarant. Walls were set up with curtains to provide a more intimate atmosphere. Each table was covered with red rose petals and candles. Also the tables had floating candles in bowls of red water on them. Twinkle lights surrounded the room and entrance to the "restaurant," and the lights were dimmed. It was absolutely beautiful, at least I thought so.

The menu was planned and the servers prepared. Couples started to arrive and take their seats. I was definitely nervous. I really wanted it to be special for the couples. Drinks and salads were offered, and then came the main course: lasagna. After all the couples were finished, dessert was served: homemade strawberry shortcake.

As the couples were finishing up, I began to get ready for the game portion of the night. We chose the three most "newlywed" couples to play our first game. One couple had only gotten married two weeks before. It was great fun and we had a lot of laughs. This was followed by a "slave auction." Some of the college and career class, and also some teens were auctioned off for 3 hours of service doing whatever the couple might need. I was the auctioneer, which was certainly interesting in itself. Biding started at $15, and I believe our highest bid was $75. It was really exciting. We raised over $300 that night, with only 20 people in attendence. We thank God so much for this blessing in bringing us one step closer to completing the Jerusalem Project.