Ladies Day Out

Last Thursday I had a get-together for the leaders of the 5 ladies groups. All ten of the ladies invited were able to attend. A miracle in itself. We began at 9 a.m. and finished around 3 in the afternoon. Everyone gathered in my kitchen and we worked together to make our lunch. It was somewhat crowded (11 in the kitchen), but it was a lot of fun, and despite the old adage that too many cooks spoil the broth it all was very edible. The onion chopping was the most competitive activity. Who could chop the most onions and cry the lest!! We made Cheese Pudding (an Irish recipe) and a big pot of spicy Enchilada Soup (a Central America recipe), as well as Oatmeal Cake (a Scottish recipe) for dessert - a very international meal. While lunch baked and simmered we headed for the living room to fellowship and have our devotional.

We went around the room, briefly introducing ourselves as this was the first time all 5 groups had been together. Afterwards, Rebecca Guzman (Ochomogo group) brought the devotional. Her devotional was about the wise men and their gifts to the Christ child. Each of those gifts represent a way in which we as Christians should present ourselves and our talents as gifts to our Lord and Saviour. We should be light and health and goodness in our communities; a walking, talking, breathing reflection of Jesus Christ.

After the devotional we sang a few praise choruses, Carmen (Paraiso group) lead us in prayer, and we spent the next 40 minutes or so enjoying the fruits of our labor in the kitchen. Everyone was amazingly quiet. I commented on the silence. Maria Elena (Nazaret group) laughed and said everyone was too busy enjoying the international cuisine to talk. There were, by the way, NO leftovers! It's a marvel at how fast 10 women can get a kitchen cleaned up and ready for the next part of their day out.

Many of these ladies had never done anything creative in their lives until they joined one of the ladies groups, and they all love using their imagination. For our Day Out project I wanted to do something fun. Eden, one of my daughters, suggested altered CDs. I checked out the idea on-line and really liked it. I spent three days going through my boxes of treasures (Samuel, my husband, calls it junk! Imagine that!). I found all sorts of wonderful things. Beads, bows, colorful paper, bits of lace, cute buttons, old greeting cards, etc. I never throw anything away (a trait I apparently got from my granny). I had been saving CDs for months. Old ones that are scratched or skip or didn't copy right. I dumped my collection of treasures out on the work table, gave everyone two CDs, passed out the scissors and glue, and plugged in the glue gun. Then I got out of the way. I have never seen women have so much fun with junk before in my life. (Check out altered CDs on-line). Around 2:30, everyone began helping with clean-up and headed home. It had been a fun and exciting day for them, and a precious blessing for me.

Pray for the ladies groups. I have 5 presently. I could have that many more tomorrow if funding would allow. There is so much need here.

Blessings,
Kathie