This week I am volunteering at First Baptist Church in Baird, and in my community. My pastor has given me a “laundry list” of thigs to do. I am happy to serve him. 😊 They are as follows:
- Tidy up the VBS rooms upstairs. Trash anything torn or unusable.
- Straighten the craft supply room upstairs. Sort and trash the old supplies.
- Shop for fresh supplies for craft room and VBS room.
- Paint old table with brown spray paint for Pastors office.
- Retouch black paintings of Jesus and cheerleader and basketball player in the youth room upstairs.
- Organize and re-hang the costumes in the costume closet. Rearrange in logical order according to adult and child sizes.
- Help the music minister update 2 years of library archiving of sheet music and books. He is behind and needs help.
- Visit and welcome the new family (Bob and Cheryl Arbuckle) across the street in Mrs. Gillette’s old house.
- Go to the nursing home in Clyde and visit with Shorty. See if she needs anything.
- Wednesday night help with the meal they are serving for “Jesus Table”.
I painted that 6-foot Jesus on the green wall in the high school youth room a few years ago and he had taken on some damage from the last few VBS activities we had and scratches from just normal kid stuff. So, taking care of him and the cheerleader and a basketball player was a nice time to spend painting alone in the kids room where I had not been a Sunday School teacher for a while since Ivy was younger. She is now 26. Lots of good memories in these rooms and halls. Shuffling and herding her friends and new kids that didn’t know Jesus. There was always some kid who got hauled in last minute and just came to eat a grilled cheese sandwich and ended up coming again next week. We have some pretty welcoming kids in our youth group. To make 100 grilled cheese sandwiches on a Wednesday evening was my job. But there is nothing better than having a group of starving football players and cheerleaders and track runners or basketball players running in the fellowship hall because Miss Kathy will make you as many grilled cheese sandwiches as you can eat! Every Wednesday night this happened when Ivy was in middle school and high school. I had a good 6 year run of it. I miss that!
Aside from the random cleaning of the VBS rooms and restocking new paints and glue and construction paper, markers and crayons, and foam craft kits. These are the times I think I miss the most with the little kids. I think I was the craft leader since Ivy was in Kindergarten until she went off to college in 2012. In the 6th grade she was too big for VBS, so she was the music leader for her dad, and she led the VBS music until she graduated. Oh, because Dennis, her dad and my husband is music director. He has been since 2000. Those were busy years.
“Jesus Table” is a ministry the deacons wives have in our church for the surrounding community. This week they made delicious pots of stew and pans of homemade cornbread, along with homemade cookies and tea and coffee. Every Wednesday evening, they invite anyone and everyone that wants a hot meal. Most of them are the poor and low income in our community. It’s heart warming to see these families and individuals come in and cool off during the heat in July and rest themselves in our air conditioning and get a hot meal. Aside from a handful of church members eating, the fellowship hall is full of people I have never met before that live here in Baird. They all come through the line and the deacons wives make sure each plate has a healthy serving of everything. Once they are all seated, my favorite thing to do is walk around with the tea jug and make conversation. There are some mighty sweet and appreciative people every time we do this. It’s heart-warming to see this. At the end of the meal, we send them home with as much food as they can carry. By the time we have our bible study, most of them stay with us and get a great lesson, plus Dennis always sings a couple of great praise songs. My last-minute job while we clean up is to pack cookie bags for the kids that hang around. They know when I head for the kitchen at the end of the night that I always make sure they have treats to take home. Love these kids.
Today is another day and I am heading over to the Clyde Nursing Home to visit Carol Maddy, we just call her “Shorty”! She is 73 and her husband just passed away a few months ago. She is happy to be in the nursing home because this gives her a chance to visit with the other elderly folks who are not as mobile as she is or clients that have very little family contact. She is the “social butterfly” of the nursing home. She is a member of our church in Baird and taught me to sing alto in Dennis’s choir 20 years ago. She is a masterful vocalist. I know God sent her to us when we joined this church to minister to her and her husband. First Baptist Church Baird has cared for her and Harold, her husband who passed, for as long as they have lived here. She loves to go for walks, so I am picking her up today to walk in the Clyde park which is just across the street from the nursing home. She hasn’t walked in a while and we make a few stops as she catches her breath in our one-mile circle. We talk about Harold a lot and she is lonely for him but is adjusting with all her new friends at the nursing home. We finally stop and sit at a picnic table and talk about some of the things she needs. So, I take down her sizes of clothes and some articles she needs and promise to make a visit to Walmart and get her some comfy socks and a new rob and pajamas. I feel like this helps with her transition. She is so appreciative. Shorty will always be a part of our life.
Today, I ran across the street from my house in Baird to meet the new neighbors, Bob and Cheryl Arbuckle. I take a cherry pie and find out that they are from Colorado. They left because of the legalization of marijuana and the complications of life and attitudes and culture. They have custody of their two teenage grandchildren. It’s complicated and intense. Cheryl stays home with the kids and is unpacking boxes after their move in. Bob works three weeks out of the month in Midland for an electrical company. He is looking for work in Abilene. But they are a cheerful and happy couple. It is hilarious how God sends new friends to us. She is an artist and a little bit crazy like me. Bob is an electrician and rides a Harley like Dennis rides a Harley and is an electrician by trade! And he and Bob look like BROTHERS! We have lots in common, and we are all close to the same age. Looking forward to developing this relationship. Making plans to have them and the kids over for dinner soon.
Just want to say how blessed I am to work side by side with my husband in this church. He is associate pastor now and leads worship through his music. He is well loved by our members. So, I feel like this task my pastor gave me was to help Dennis get his office in order. One major task I have is to archive 2 years of sheet music and books that have been piled on shelves and in boxes gathering dust. This is one of his least favorite tasks to maintain. So, it literally takes me a day and a half to recover his office for him as these white boxes are filled and titled according to their rightful placement on these shelves, along with entry into a log book as to where they are and what they are called. It is not an activity I look forward to, but I find that it rattles my artistic need for something “crafty” to have such an analytical activity. I find myself enjoying the work as dreadful as it presented itself. Needless to say, it was done, and Dennis looked at me like “who is this woman?” Enough said. I love how God shows us new things we learn about each other just as we think we know each other so well. Thirty-four years together can sometimes create comfort that can become everyday life, but Dennis and I have artistic impressions of each other and ourselves and we love it when these moments happen. The situation is embraced. The task was a blessing, even though I went into it with great dread!
Painting a table for the pastor…uh, yeah!
I am thankful that FDLIC has allowed me to take this time to serve my community, minister to church family, meet new neighbors, and enrich my marriage. I am truly blessed to be a part of this company and will forever be indebted.