Well, I would have to say that the
Bethlehem Street Market and Craft Fair was a rousing success, although I have
no idea how much money was raised. The
number one concern for the vendors is always lots of traffic, of course, and
the vendors were not disappointed. I was
worried at first, since we woke up to a line of showers moving through the
area. It’s hard to be disappointed
whenever we do get rain here, but I was hoping it would hold off for a
day. The sun eventually broke through,
though.
As I was driving in to the church I began
to notice some new signs on the side of the road: “Bethlehem 6 miles.” “Bethlehem 4 miles.” Great idea.
And apparently it worked. All morning
the church property was crawling with folks everywhere. Over at the bake sale booth, Cindy Bell was
worried that she would have a lot of sugary stuff to take home and of course
not let go to waste. Because of the
crowds, though, her waistline is safe for another day. The booth completely sold out. The garage sale room (Gentile-ly Used
Treasures) did really well, too. All
items were offered for the price of a customer donation – you set your own
price. One lady had a small item to
purchase and asked what the money was for.
When told it would help students get to summer camp, she handed over a
hundred dollar bill. The goats were a
big hit with the little kids. At the end
of the day, while the Stone Family was loading their car, one of the goats was
left tied up on the deck right above them.
The poor thing began to feel lonely and starting “maa-ing” - a pitiful
wailing sound, as if to say, “Don’t forget me.”
It was so mournful and so loud that one of the neighbors walked over to
make sure some child wasn’t being mistreated.
The horse rides were a huge addition to the activities. They even talked me into getting on one of
them. Interesting sight. Me in my biblical garb. I felt like Lawrence of Arabia. The Seaside reunion went great as well. Folks from eras past returned for a potluck
lunch. It was great to see Jennifer and
the Hutchinsons and the Antleys and the Goldsberrys and Paulette and the
Freemans and more. The food was, as
always, fabulous. Thanks so much to
Dennis Allen and Steve Trapman for frying some turkeys for the
festivities. Corey Geran was back for a
time, playing his fiddle to the delight of the crowds. Chris and Mom even made it out in time to get
some lunch. I gave out a bunch of candy
canes with a poem I wrote about Jesus tied to them. By the end of the day we were pretty much
exhausted. Well, I was at least. Jimmy announced that Christmas Caroling would
be postponed until Sunday evening, December 16th, at 6 p.m. Nice call, Jimmy. I think everyone will enjoy it a lot more if
we can be fresh. Gives us a “next thing”
to get excited about.
Psalms 46:1-3 says, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth
give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters
roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”
Father, thank you for what turned into a
gorgeous day yesterday. I hope you were
glorified in what we did. Amen.
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