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Yes, you read that right, folks. One five, one comma, and three zeros. We recently
had our annual church picnic in beautiful Inez ,
Texas
What?! Was the
cake filled with diamonds and gold? Were there priceless gems placed neatly on
top? Did the cake possibly come with a
giant, ultra HD flat screen TV? Nope,
nope, and nope.
It was a simple round cake made with flour, baking
soda, salt, sugar, eggs, oil, cinnamon, some vanilla, pecans, bananas, and
pineapple. How could that be worth $5,000 you ask? Well, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t really about
the cake at all. I’m certain it was
deliciously delectable, but what it was about was community. It was about a community coming
together. It was about the generosity of
its parishioners and friends. It was
about the support and love for our faith and for the shepherd who is leading
the people at St. Joseph
Year after year, I am in awe of and admire the
dedication of this small community. With a population of around 2,700, Inez is a
tiny dot on the map. But, you’ve heard
the story of the mustard seed, right?
Tiny can be mighty.
With about 150 families in our parish, I am almost
speechless (that rarely happens for me – heh!) at what was accomplished last weekend. The final numbers aren’t in, but I’m taking a
wild guess that we raised around $100,000.
Whoa.
The amount of money raised is a true blessing, but
what impressed me the most was how everyone worked together like a well-oiled
machine. Every area had a chairperson and countless
eager workers. And, when I mean every
area, I mean that there was a chairperson over each and every item of
mouth-watering food found on the plates we served (barbeque, sausage, fried
chicken, potatoes, green beans, dessert, and tea). (Oh,
that was the best eight bucks I’ve ever spent!
Mmmmm. I’ve never seen a kitchen run
smoother either. I need to see if
they’ll come over to my house!)
We had to-go plates, a cake walk, kids’ games, two raffles,
both a live and silent auction, a country store with homemade everything, card
games, and amazing music by D’Vine Testament. I’m still on
a high from absorbing all of the smiles that radiated from the people who
entered those doors. The laughter that
echoed through the hall still resonates in my ears. Honestly, if you want to know the truth, I
think it was the largest family reunion on this side of Highway 59. We never have traffic jams in Inez…that is,
until church picnic day rolls around each September.
Of course, the picnic day itself impresses me, but
the weeks and days leading up to it do too. Have you ever fried 4,096 pieces
of chicken? Me neither. Have you ever tried to prepare 1,386 pounds of
brisket and 350 pounds of sausage at one time?
I know I haven’t. What about
potatoes and green beans? Sometimes I
fret over peeling spuds for our family of five.
I can’t imagine preparing 750 pounds of potatoes and 720 pounds of green
beans in order to feed 2,000 people! (Yes, that’s how many we served!) Don’t get me started on the quantity of
pies and cakes or the gallons of tea and barbeque sauce! (Mmmm – actually, a pair of my clothes still smell
like bacon and onions from Saturday. I
refuse to wash the aroma away – hee hee!)
Hours and
hours of preparation and many sleepless nights were needed to make it all
happen. A great deal of sacrifice and love is poured
into an event such as this. The love is
tangible and I felt it. I saw it. I heard it.
I touched it. I smelled it. I tasted it.
One of the chairpersons told me today, “It is an immense amount of work,
I will not lie, but it is all worth it for the church!” Awesome.
What about parking, you ask? How in the
world do you park that many cars without mass chaos? Well, get this…the fantastic fellas at our
Inez Volunteer Fire Department help with that.
Then, in return, the awesome guys at our church help to park cars at the
VFD fundraiser the following weekend.
Teamwork. It’s a beautiful “thang”
peeps!
When God’s
people work together, nothing is impossible.
I don’t know about you, but the thought of that takes my very breath away. Nothing is impossible with God. (Matthew 19:26)
The beauty,
goodness, and love of God were so powerfully present for me during our church
picnic. I felt His presence there among the
people. I saw it in their eyes that
day. I felt it in their movements in the
days preceding it as they ran from here to there to make it all come
together. Some of the simplest things of
this world can reveal God if we open our eyes to seeing it.
The world is full
of signs of God’s presence.
God tells us what we need to hear through the bits and pieces of our day-to-day.
It is ongoing. We can be changed by letting God work in and
through us. I often pray, “Use me as an
instrument.” He listens. Many times, I don’t feel that I’m ready for a
certain task, but I know that He will equip me before He asks of me.
So, I’m thrilled that Father’s cake sold for $5,000
and I’m glad it didn’t have diamonds and gold inside. It didn’t
need to. Father Bentil could have had a
tiny morsel of chocolate in his hand and it would have sold for just the
same. Why? Because the amazing people of our community
came together and donated generously of their time, their talents, and their
treasure, all for the glory of God. They
gave of themselves in so many different ways in order for us to catch a glimpse
of Jesus’ love for us. And, for this…I
am grateful.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who helped
make our picnic such a smashing success. Each one of you made it
possible. The behind-the-scenes was just
as impressive and inspirational as the event.
Thank you, friends and family, for coming out in the rain to support our
picnic. Thank you, Lord, for your
abundant blessings. God is good…all the
time. All the time…God is good.
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