I’d never heard of a “salad buffet” before. “Salad bar,” yes. But “salad buffet”? No. A surprising array and tasty display awaited me at NCMC’s 2010 Women’s Spring Fling.
That’s the event which brought me from hot Orlando (we’ve been in the 90s already!) to surprisingly chilly Wauseon, OH. As we were packing for the trip, I asked Mike, “What do the 50s and 60s feel like? Do I need a winter jacket, or a light wrap?” Living in Orlando’s tropic-like climate spoils you for any weather requiring layers!
Photo by Laura Rupp
The Women’s Committee at NCMC asked me to consider coming north for a few days to speak at their annual spring event. As Mike’s home church, they’ve been so supportive of God’s call in his life to full time ministry. I knew I’d go out of my way to make sure I could say “yes” to their request.
When I walked into the church on Thursday night, I couldn’t believe my eyes! I wish I had a pic to show you. There were two long tables, standing parallel to each other, completely filled with different sized bowls and casserole pans. The contents of those containers made a gorgeous and mouth-watering display. In my mind I imagined a bowl of romaine lettuce and a plate of sliced tomatoes. But this was every picnic salad I’d ever heard of, plus more!
They had macaroni salad, potato salad, taco salad, Ramen noodle salad, jello salad, fruit salad, broccoli salad, and salads I’d never seen before! Who knew there were so many different kinds of salads? I sure didn’t!
Photo by Laura Rupp
After an ample dinner, we moved into the sanctuary where I talked about pulling the weeds from your heart so you can live a fruitful life. God is the one responsible for the fruit, but we can cultivate the soil. We talked about the different kinds of weeds that threaten to choke out the Gospel, like the weeds of worries and the cares of this world, and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun.
As the evening closed, we talked about five things that can help you connect to God’s heart for a lifetime, and then I reminded all of us that when you walk with Jesus, the best is yet to come.
As the women left the church and returned home, they picked up their empty bowls and casserole dishes. Some of the men of the church washed the empty bowls during the evening talk, and had served coffee, tea and water during the dinner event.
For me, it was wonderful to be in a room full of such a strong sense of community, connection and care. Those men seemed delighted to serve the women so they could enjoy the evening. And the women seemed to relish (haha!) the opportunity to be together.
My thanks to Melissa and the Women’s Committee for inviting me to participate in the 2010 Women’s Spring Fling. What a blessing to me!