FELLOWSHIP

Saturday night seventeen Sunshine bloggers and friends drove to Huntington and eat at Uno's Pizza. It was a very nice evening to take a drive. Wayne and I enjoyed the drive and we took a walk around Pullman's Square before going into the restaurant. I noticed there are several places to eat in the Square but not many places for shopping.

Everyone had a good time laughing and visiting together. Wayne and I enjoyed playing with the babies. I was thinking later about what a nice visit we had with the young people. We sat next to Gary and Kathy Glispie and had a good visit and talk with them. We see them at church every week but somehow do not get to sit down and just have a visit. All in all this evening was a very good opportunity to fellowship with others.

After we had dinner at Uno's we walked up the street and had ice cream. This was really a treat. The best ice cream ever - anywhere.

Thanks to Tim and Jennifer for encouraging everyone to get together and for making the reservation. This was truly a nice evening.

TABLE CLOTHES

It is good therapy to get together with Christian ladies and do worthwhile projects.

I decided we needed more table cloths at Sunshine Church for the fellowship room. The old table cloths were too small for the tables and getting a little worn looking.

I approached my friend, Ruth Miller, about making some table cloths. Being the good friend and helper that she is, and also the best seamstress that I know, she agreed we needed new table clothes and would help make the table clothes.

Ruth and I set a day aside to shop for fabric for table clothes. We headed up route 23 to Chillicothe to check out Jo Ann Fabric and Hobby Lobby stores. Being lunchtime we had lunch together and spent some time just sitting and talking like women do at times. We spent some more time shopping for other things that we just could not live without. We did a pretty good job at shopping this day having found several things on sale and even some things half-price. You should have seen Ruth down on the floor going thru the sale items.

The fun for our table cloth project had just begun. We bought candles, napkins, flowers, flower arranging containers and a few other small items. When we started out we were only going to get fabric for table clothes. What's a lady to do when she finds so many things on sale?

God was with us, as always, and guided us right to the fabric department at Hobby Lobby and they had the fabric we needed for our table clothes. Guess what, thirty percent off sale. Just what we needed! We bought fifty yards of this fabric and headed back home.

A few days later we met at the church fellowship room to start cutting the fabric for our table clothes. We needed sixteen round table clothes and we had fifty yards of fabric. Ruth, being the good mathematician, figured the amount of fabric we needed for our table clothes and one yard extra just in case she figured wrong. We cut sixteen table clothes and had one yard left over. She should have been a math teacher instead of a seamstress.

The next day we gathered up our sewing machines and thread and started sewing the table clothes in the fellowship room. We sewed for about two hours on our table clothes. Do you know how much sewing there is to finish sixteen round table clothes? A LOT! We had faith that we could and would finish the table clothes.

About lunchtime, our friend Judi Allison, stopped in to visit and have lunch with us. Over to the airport restaurant we walked to get a little exercise and have lunch. I was telling Judi that it will take us sometime to finish the table clothes but we had faith and we'll get them finished. Hint! Hint!- we really need some help sewing the table clothes and I know she is a good seamstress. Also, I remembered that her husband had bought her a serger for sewing. This is the very piece of equipment we needed to finish the hems on our table clothes and Judi knows how to use this equipment.

After a few days rest, Ruth, Judi and I, got together in my home sunroom to sew on the table clothes. Judi brought her sewing machine and serger and helped us finish the table clothes. If not for Judi we would probably still be sewing on the table clothes. We all had lunch together (chicken noodle soup and Chinese salad) and enjoyed the fellowship together. We all three had faith that we would finish our project and that God was there walking beside us all the way.

Th fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness and FAITH. Galatians 5:22

"THE CHICKEN HOUSE"

Today I spent several hours in the afternoon working in my workshop in our chicken house. After a long winter it was time to put away things that got disorganized during the winter months- too cold to spend much time out there. Time to sweep the floor and organize the disorganized.

During warm weather I spend time in my chicken house just about every day. The gardening tools are kept in the chicken house. I keep all my collection of flowers, driftwood and containers in my chicken house. The lawnmower, lawn furniture, Scott's boat, Wayne's tractor and anything that needs storage is in our chicken house.

If you walk around and take a look you will see a lot of memories in this chicken house. The kids and grandkids wagons, scooters, bicycles, go-carts, table and chairs, high chairs and crochet sets are waiting for the next generation to enjoy. Sunshine Church has a corner upstairs in the back for storage. Christmas trees and wreaths are there waiting for the holidays. There are things stored in the chicken house from generations back. I like these memories.

There are items in the chicken house that belonged to my mother and father-in-law. The old mailbox we received the mail in for years at my parents home is sitting on the floor upstairs. An old cabinet from my parents home is still waiting to be repaired and painted. Way back in the corner is a sink that was in the utility room when we moved into our home here by the chicken house. By the way, my in-laws lived in this home before my husband and I made it our home. Our parents are all deceased now so we hang on to these memories.

I invite a lot of my friends to my workshop in the chicken house and now collecting memories of times spent in the chicken house with my friends. We like to get together in the chicken house and work on our flower arrangements and then have a cup of coffee and a cookie. Discuss whatever comes to mind. Anybody that wants to try a craft we invite to the chicken house. We have had garden club meetings, plant sales and auctions in the chicken house.

Ever now and then Wayne and I discuss the fact that we need to clean out the chicken house and get rid of some of this "stuff". Somehow we never seem to find time to clean out the "stuff" in the chicken house. I am thinking maybe deep down we like the memories of the chicken house and our "stuff", so we bypass finding time to clean the chicken house. Too many memories in the chicken house.

A few months ago someone tried to steal our lawn mower from the chicken house. They were unsuccessful. This called for new doors and locks on the chicken house.

So today I am thankful for the chicken house and the heritage and memories of families and friends. God has blessed us with a lot of "stuff" over the years.