breath and settle into our morning gathering for Pentecost Sunday. Then upstairs with the children where after melon wedges and pretzels we assembled the story of Pentecost as Fred read the passage from Acts 2.
The under-fives headed off to make headbands with paper “flames” while the over-fives and I made “Holy Spirit catchers” aka rings of wire decorated with long strips of flame coloured fabric which stream behind when one runs, sort of like a kite! Very messy to assemble but much appreciated! After some great discussion on the story and a time of prayer we tiptoed down to the kitchen to check on the soup and the children re-joined their families as I put the finishing touches on lunch. Everyone helped me and seemed to enjoy my Indian Red Lentil & Coconut Soup (from Soup for Syria). After washing up I dashed to catch a bus home, quickly walked Wil and then made tea and set up the dining room for our Board of Directors meeting. Soon the house was filled with board members plus my 3 little Godsons and chaos reigned! It is very “interesting” taking Minutes at a meeting where little boys keep popping in to show you their latest Lego structure, and adorable baby crawls through and starts to play in the cat’s water dish while a very large dog occasionally decides to randomly bark thus entailing a quick squirt from a bottle of water! Meanwhile our new President, Nick tried to keep us all focused as we worked through the agenda with an eye on the clock since Nick needed to leave in time to attend the Ordination Service happening at the Cathedral. After the meeting I transformed the table into a setting for our supper and we waited for Victoria to return from a Memorial Service before enjoying or meal – Homemade tortillas with a platter of toppings to fill and roll as desired, followed by fresh strawberries and carrot cake. As soon as everyone was full we whipped all the dishes into the sink, did fast clean up, loaded everyone in the car and hurried off to Crossroads.
It was Jillian’s first Service s the newly elected Director and thankfully there was a good turnout to support her. I had inveigled Steve, from St. Stephen’s to speak and he had prepared a super talk on the meaning of Pentecost, which included several fun clips off the Internet, even a Veggie-Tale song! As the Service was ending I scooted into the kitchen to set out the chocolate fondue with melon chunks and the sparkling mineral water, all off which was soon devoured by a hungry crew of teens. As I cleaned up the Huyers changed the little boys into their pjs for the long drive out to Sherbrooke and I was rewarded with some good-bye hugs before thankfully driving home with Alexander, who had acted as MC for the evening. Amazing what one can pack into a day! I certainly welcomed a good night’s sleep and was so aware of God’s Grace when I awoke this morning to find my knee actually feeling better than it had in days despite being on my feet for most of yesterday.