Hillbilly Hideaway

We spent the evening at Hillbilly Hideaway

and what an evening it was! 

More food than you can even imagine, celebrating a birthday,

and some real country music.

 

 

 

Don't let the two pictures shown above fool you.  Things were

relatively quiet while we waited on the bowls and platters of food.

Chatter increased as we shared the meal, lots of laughter and

some sweet sister-style fellowship.

 

 

 We had the joy of sharing Mrs. Opal's birthday.  May I say

she has celebrated her 39th birthday a couple times!

She is Dawn Lamb's precious Mother and we loved

having her with us.  She loved, loved, loved the music, too!

 

 

After the meal we headed for the little building kind of down over

the hill where live music is the entertainment of the night. 

Well, it is the official entertainment but the Sisters

kind of entertain themselves. There was some picking and

grinning with hand clapping and toe tapping.

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, we had another fine time.  Sisters, friends, mothers

and daughters all connected by the love of the Lord for

His daughters.  Fine time was had by all.



Bethany Cafe

Several months ago, First Christian Church decided to join
forces with Main Street Methodist Church and feed anyone
who needs a meal on a specific day each month.  Main Street
has the first Saturday of each month and FCCM has the second
Saturday of each month.

Any an all who need a meal with no questions asked are invited
to come.  The red carpet is rolled out and guests are treated to
a lovely meal served at decorated tables.

Single Sisters and Friends wanted to help so we offered our
services in May, June, October and November.  Bethany Café
is run quite well with Angela Stewart at the helm and Ellen Mantel
and her staff in the kitchen.  Tons of other people pack and deliver
meals to shut ins, wait tables and provide a warm welcome.

The Single Sisters and Friends rolled silverware,

set the tables,

 

 

decorated each table with mirrors provided by Beth Lilley topped

with happy little chefs provided by Dorothy Mantyla.

 



Then came the desserts.  So many cakes in so many delectable
flavors.  The Sisters cut each one, boxed some for home deliveries
and others were served with the meal.  Yum, yum, yum!

 

 

To be perfectly honest, there was a bit of delight when a piece or

two or maybe even three did not come out of the pan just right. 

In that case, some of us had to be the dessert samplers, dividing

a piece of cake into many tiny bits to share and enjoy!  

The Single Sisters and Friends really know how to bake a cake!

 

Special thanks to each and every lady who helped with our

part of Bethany Café this month.  The work is not hard but

seeing the way the guests enjoy the meal is one incredible

blessing!  Thank you, Lord, for letting us serve you by serving others.

 









Babies, Bunnies and Worship

March has been one busy month for the "Sisters.  While we are
certainly all about fellowship and forming Christian friendships,
we decided long ago to make service a major part of our activities.

Early in March we teamed up with the Orphan Care Ministry to
make another hundred baby dolls for the 2013 team to take with
them to Ethiopia in June.   Once the brown fabric was cut out and
stitched, we had to stuff each baby with piles and piles of poly-fil.

Some of us stuffed...

 

and stuffed...

 





 

 

and we thought we would stuff some more.

 

 

There was always chatter and giggles...

 

and the joy of being together using hearts and hands

to bring love to the orphan child.

At this point in time, most of the 100 dolls have been cut out and

stitched andeven stuffed and hair applied.  Now all those babies are

having adorable faces painted on them. 

During March and the month of April, our team of

baby doll fashion designers are working hard to made a unique

one-of-a-kind outfit for each and every doll!  

The Sisters love helping with the babies.

Baby dolls were not all that was on our calendars for March. 

Each year on the day before Palm Sunday, we take the

Easter Bunny, packages of cookies and tons of hugs to

Piedmont Christian Home in High Point.



 

 

This year we had a new bunny with us. 

Michael Nutter bravely put on the very hot suit

and delighted every resident at the Home. 

 

 

The Sisters wore our bunny ears, filled our baskets with

Easter cookies and joined the fun.  Our precious friends at the Home

danced with us and looked on in amazement

as we Hokey Pokey'd and did the Bunny Hop.

 

 

 

Once our time at Piedmont Christian Home came to an end,

Bunny Michael and some of the Sisters

shared a moment in the parking lot.

 



If that wasn't enough of a good time, Bonnie Smith invited all of

us to her home for one delightful lunch. 

After doing the Hokey Pokey and the Bunny Hop for an hour,

we really enjoyed Bonnie's absolutely delicious meal! 

 Thank you Michael Nutter and Bonnie Smith!

So, you thought that was all we did in March.  Oh, no! 

For the last several years the Sisters have wanted to serve the Choir

and Staff on Resurrection Day.  The Worship Ministry and the

incredible Staff at First Christian work so very hard to provide

services that take us to a real place of worship at the throne of the Father.

 

This year our Easter services in Kernersville started at 8:00 and

continued  all the way through four services.  To help them lead us in

worship, the Sisters offered some calories, well lots of calories, 

whenever they could drop in and eat a bite.



 

Some grabbed a goodie on the run while others checked out all the

yummy dishes from fruit, veggies, sandwiches and desserts including

Bettie Lange's favorite Strawberry Cakes.

 

 

Some tables were color coordinated.

 

While others looked happy to be serving in the House of the Lord

Well, they were color coordinated, too!

 

 

All in all, March was a month filled with lots of hours of service

but more hours of blessing and sweet fellowship.

Thank you Father for allowing the Sisters and Friends

to be a part of your Family of the Redeemed.

 



The Single Sisters and Friends obey James 1:27

During the last several weeks the Single Sisters and Friends 

once again joined forces with the Orphan Care Ministry. 

 

The Orphan Care Ministry has a team who will be serving in

Ethiopia this summer.  They will be playing with, loving on and

serving many children in orphanages and day care centers.

 

The Sisters pitched in making bracelets of every colors, many

featuring acadia beads and wrapped paper beads made by the women

of Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda.

 

 

Special thanks to every Sister who provided beads or designed and

strung every bracelet.  Special thanks to those who

bought what they made!!

 

 

NOW WE NEED YOUR HELP....bracelets will be on sale

at both High Point and Kernersville campuses 

Sunday, February 24. 

They are only $10 each with every penny going to

help the team go in our place.

 

 

Please see Laura Vera in High Point

or visit the Orphan Care Ministry table in Kernersville

to purchase a bracelet or ten!

 

Meet the mission team:

Team member Regina Gause

 

Team member, Beth Lilley (on the right)
with friend Jeanne
 



Team member Robert Miles


THOUGHT TO REMEMBER...some go...some send...
some buy bracelets to send! 

Questions?  Comment on this blog or email
sandra.ward@earthlink.net

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

Men to the rescue!

Sooner or later there comes a time when the Christmas decorations
must come down and when they come down, they have to be packed
away and stored someplace.

In the past we have stored boxes of decorations in the home of some
of the sisters...  in their attics, their storage buildings, their garages
and even under their beds!  Other years we have put all that stuff in a
pack rat or in a storage unit.  We tried to store it all at FCCM but
as large as that facility is, every nook and cranny seems to be filled
to overflowing.  You have heard the phrase "no room in the inn"?
Well, there was no room in the church building.

We decided to purchase a storage building and put it on the church
property but this ole gal could not figure out the pros and cons of
different buildings for purchase.  Some had floors, some did not.
Some had roofs, some did not.  In my mind, we need both a roof
and a floor!

Before the Seekers Bible Class began one Sunday morning, I asked
for one of the men to volunteer to help me select the best building
to purchase.  Marshall Riggins immediately said "Why don't we build
the Sisters a storage building?"  Well, now, if you know me at all, as
soon as someone offers to do something for us, I jump on it and within
minutes Marshall is sketching a building and asking the other men to assist.

The project started with Marshall Riggins!

Before I knew it, the men were on it!  Marshall and his crew of  helpers
along with the Helping Hands Ministry from FCCM worked numerous
times in all kinds of weather.  They cut, hammered and climbed all
over the place until bit by bit it started to come together.

Looks like it is going to be a storage building!

Nice big double doors will make loading and unloading so easy!

Now it has sides and the roof is going on!

One Sunday morning after Bible class, some of the sisters had a look
at the nearly completed building.  You may have heard of tree
huggers?  We were building huggers!

Building huggers

Finally the call went out that the building was complete enough for
the decorations to be placed inside it.  Thinking it would take the sisters
a month to get all that stuff moved, we asked the Seekers Class for
some help from the men and help they did!  Within one hour, all
those boxes and bins of wreaths, garlands, bows, ornaments and trees
had been hauled to their new permanent home in the new storage
building.  It was all accomplished with lots of laughter and a great
attitude of service by one and all.  See how happy the moving crew was?

Moving crew

The Single Sisters and Friends sends a huge thank you to each and
every person who helped with building and filling the new storage
building.  Special thanks to Marshall Riggins for spear heading the
entire project.  Bobby Bower has volunteered to paint the building
once the weather cooperates.  We considered having it painted hot
pink with the Single Sisters and Friends' logo all over the side but
decided to let Bobby select the colors. 

THANK YOU ALL!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Christmas Luncheon

Single Sisters and Friends had our first Christmas Luncheon

 at the Community House in Kernersville. 
The quaint house which was decorated for Christmas was a lovely

backdrop for some of the table decorators shown below:

-----------------------------------------------------------

 

Sue Giachero set a beautiful table featuring Lenox dinnerware

on red chargers surrounding a centerpiece of Christmas greenery

in sparkling white ice skates.



-----------------------------------------------------------------

 

Robin Beck delighted her table guests with snow people surrounded

by frosty snowflakes and dinnerware featuring snow people as well.

Each table guest was thrilled with the handmade snowmen they

took home!

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Shellie Watkins set a festive table with red dinnerware on white

chargers and jewel-edged snowflakes surrounding a snowman in

his own top hat. Crisp red and white linens and fine stemware

completed the design.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------

Michelle Morris put smiles on her table guests with a delightful

snowman centerpiece surrounded by sparkling snow. 

Happy snowmen on Christmas red plates along with red and white

linens put everyone in a real festive mood.

Three large tables were covered with delicious food and as soon as we

settled down after our meal, Penny Prater blessed every heart with

songs of Christmas.  We were even honored to hear a duet from Penny

and Dan Baker and we joined them to sing "Silent Night". 

Following the music, Dan spoke to us, reminding us of the blessings

of Christmas and as always, he spoke from his heart and touched ours.





 

As soon as our appetites were satisfied and our souls filled to

overflowing, you surely know the "sisters" had some giggles up

our sleeves.  Each lady brought a "unique" gift from the local dollar

stores.  During the gift exchange, there were sounds of laughter filling

 every inch of the Community House.  Take a look:

Diane Bennett has a new fan with flashing lights to add to her fan collection.

Looks like Frankie Pearson is happy with her red antlers.



Beth Lilley seems to like her "brain puzzle".

Diane Watson received a thigh master!



Judy McManus seemed to like her new Christmas glasses.

Hope she wears them to work!

Donna Waters took home the "Jesus is boss" winter cap!

 

Lots of sisters made it all happen.  Pamella Loy designed and made

the name tags, Joni Risch was our greeter, Carole Batten took care of

all the stockings collected for the nursing home and the gift exchange,

Joanna Meredith manned the food table and Judy Chance was

Kitchen Chief.  Special thanks to Carole and Rick Batten who

delivered the round tables to the luncheon and then

returned them as well.  The tables added a special touch.
Dan Baker washed dishes for a long time before he left
us for other activities...wish I had taken his picture!

Thank you all!

 

All in all, we had a delightful lunch that made us feel

special, blessed and the daughters of the King that we are. 

Does it get any better than that?