I realize that Thanksgiving was a week ago, but I wanted to share with you an event that took place at our church; Lowell Assembly of God, located in the town of Tewksbury, Ma.
This story really begins in November of 2010, just after the Thanksgiving holiday. My wife and I had dinner with my daughter and our grandchildren. Over the next day or two, I mentioned to my wife, that the following year (2011) we could give up spending Thanksgiving with our girls and plan on spending Thanksgiving Day at our church, having dinner with those who did not have family members in the area, or those who decided not to travel to see their family for the holiday.
My wife agreed with the idea and I spoke to a couple of the women in the church and shared the idea with them, and they also thought that it would be a great thing to do. So the plans were laid, but nothing more happened until September of this year (2011), at which time we formed a group that would spearhead the plans for putting this altogether; about ten of us met and came up with the idea to ask for volunteers to purchase the food and cook the food at home so that everything would not have to be prepared at the church.
The plan was announced on Sunday Morning’s during the service, seeking those who would like to join us in planning this dinner event. There were about 25 people who said yes to the idea and also some who stated that they wanted their children to be involved and learn the blessing of serving others.
At another meeting, a guest list was prepared of those both, inside and outside our church who we thought would enjoy a home cooked meal and fellowship with others on Thanksgiving Day. Including those who volunteered, the guest list grew to somewhere between 70-80 people.
At another meeting, all those who stated that they would do the cooking at home were given their assignments on what to prepare. So the plan was put into action and now we just had to check the progress over the next few weeks to insure that everything was in place.
On Wednesday, November 23rd, about 15 of us met at the church to set up tables, chairs, serving tables and all the goods that are associated with putting on a large meal, in about two hours, everything was in place for the next day; even some of the food had been dropped off.
It was decided that on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, fifteen of us were going to meet for breakfast to kick off the day’s activities. We met at the church at 9:00 AM to start pealing and cooking fifty pounds of potatoes and to start warming up the food.
We had set 12:00 Noon, to begin serving, and we had estimated that about 70-80 people would be served, but to our surprise, we served 140 meals! There had only been eight turkeys cooked, along with a couple of turkey breasts. The most amazing part of the day’s event, was the fact that we did not run out of anything that we were serving. As a matter of fact, we had enough left over to serve scores of others. None of the food went to waste as the leftovers were given to individuals and groups in the city of Lowell.
What a Blessed Day we all experienced as the Lord assisted us in feeding the multitudes just as He did when He walked this earth over two thousand years ago.
Thank you Lord Jesus for allowing all of us to be your servants:
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