Two (or Three) Different Worlds

We took the kiddos from GYC ice skating last Tuesday. And as the motherly person I am, I brought extra gloves, a hat, tissues, even an extra sweater, just in case someone didn't think to dress very warm for the cold. And as it turned out, one boy had left his winter coat back at the church building, so he was running around in a T-shirt! I kept offering him the sweatshirt, but he absolutely refused. Kids. What do you do with them?

But it was fun going out to the place called "Winter Wonderland" that was covered with lights, had little booths made out of wood that sold food, snacks, beer (of course none of our group helped ourselves to that), and cotton candy. There were different rides, from bumper-cars to the swings in the sky. Of course the kids wanted to go on all of the rides, but we only really had time for ice skating, so we had an earful of complaints from that.

 I had fun teaching some of the kids how to skate. This one boy had such a hard time keeping his feet under him. But even after falling down up to 10 times and I'd seen him wiping tears from his face (I'm not sure if he was hurt or embarrassed) he still got up and kept trying. He was still disheartened when he got off the ice, but all the leaders were cheering on his courage to try again.  

Wednesday evening was practically a different world from the night before. It was filled with rich gentlemen escorting ladies in evening gowns to a night of fine dining and entertainment. It was the annual fundraiser for the Cardiff Street Pastors. We sold raffle tickets, had a men's choir, and some big shot sports person I can't remember the name of. At the end there was a live band that did excellent covers of popular songs so that people could dance.

We also had an auction to sell some of the goodies that had been donated towards the cause. Things like a lunch for 8 at a fancy restaurant or a free night at a nice hotel in London. This auction was nothing like the ones I had grown up going to. The ones that usually had some homemade quilts and Amish made furniture and an Amish man standing up front prattling on so fast he could talk circles around any rapper. This was a much slower paced and a bit more refined kind of auction. Not as much fun, though.

We had our faithful church attendee come on Sunday. She brought a friend as usual, and neither of them have quite gotten the hang of being quiet and respectful at church, but we are still glad they came. I don't know that these girls have ever had to respect something or someone like we do in church. I don't know how they are in school, but I doubt they're completely quiet there either. So we have hope.

Please pray for the wellness of our youth workers. We're dealing with illnesses again. And on a more personal note, please pray that I can be a bit more positive in thought. I know you might not believe it if you've only seen me in public, but I do tend to be a pessimist and I think it's really bringing me down.

Thank you for all of your support and prayer. Please keep them up. Merry Christmas!

btw, in case anyone reads to the bottom of this, I'm coming home for Christmas.