Thankful Thursday

 

Happy Thursday, friends! Rebecca Jo and I are back for this week's Thankful Thursday link party. I hope you join us! This is always one of my favorite posts that I write, because I am forced to slow down and look back on all that I have to be thankful for. Times are not always easy, but even in the midst of that, I can always find something to be thankful for. Sometimes I share about lots of little things and sometimes I share about just one or two, which is what I'm doing this week. I'm just sharing one thing, which is one of my favorite things to talk about: my church family.

I am so grateful for my church family! I said here once already this week that they are just that—family. I don't ever want to take them for granted! This is the week for all things involving church and extra activities. Monday night I had a special praise team rehearsal, but Tuesday night was something a little more frivolous and even more fun—our annual women's event that is called Tablescapes. This is the fifteenth year our church has done this, and it's probably my eighth or ninth of attending, and then hosting. Here's how it works: there are lots of tables set up in the fellowship hall of our church. Ladies can volunteer to decorate a table and host it for the event, then she can either fill it up with friends or it can be left open to the public. I have to confess that I used to really dislike this event, because it felt very clique-ish. I never really knew who to sit with and I felt a little left out, if I'm being honest. That being said, that is the reason why I've always opted to leave my table open to the public. The ladies purchase their tickets and choose which table they want to sit at, then we share dinner and enjoy a musical guest. We've had Johnny Diaz, High Road Music and a lot of others, but this year we had Christy Nockels. It was such a fun and beautiful night! Here are some pictures from the night.

My friend took this picture of me with my table right as people were showing up. 

Judy also took this picture, which was my inspiration for the whole table. This was my grandmother's Bible! It's so old and it's falling apart. The pages are tissue paper thin, so I am very careful with it. I decided to make my table nostalgic and meaningful, so everything I used had some meaning behind it. 

Here are a couple of other tables I loved.

The ladies are so creative each year! Some tables stay the same, and others change each year. I like to change mine up and I feel like I get better at decorating one each year.   

This last one is Christy Nockels, and I loved her outfit. She had a tartan plaid skirt with ruffles and silk shirt in the color of Christmas green. So festive and bright! It's always so much fun to be with friends on this night as well, who make it even more fun. It's just a festive and moving night, and very worshipful. Not only is Christy an amazing artist, she's an excellent speaker, writer and story teller. 

I am so thankful for godly fellowship! All of my friends in life have come from a church setting, whether church or a Bible study group. I certainly don't proclaim to have it all together, but I know so many people who suffer from church-hurt. I know that's a very real thing and so many have been hurt by people who claim to be Christians. I know that we often have the worst reputation for being rude and judgmental, but I promise that not all of us are like that. Mean, selfless and uncaring people are everywhere, but there are still some good ones that are to be found. I try to be as kind and welcoming to people in church as I can, because I know what it's like to feel left out and alone in a crowd of people. I smile at people, I acknowledge visitors and offer to help them find where they need to get, I try to get to know new people. Like I said, I certainly don't always succeed at this, but I give it my best effort. I think the majority of the people who I attend church with have that same mentality.

There is not a perfect church out there, either, but if you can find one that you mostly love, I'd say you've found a good one. I also love when our pastor says things to us like not to take him at his word, but to check what he's saying with Scripture. He is humble and a godly shepherd to the flock God has given him charge over. I am so thankful for him as well. 

Thanks for reading, friends! What is something you're thankful for this week? I'd love to hear from you! Love to all. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter