C&C Thanksgiving Reflections - one week later

I've delayed this entry for almost a week now, but I wanted to write down and remember some of the things that I felt and experienced on the night of C&C's annual thanksgiving reflections event :)  I don't want to forget God's faithfulness and how I felt that his spirit was really with us that night.

Last year the same event was held at Elder L's place.  We had some great sharing, great music, and some good 'mood setting' candles.  I wasn't sure how things were going to pan out this year, because it felt like the event wasn't getting its proper planning time.  The day arrived and I ended up (once again!) having to do some last minute event planning on Saturday afternoon.  It was after 4PM and I remember that I had made rice in the cooker and started to prepare my potluck dish - Taiwanese meatballs.  I felt my stomach twist and turn once again, how were things going to go tonight?  Ah-Flo, who is also inundated with church tasks, came over at around 5PM and we went over the schedule for the night.  I remember hauling my guitar, a rice cooker, a clay pot with the food in it, my purse, and another bag containing my notes, candles, candle holders, and a lighter in it.  I joked that I was moving houses because I had so much stuff.  At the same time, I felt overwhelmed, how did things add up so fast?

We got the Elder J's place and things felt a little bit chaotic.  The atmosphere felt confusing and strange, and people were standing around waiting to eat.  I was stressing out already.  I had to a 15 minute intro for thanksgiving, and I only briefly thought about what I was going to share.

Then the sharing started.  First the elders shared about what they were grateful for, then it was the C&C kids' turn.  Surprisingly, everybody was very opened and willing to share.  We had decided earlier that we would split into groups in fear that people wouldn't feel comfortable sharing in front of a big group.  But in the last minute we decided to stay as one big group.  One by one, people talked about what they were thankful for in the past year.  Then, it was Mr. E's turn.  He talked about how he was grateful that his mother finally has been attending church, after many years of resistance.  Then, he started to tear up and said that the reason his mother decided to go and give church a chance was because she saw how much her son loved God, and wanted to find out why.  I have never seen Mr. E cry, and I was quite touched.  Next, R shared about how he was grateful for his friend L.  He didn't make it past 2-3 words before he burst into tears. 

I thought about it later, and was amazed by the fact that the two people who cried during their sharing were both male, and on any given day, wouldn't strike anybody as the type who would cry in front of others.  I do believe, that the Holy Spirit was at work within the group, within our hearts.  I was encouraged, as the rest of the group, one by one, shared with us openly about what they felt most thankful for, some of which were information that were also slightly personal in nature. 

I looked around the room and thought to myself, why this is a brand new group of people.  A lot of the old people have left, and many new people have come to join us.  We were concerned that people wouldn't want to share, but everyone did.  We were concerned that they wouldn't feel comfortable sharing in front of everyone, but nobody seemed to mind.  I thought, "I wonder how many people, along with myself, prayed for tonight's event."  I was so grateful for those prayers, because I knew that the prayers made the difference.  God was at work, he always was and always will be.  All the time I spent stressing out now seemed meaningless.  God was always the one who was going to orchestrate the event the way he saw fit, and bless us abundantly with fellowship and love (brothers & sisters in Christ).  On that Thanksgiving Saturday night, I felt so thankful for God's spirit, who I felt was definitely amongst us.  Praise Him!