Sawyerville UCW to the end of 2017
NOVEMBER: On November 15, ten members of the Sawyerville UCW met for the last meeting of 2017. President Bonnie Fowler, welcomed us all and told us how good it was to see us all out. Here is the Remembrance quote that Bonnie had for us: “For those who leave never to return / For those who return but are never the same / At the going down of the sun and in the morning / We will remember them.
And a bit of humour: Sometimes it takes us all day to get nothing done. And: Have you ever looked in the mirror and thought “Oh no! That can’t be me!”
“Avant tout je suis Canadien!” “Before all I am Canadian!” Dir Georges Etienne Cartier, a Quebec Father of Confederation. So began our Devotions. We sang O Canada. I read In Flanders Fields. Doreen Cairns continued with a story from Chicken Soup for the Nurse’s Soul called Last Rites and a bit from the Friendship Book. Here’s a funny that Doreen read from Chuckles by Lee Vass: A guy comes into a coffee shop and places his order. He says “I want three flat tires and a pair of headlights with a pair of running boards.” The waitress, not wanting to appear stupid, goes to the kitchen and asks the cook. “This guy out there just ordered three flat tires and a pair of headlights with a pair of running boards. What does he think this is, an auto parts store?” “No.” the cook says, “Three flat tires means three pancakes and a pair of headlights is two eggs sunny side up and running boards is two slices of crisp bacon.” The waitress thinks about this and then she spoons up a bowl of beans and gives it to the customer. The guy says, “What are the beans for?” The waitress replies, “I thought while you were waiting for the flat tires, headlights and running boards, you might want to gas up.”
Doreen read a prayer. We repeated the Lord’s Prayer.
Because we don’t have an actual meeting in December, we try our best to fit some Christmas into our Devotions. To that end, I read about the hymn Joy To The World from a beautiful little book called Come Let Us Adore Him by Robert 1. Morgan. “Joy to the World is Issac Watts’ interpretation of Psalm 98, which says “Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth” (verse 4). As he read Psalm 98, Watts pondered the real reason for shouting forth joyfully to the Lord - the Messiah has come to redeem us. The result, despite the nowforgotten criticisms of men like Bradbury, has been a timeless carol that has brightened our Christmases for nearly three hundred years.” We sang Joy to the World. We ended Devotions with a prayer of joy.
Secretary, Doreen Cairns, read the minutes of the last meeting. They were declared as read. Wendy Mackay gave the treasurer’s report. For Church, Theda Lowry mentioned the plant we had in the church for Thanksgiving and that the cactus is budding. For the Stewards, Theda stated that 217 apple pies were made. There are still a few left if you missed yours. Tami Spires reported for Church In Society, saying that while on her honeymoon (with new husband, Mead Baldwin) she saw much poverty and many people who were homeless and realized that here we are “living in a bubble” where we don’t see the bigger world around us. This is nominating month but everyone agreed to keep their ‘jobs”, so no change. For New Business, we gave our Gifts of Vision and Christian Blind Mission donations. We will be once again be hosting the World Day of Prayer here in Sawyerville on March 2nd, 2018. The theme is All God’s Creation Is Very Good by the women from Suriname. We discussed the Senior’s Christmas Dinner -I’ll tell you all about it next! We closed with the Mispah Benediction and had a wonderful potluck supper.
DECEMBER: The Christmas Turkey Dinner was held on December 16 at the Sawyerville Community Centre. President Bonnie Fowler, welcomed everyone and offered some words of wisdom: A gift from the heart is cherished and true, / A present is best when love is given too. And: It’s love that’s the reason Christmas is more than gift giving season / It’s time with our loved ones to show we care / when family and friends come together to share. So this Christmas let us do our part to keep Christmas in our hearts.
Rev. Tami Spires gave the blessing. The meal was turkey, dressing and all of the trimmings, topped off with pumpkin and lemon pie. It was all so good!
Then there was music! This year we were lucky enough to have two soloists, both singing a cappella. Tami Spires sang Star of the East and Christmas Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen’s tune Hallelujah) and Kendra Parnell gave us It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas and When We’re Together. We thank these talented ladies for sharing with us and for joining Janice Hartwell and I to lead the carol singing, with Janis Graham at the piano.
We gave out quite a few Christmas Baskets. Next time, I’ll give you a number. Until 2018 ...
Submitted by Marlene Lowry