Sawyerville UCW October meeting
President, Bonnie Fowler, opened the Thanksgiving meeting of October 17, 2018 by welcoming us all. “We waited for you”, Bonnie continued. Some of us attended the Health Link information session on cancer before coming to this meeting and there was a small overlap. We were grateful to be granted the extra time. Bonnie had some quotes for us: Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all other seasons. And ... We can smell autumn dancing in the breeze, the sweet chill smell of pumpkins and sunburst leaves.”
We stated our purpose and then began Devotions. Psalm 9: 1-2: I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart; I will tell of all thy wonders. I will be glad and exult in Thee; I will sing praise to Thy name, Oh Most High.
We sang For The Beauty of the Earth from Voices United, number 226.
Doreen Cairns read a story, Thanksgiving Day and another, The Farmer and the Preacher. A preacher was driving along a country road when he came upon the most beautiful farm he’d ever seen. The buildings were freshly painted, the fields nicely tilled and there was a herd of healthy looking dairy cattle standing knee deep in the field of grass. When the farmer came by, the preacher exclaimed how the Lord had blessed him with such a magnificent farm. After a short pause, the farmer looked out on his land and replied, “Yes, He has, and we’re grateful. But you should have seen this place when he had it all to himself!”
Doreen said a prayer. We said the Lord’s Prayer. I read a humorous story from Chocolate for a woman’s Soul, called The Last of the Big Spenders.
Our second hymn was For the Fruit of All Creation, 227 in Voices United. We ended with a quote from Charles Swindoll: We get in return exactly what we give. It all comes back. Incredible echoes mirror our actions to an empathic degree, sometimes in greater measure than we give.
Secretary Doreen Cairns, read the minutes of the last meeting. They were approved as read. Nine members answered the Roll Call. Wendy Mackay gave the treasurer’s report and noted that she had ordered our six Mandates and that the Church calendars are in.
Theda Lowry reported for Church that we celebrated Thanksgiving with communion here in Sawyerville. A small table held a basket with some of the garden bounty that we are thankful for and there was a pot of burgundy mums, representing the beauty that God bestows upon us. Sunday School has begun. Last Sunday, October 14, we attended a Memorial Hymn Sing and potluck lunch at Trinity United Church in Cookshire. We were delighted to welcome our former minister, Reverend Wendy Evans, her husband Sam Seawall and their two sons, Justin and Leo. It also happened to be the one year anniversary of our present minister, Reverend Tami Spires and her husband, Reverend Mead Baldwin. We celebrated with them sharing a lovely cake, almost a duplicate of the wedding cake.
The Stewards and helpers made 47 apple pies yesterday and will make more next Tuesday. For Cradle Roll, Theda delivered three birthday cards.
The news from Presbytery is that there was a meeting in the Stanstead area on Sunday and that the Stanstead charge has joined with Lennoxville.
We received a Thank You for a funeral lunch we had provided in the summer.
We discussed our next month’s donations and closed with the Mispah benediction: May the Lord watch between me and thee while we are absent, one from the other.
Supper was a delicious affair with cabbage rolls, hearty casserole, a chicken pie, macaroni and cheese, a beef and vegetable soup, carrots, jellied salad, fresh rolls and desserts such as brownies, Penny’s good cake, Doreen’s good cake, Bonnie’s pumpkin-faced cookies and a little apple pie (from yesterday’s labour). If I have omitted anything, it isn’t because it wasn’t good but because I had a lapse in memory. I think I can safely say that we enjoyed every morsel and some of us even had room for seconds!
Next meeting is the 21st of November. Until then.
Submitted by Marlene Lowry