Day 299- A Fall Festival First

We had our Fall Festival at church tonight.  A bunch of folks at church worked hard and cheerfully to set up games, decorate, prepare food, provide a hayride, move tables, etc. to  provide a night of fun for the church family and for us to invite friends to come and have a good time at church.  We had a very fun evening tonight.

Typically at these events I walk around and talk to people and interact with some of the children. Tonight, I started off at the cotton candy machine.  I ran the cotton candy machine at the Fall Festival for my "first."

I've never operated a cotton candy machine before. I was a bit hesitant.  That stuff is really sticky and I was a bit concerned about getting it all over me, the machine, and various members of the church family.  I had  a great teacher to show me how and it was not as difficult as I thought it might be.  I poured the sugar in and turned the machine on and cotton candy started making. It is just a matter of twirling it around the paper stick and handing it to the sweet kids who are about to be made sweeter. The trick seemed to be keeping the machine making at the same pace as the people coming to get the cotton candy.  If not, you get cotton candy build up in the cotton candy maker. If you are not careful, your cotton candy machine might runneth over.

There were some other volunteers that were there to help.  They offered to man (woman??) the machine so I could be free to walk around and interact with people.  I did not work the machine very long. They were very sweet to do that. Of course, it could have been my ineptness at the machine that prompted the offer. Hmm, that did not occur to me until now. I'm going with they wanted to free me up to interact with the crowd.

As I participated in the Fall Festival tonight, I thought about how good it is for Christian people to just have fun together.  Children need to see that following Jesus is more than simply going to church. It is also a real adventure in everyday life. Part of following Jesus is learning about Him. It is more than that. It is also laughing and playing with your brothers and sisters. It is also helping each other find God's purpose for their life.  It is also encouraging each other that God's way is way better than the world's way.  I was blessed to walk around and watch people having fun with each other.

Tonight I thought of  Psalm 133:1 which says, "How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity!"  It really is.  It is also very sweet when there is a cotton candy machine around.

Loving the fun of the abundant life
Barry

3 things I thank God for today
1. The song, "How Deep the Father's Love for Us"
2. Cake walks
3. People who volunteer at Fall Festivals