Apparently, our new pastor here in Gainesville really loves jazz. So for a nice Christmasy evening, he invited a band called Grüv (pronounced “groove”) Therapy to be the entertainment for a “jazz gala" for the church. Not lying.
Jazz would not make it on our list of Favorite Things. Tommy and I are both very particular about music. But I got an email asking for volunteers to help with the decorating, so I signed myself and Kim up to do that. I figured that actually serving would be an even better way to continue meeting people at our church.
So Sunday after church, Kim and I talked to Mrs. Cindy about the decor plans. She told us to meet back in an hour. Well, there's no way we all could get back to our homes and get all the way back in an hour. So we drove over the overpass to Wendy's. Fine, Sunday dining. I did not realize that all old people eat there after their church services. It was sweet though- we ended up discussing where we would all end up, if we would be able to stay in Gainesville, but how blessed we were to have made such easy connections- and over fries and coke! Can't beat that.
And since the two wives were stuck working hard, the boys stayed too. How amusing to watch two manly guys work with garland and table cloths. But they were a huge help. And Kim had a great idea to make a photo-corner! We used trees and stools and lights and poinsettias (I HATE saying that word. Who made that one up.) and made a cute little nook- very prom-esque.
Backtrack a little bit- that morning at church, I saw one of our new friends Becky in the hallway and decided to chat for a minute... I really wanted to ask her if she was going to go to this gala-ma-bob and what she was going to wear since she is a seasoned regular. She said that she and her husband weren't going to go if they couldn't find a sitter in time. I said of course Tommy and I could watch her kids (two awesome boys!) so they could have a night out. Since we were the decorators, we felt obligated to actually go to the thing. And we had never been to a "gala"- seemed like a nice date night type thingy. But honestly, if we didn’t get to go, no biggie.
She actually did find a sitter, so instead they took us out to Chili's! Double date night! The four of us haven't had a chance to hang out one on one... er... four on four?? And we had so much fun! We talked about their kids and how they met and how we met and their families and our families, just on and on… And it’s fun to be all dressed up looking fancy when everyone else in Chili’s is wearing jeans. We looked like we really never get a night out.
So we headed over to the jazz gala. I think we imagined that it would be more "fellowship" and less "concert." Nope. We grabbed dessert, the band started playing, and everyone sat down at tables and watched. A group of us (yes, we have a group! we’re so in.) went to take pictures at the picture spot (a big hit!) and got shh-ed for being too loud….which is weird because, if you’re going to set up tables, that implies you’re encouraging conversation. Maybe the tables were just there to hold our dessert plates…? I don’t know. And they did announce to be aware of guests and make them feel welcome. That usually involves a fair amount of talking. Interesting night.... but I did thoroughly enjoy my red velvet cake :)
Jazz would not make it on our list of Favorite Things. Tommy and I are both very particular about music. But I got an email asking for volunteers to help with the decorating, so I signed myself and Kim up to do that. I figured that actually serving would be an even better way to continue meeting people at our church.
So Sunday after church, Kim and I talked to Mrs. Cindy about the decor plans. She told us to meet back in an hour. Well, there's no way we all could get back to our homes and get all the way back in an hour. So we drove over the overpass to Wendy's. Fine, Sunday dining. I did not realize that all old people eat there after their church services. It was sweet though- we ended up discussing where we would all end up, if we would be able to stay in Gainesville, but how blessed we were to have made such easy connections- and over fries and coke! Can't beat that.
And since the two wives were stuck working hard, the boys stayed too. How amusing to watch two manly guys work with garland and table cloths. But they were a huge help. And Kim had a great idea to make a photo-corner! We used trees and stools and lights and poinsettias (I HATE saying that word. Who made that one up.) and made a cute little nook- very prom-esque.
Backtrack a little bit- that morning at church, I saw one of our new friends Becky in the hallway and decided to chat for a minute... I really wanted to ask her if she was going to go to this gala-ma-bob and what she was going to wear since she is a seasoned regular. She said that she and her husband weren't going to go if they couldn't find a sitter in time. I said of course Tommy and I could watch her kids (two awesome boys!) so they could have a night out. Since we were the decorators, we felt obligated to actually go to the thing. And we had never been to a "gala"- seemed like a nice date night type thingy. But honestly, if we didn’t get to go, no biggie.
She actually did find a sitter, so instead they took us out to Chili's! Double date night! The four of us haven't had a chance to hang out one on one... er... four on four?? And we had so much fun! We talked about their kids and how they met and how we met and their families and our families, just on and on… And it’s fun to be all dressed up looking fancy when everyone else in Chili’s is wearing jeans. We looked like we really never get a night out.
So we headed over to the jazz gala. I think we imagined that it would be more "fellowship" and less "concert." Nope. We grabbed dessert, the band started playing, and everyone sat down at tables and watched. A group of us (yes, we have a group! we’re so in.) went to take pictures at the picture spot (a big hit!) and got shh-ed for being too loud….which is weird because, if you’re going to set up tables, that implies you’re encouraging conversation. Maybe the tables were just there to hold our dessert plates…? I don’t know. And they did announce to be aware of guests and make them feel welcome. That usually involves a fair amount of talking. Interesting night.... but I did thoroughly enjoy my red velvet cake :)
No comments:
Post a Comment