Let me recap....
Monday night a group of us met at the church to set up backdrops for the photos, put together goodie bags for the families, and make sure the church was presentable for our guests. We had a good time laughing at our inability to put Christmas tree stands together, posing for numerous pictures to see if the backdrop would work, and just being together. Thank you to Tina, Felicia, Rene', Heather R, Jenna, and Karen who all came to work. It made Tuesday night a whole lot easier because you gave up your time! Because my camera was set up to take portraits, I did not take any candid pictures on Tuesday. All the pictures are from Monday night.
Setting up the trees that had been in the attic for a couple of years!
Karen and Aaron posing!
What a dangerous job that Felicia had!
Backdrop #1. Rene' working on the spotlights.
Say "Cheese" for the hundredth time! Even after all that work, we ended up changing this backdrop!
Rene' being a good sport and posing once again!
The set up crew! Tuesday night we arrived a little before 6 to finish setting up and preparing for the families! There was a craft to set up....hand print flower bouquets (they were adorable), refreshments to arrange, and the photographer to set up. Kaci, the photographer from Simply Stated also helped us and she will be printing the photos for the families. Julie M., Heather, Tina, Rhonda, Felicia, & I might have been a little anxious and excited when the first family showed up at 6PM and they were not scheduled until 6:30! I think we were excited about the potential that could come through the door! The first two families did their craft while we all finished setting up and then they had their pictures taken. The next family came a little bit later and did the same. There were three families that came through the church door who had never been there before. There were three families that were loved on and showed that God loves them! There were three families that will now have a family photo...maybe something that had never had or had not done in a long time. There were three families that left the church with goodie bags, (thank you to all who baked cookies, decorated hot chocolate bags, brought candy, or gave money) a devotional book, and a BIBLE! I know one lady thanked Tina for the Bible! What an awesome opportunity that we had! There were 7 families that had signed up, but why only 3...only God knows! Please be praying for those three families!
Let me just share a little about these families.....they were precious! The first family was of 4 little girls and their mom. Three of the girls had the tightest curls I think I have ever seen and some very pretty dresses. They wore precious smiles! The next family had 3 little girls and a boy! Two of the girls had on party dresses...one red and the other white with green. They were sweet. The other little girl had on a jean jacket with the collar flipped up...too cute! In this family, the grandmother came too to be in the picture with her grandchildren, son, & daughter-in-law! Three generations in one picture....priceless! The last family was another single mom who had two little girls and a son a little over a year. The mom mentioned that she didn't have any pictures with her in them since way before the boy had been born. What a nice thing for her to have now. All of these families were unique and all special!
We had originally told the families that they would be given a free 8x10, but because of the money we had already collected, we asked Kaci if we could go ahead and surprise them with more photos so that they can give them to family and friends! Thanks so much to everyone who helped set up, who provided goodies, who gave money, and who prayed for this night! Thank you especially to Heather R. who organized the whole event! I was overwhelmed with the thought of it, but Heather remained cool, exited and in charge!
We will have our 2009 Kickoff January 25 at 3:00PM! I was so blessed by this past year! It is our prayer that you were too and that God was glorified throughout the whole year! If you haven't had the opportunity to join in, please come! It is good for us to fellowship as believers! You have so much to give...all of us can learn from each other! I was blessed, and I am so EXCITED to see what God has in store for PEARLS this next year! We discovered that we are TREASURES....what next?
**** The extra goodie bags will be given to the college students on Sunday!
**** The extra goodie bags will be given to the college students on Sunday!
