A few weeks ago, we asked folks at WBF to bake "cookies for the community" and bring them in before Christmas day. Bill & Cat Schwetke, a great and godly couple, were the logistical coordinators for the event. Bill contacted a number of public agencies in the area to see how many people would be on duty Christmas Day. Our plan was to separate the cookies into small bags and packages, attach a short note to each bag and deliver the cookies to those folks who were working and away from their families on Christmas. It was a way of saying, "Thank you." But, it was also a way of sharing the love and grace of Christ in an unexpected blessing.
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| Cookie thieves, one and all! |
Most folks brought their goodies in during our Christmas Eve Service. Bill & Cat led a group of people to start the bagging immediately after the service. All went well in spite of the fact that one of the Senior Pastors insisted on sampling more than he bagged....*I'm guilty...OK? - jk* The group on Christmas Eve was a dignified and proper lot...when they weren't scarfing down the blessings!
With the major part of the sorting done, most of the folks that helped on Christmas Eve showed up Christmas Morning, along with quite a few more, to distribute the cookies around town. After a brief prayer and some fellowship, we left for the jail, the sheriff's office, the fire house, the EMS, the police station, and the hospital. Earlier in the month, Matt Mozeleski and the folks over at Calvary Chapel of Warrenton donated some stuffed animals to us. We took them to the hospital and handed them out to the folks there in an effort to bless them on what may have been a rough Christmas Day.
The group I was in went to the hospital. We've done a few events like this before and it always touches me to see the huge smiles on the faces of people who are the recipients, this time of little bags of blessing and plush, furry expressions of grace. I think God's love and grace have those effects on people. Even more amazing is the warm feeling all our folks have in serving our community and our Lord at the same time.
It was an awesome way to spend a few hours on Christmas morning. It was moving to see the number of folks that baked, organized and delivered these small expressions of the gospel. Many thanks to the many hands that had a part!
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| Waiting for everyone to arrive |
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| EMS Cookies. All the bags had a handout with a short gospel message. |
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| Cookies for the jail |
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| Extras ended up going to Overlook on Hospital Hill |
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| Police Station Cookies |
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| Cookies for the Fire Station |
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| The delivery folks |
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| Bill spreading some blessing and good cheer to folks at the ER |
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| Carol showing the head nurse what we were brinigng in |
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| Cookies for the ER |
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| Even some of the staff got stuffed animals to take home |
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| We left some extras to hand out during the day |
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