Well, many of you who read my blog were there, but a few of you couldn't make it or aren't in this group. Our Thrive Marriage Ministry at Compass Bible Church threw a fun Valentine's celebration. These past few days, I'd been baking 12 heart shaped cakes to be the centerpieces of our round tables. Poor Carter watched me bake chocolate cakes every day. I explained to him we were baking them for church. He kept saying, "Chocolate cake. Bring to church." He is so patient with all that comes with Ryan and I co-leading Thrive! 
Carter and I got to church at 3:30 and decorated a bare, white room into a twinkle light, candle-lit dinner room-with roses, Frank Sinatra playing, and yummy food catered for the 75 or so guests. We had tons of help frosting cakes, hanging balloons and streamers, rolling scroll papers and tying them with ribbon, putting up twinkle lights and arranging hearts and tulle. It was beautiful!When people arrived, Ryan and some others were dressed-up "ushers", handing roses to the ladies and seating couples at tables. We played three fun games after dinner, but my favorite was a "name that tune" game with cheesy/classic love songs. We also had a newlywed table game and a "name that Bible/TV couple game." (It was great to see that the group knew more about the Bible couples than the TV show couples.) It was so fun!
When Ryan and I got home, we both were excited that the night was a success for everyone. We wanted people to be glad they attended the night and to make it extra special. Though it required tons of willing hands to prepare, it didn't seem like work because we had such a fun time. It was a great example of how Valentine's Day, for Christians, isn't just about loving our spouse or kids. It is about pouring sacrifical love to everyone--friends, family, people at work, neighbors and even strangers. If you came, I hope you had a great time; and if you weren't there, I pray that you were able to demonstrate Christ's love to others on your special Valentine's day.
9 comments:
Chiara, Last night was SO MUCH FUN! Mike and I normally don't make a big deal out of Valentine's Day, and last night was really special. THANK YOU for all of the hard work you put into it! Your cakes tasted great and looked awesome too :)
And for the record, we won the matching couples game. We bombed out on the name that cheesy love song game. Most of those songs were before our time :)
Oops! I'll fix it on the blog! Who did win the love songs? I was impressed. That means you both got the Claim Jumper gift certificate. Nice! Thanks for all your hard work, Shannon! You are always a willing servant in any way help is needed, and it is a tremendous blessing!
Carter just saw your picture on your comment and said, "Mike and Shannon! Nice!"
The Youngmans won the song game (I think)!
We love Claim Jumper so we're excited to use our gift certificate. How cute that Carter can recognize our photo! We'll have to have you guys over so Mike can play with him (or, of course we'd be happy to babysit too)!
I'm so glad the dinner was a success. I know you blessed a multitude of people. We were definitely bummed to suddenly have to miss it and more, miss seeing all of you.
Great job on putting together that night. I had a lot of fun!
Chiara - we had such a great time. It really was so fun. I loved meeting the Ryan and Kim DiMatto (spelling??) since they ended up being placed at our table we got to talk to them a bit. Every detail was beautiful and showed the hard work you put into this ministry. I, personally, have been blessed beyond measure by your efforts through Thrive. Know that you are making a HUGE impact for Christ in your labors.
Thank you!!!
Thanks Chiara for posting this and for all of your hard work. It was so fun for Ben and I to enjoy one another's company, play games and fellowship with friends. And I love the pics of Carter...
Thank you Ryan and Chiara! Every detail was awesome and so very much appreciated! We went riding this weekend and were telling everyone about it!
Chiara - thanks for all of your hard work. The roses were a GREAT touch. Andrew & I both agreed afterward that we had so much fun & we were glad that we came. Our only regret was our dismal failure at the new newlywed game!
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