Special order

Sherry Zeise

November Lunch Bunch has always been a favorite meeting of the year because we have Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings, and the men join us instead of going to Outlaw Burger. This time 45 New Life Church members came to enjoy the warm congeniality of Jim and Carol Hanson.

Part of the enjoyment of our November Lunch Bunch is the pretend “dust-up” over the dressing! Ruthie Klein from North Dakota swears her Northern bread dressing is the best dish for Karl Klein’s delicious turkey. Jois Ross, native Texan, declares that only Southern cornbread dressing will do! It is great fun and a good laugh. However, this time there were challengers: Liz Peveto, native of Louisiana, brought her rice dressing. She said she had no idea that people ate any other dressing until she moved to Texas. Another surprise was Lerlene’s pineapple dressing. Sweet potato, green bean and other casseroles, salads and cranberry sauce completed the meal. Pumpkin and apple pie, of course, was the dessert.

Sherry Zeise presented the program entitled “Special Order.” Before she began to speak Betty Silich and Larry Payne gave everyone a turkey-shaped favor box. Inside the boxes was a treat and a numbered strip of paper. We were asked to be ready to read the strip aloud as Sherry called out the number sequence. The strips were parts of Psalm 139. If you haven’t read it, you can Google “Psalm 139, NIV” and read it. Please take time to allow its words to sink in.

The first readings were the middle of the Psalm, which described how each of us was created by God; how our bodies were formed in the womb. We sang I Have a Maker, which speaks of God, our Maker, our Father, lovingly making each of us.

You are no accident! God planned you, with a purpose. That was confirmed as others read Psalm 139:16-18, which reveals that God planned each of us ages ago and wrote every day of our lives in His book.

Then what about the awful, hurtful things that have happened to us? Doesn’t God care? “Because of His love, His power, and His blessing on you, He can cause all the pain and negative things to be transformed into good things.” Sherry then sang Does Jesus Care? a song whose answer is, “Yes, He cares. His heart is touched by my grief.”

Finally we heard from Psalm 139:1-12, which made us aware that God is with us wherever we are, even if we try to avoid Him! And even if we fail or fall, His love remains and His grace reaches out to us. Sylvia Gunter, Bible teacher, said, “Rejoice in the One who planned you long ago; who has wisely and lovingly provided for you throughout your life, and has carried you until you have reached this very day.”

Sherry sang a Dallas Holm song, He Knew Me Then, which assures us: “He knew you then, He knows you now, and He loves you!”