Bridging the gaps
This week has been full of communication, inspiration, and prayer. None of the issues are new ones, but somehow this was the week for focusing on them. This was also a week when I received some clear answers to my queries. One of those answers was knowledge that the minor miracles I need are on their way, I just need to be patient and keep doing the work in front of me.
The biggest thing in front of me during the second half of this week is the church Halloween Carnival. As Activities Committee Chair, I am in charge of the event. Fortunately the youth group takes care of providing the carnival games. I am simply in charge of arranging for food, buying prizes, writing announcements, disbursing announcements, setting up the gym, decorating the gym, running a costume contest for grown ups, orchestrating a children’s parade, Then cleaning up after the event. In short, if I don’t do my job the Carnival will fall on its face pitifully.
I don’t have to do all of this solo. I have a committee of people to help. I also have an entire congregation which is accustomed to volunteering. So I passed around sign-up sheets, shanghaied scouts, and gave out a few assignments. People volunteered to bring soups, chili, and desserts. Other people signed up to help with set up and clean up. All that remained to me was purchasing a few odds and ends. Oh, and the decorations. I had no clue what to do about those. Mostly I shoved thoughts of decorations out of my head, figuring if the food was good people would be content.
Then yesterday, out of the blue, a member of a different congregation volunteered to loan me the decorations she used for her ward Halloween party. This is not a woman I have ever met before. She is a friend to the woman who was Activities Chair before me. I made a quick trip to look at the decorations in question and was completely blown away. I stared up at flat cardboard haunted house wall decorations which were taller than me. There were twiggy branches sporting bats. Tombstones, ghosts, a mummy sign, all the trappings of a Halloween carnival, and they were being offered to me.
It was a blessing that arrived unasked. I wrestled with other things early in the week. The decorations arrived when I needed them. I still have a list of things to do before the carnival. I still need to work hard setting up the decorations and later taking them down and returning them. I could still make a mess of the carnival, but the gap I did not know how to fill has been bridged. It gives me faith that other gaps in my life will also be provided with bridges when the time is right.