Bob and All Those Women?!?!?

What in the world am I (Bob) doing with all these women in my house?!?!? Actually, they aren't paying much attention to me. They are all crowded around our dining room table which is covered with utensils, bowls, and an ample supply of flour, sugar, and other ingredients.

My job is to simply greet them at the door--and try to help Judy anyway I can while she teaches a cooking class with the Central church ladies. Judy is teaching them how to make desserts that they can sell to bring in extra income for their families; plus, it's an opportunity for us get to know them better.

We praise the LORD for Central's growth. The last time I counted, we had 235 seats in our sanctuary, and since I play the piano for the praise band, I can see that almost every seat is filled--and that does not include the workers and children who are downstairs in children's church, which accounts for the 300-plus people.

So when Judy announced the cooking class to the ladies, over 50 ladies signed up! Yikes! Our apartment isn't THAT big! So we split up the group, offering the class on two separate evenings, Thursday and Friday--and picked up seven more ladies. We also had several guys inquire, but Judy told them "ladies only" (except for her luvy dubby hubby :-) Sorry guys!

Twenty-six people attended the first class (including one older man who drove his wife); each subsequent class has had a very manageable 15-17. The class gives us an outreach to neighbors as well; one came last Friday. The March 12 and 13 classes made over 100 brownies and lemon squares that Judy took to the Women's Ministry meeting March 14. Even though we had only 40 ladies, the youth group who meets downstairs got wind of the goodies and helped the ladies finish them all up! (And yes, Judy is VERY popular with the youth group now!) The week before, the classes made carrot muffins. Next week will be cheesecake. (You can see why I stick around).

Pray that the fruit of these classes will be more than excess calorie intake. We're hoping that the ladies will develop closer relationships, and that some will be able to help their families financially.