Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Adrian Mother-Daughter Banqet

The Adrian Chapter of Women of Worth gathered together on Monday, May 4, for their annual Mother-Daughter Banquet. The evening was filled with a lot of activities. It was a time of reflecting back on the activities of past 9 months. We have been studying from the Emily C Barnes book, "Timeless Treasures" and have enjoyed sharing our 'treasures' with our sisters in Christ. During some of the meetings we have had times of sharing some of the momentous items that we treasure, such as a wedding Bible, a quilt, a hope-chest, family photos and many more items of interest. For the mother-daughter banquet, we had 60+ in attendance and the ladies outdid themselves. We had a wonderful time of fellowship, a delicious chicken dinner, lots of desserts and salads and everyone semed to have a lovely evening. The devotional was on the seasons of life and how each season is a treasure from God. It is always so refreshing to be reminded of the fact that God has a plan for each of our lives and it is God's plan that is the most important plan to follow. We learned that in the 'spring' of life, you don't possess many earthly treasures outside of your family. In the 'summer' of life, you are busy with college, new relationships, marriage, children, busy schedules but the God of the universe cares about every detail of your life and He will be there to help strengthen you. In the 'autumn' of life, you find yourself slowing down a bit, taking on the role of grandmother, mother-in-law, teacher, Sunday School teacher, church leader and role model. Don't let the busyness of life squeeze the joy right out of you and cause you to be bitter in your spirit but model your life after Christ. Let the sweetness of Jesus flow through you. In the 'winter' of life, we find that we are too weak to run marathons, We need for the younger ladies to come along side of us and be our 'light' in the lonely times of life. We can still have the light of Jesus reflecting from our lives. It is so important to be in the right relationship with Jesus Christ so we are not grumpy and cross with our caregivers and those who love us and come into contact with us.

We honored two special ladies during this special evening. One was the Mother of the Year and that special lady was Esther Wentworth Hilling. What a treasure she is to our group of ladies! She is such an inspiration and is a beautiful example for us to follow. She is very busy as a mother of three beautiful children, wife to Chris Hilling, daughter, sister, sister-in-law, daughter-in-law, aunt, pastor's wife and friend! In anticipation of this special award, her mother, Sue Wentworth Webb, was asked to write Esther a letter, which would be read at the banquet. A few days before the banquet, Sue had a heart attack and was air-lifted to a hospital in Fort Wayne. This was a traumatic time for the family and we were wishing we had the 'letter'. A day or two before we would need the letter, Esther's step-dad, Dave Webb, found the letter that Sue had written, typed it out and sent it to us for our use. What a special letter that was! God was faithful in allowing Sue to recover from this experience and she is improving. The letter was so special to all in attendance and especially to Esther.

Another lady in our group has shown such a gracious spirit during the time of Secret Sister exchanges. Jean Green Miller was honored with a beautiful basket of treasures for showing the love of Christ through some unfortunate circumstances in her life and we are very proud of her. She was well-deserving of this special honor.

A photo area was established and the ladies enjoyed gathering for their pictures. It was fun to see the ladies taking pictures of each other and laughing together.

We had a wonderful time of fellowship and look forward to the next season which will begin in September. Pictures will be posted here soon.