Tea Party

I love junior high girls. They are so fun and silly. I really wanted to take them to a tea house, but that was getting expensive, not too mention the long drive. So the Lord completely put this idea together about the tea party for the 7th and 8th grade girls at our church. I thought I would also include a Bible study about friendship. I remember that in my 8th grade year that seemed to be the dividing line of whose friend you would be, what you would be in high school. Friendship can be hard sometimes and if you've seen the movie Mean Girls - that pretty much fits 7th - 8th grade years (in most cases, probably not all).

I asked our children's minister's wife to lead the Bible study and talked to some of the girls mom's about helping and bringing food. I had the tea at my mom's house. Okay - confession - it was not a real tea party, we did not have water chesnut sandwiches or hot tea. I wanted them to actually eat the food. So we had ham, turkey, and cheese sandwiches and sweet tea. Along with other food items and drink.

I wanted it to be kind of fancy and girly - it's fun sometimes. I had in my head what I wanted. Off white chiffon to hang around, hats, brown-wired ribbon, and flowers for centerpieces and other decorations, feather boas, gloves, big fake jewelry, and hats for the girls to wear. I orginially wanted orange table clothes and I was just going to use clear plastic plates and forks.

After I decided all this, I had no idea where it was all going to come from!! Where in the world do you find 15 feather boas????

A few days after all this was decided, I found the chiffon at Wal-Mart on sale!I was getting really excited. I didn't really get a chance to look for the next few weeks and I was getting worried. I saw a sign on the way back from work one day about a rummage sale - I thought that will a great place to find what I need. So mom and I went and I got 40 pieces of fake braclets and clip-on earrings (mostly pearls - which I really wanted!) for $20.00. Later that day I found 7 of the most perfect floppy straw hats for decoration in Wal-Mart - also on sale. As for gloves and hats and feather boas - nothing.

We were in downtown Hartselle going through the antique shops hoping to find gloves or hats - but the ones we found were expenisve and I really really didn't want to pay hardly anything for them! I was also getting annoyed, maybe I was trying too hard to do this, maybe I was asking too much. It was going to take miracle to find 15 gloves and hats!! So we go in to one store and I said oh I can already tell they don't have anything. So my mother proceeds to aske the store owner if she has hats or gloves, the lady says "yes right back here". We walk around the corner, and wouldn't you know it, a basket overflowing with gloves and a shelf and table overflowing with hats!!! We found out the gloves are 6$ a pair. I thought, well I guess I can buy 4. (i had a budget for this party) Well amazingly, my grandmother - who is with us - knows the store owner. She introduced me and my mom. About that time I asked her how much the hats are, she says to pick out the ones I want and she'll give me a price. Well my mom decided that she would ask if I could just rent them. She tells the lady why we need them. And the store owner looks at me and says "well I just love your grandmother, so why don't you just borrow them" take what you need and bring it back after the party". I almost cried. Then I had to apologize to the Lord for my lack of faith. So we walked out with 15 hats and 10 pairs of gloves!

A few days later, I found feather boas - the real kind I wanted - on sale. My mom's friend Lynn has glass plates and cups that she let me borrow for the tea.

I was amazed at how the Lord put this all together. The weather was perfect. He is soo good!!