By Sherry Hopkins

Community Columnist

Dear Don was sitting in the den floor cleaning up his guitar and equipment in anticipation of singing during the Sunday morning worship service.

“Where did you find that rag?” I inquired.

“Under the kitchen sink,” was his reply as he worked without stopping.

“I didn’t know you knew we had an ‘under the kitchen sink’,” I remarked.

“I know lots of stuff around here,” he responded still cleaning.

“Well you keep it well hidden,” I said.

“You in stealth mode?”

“Yes,” he replied. “I only reveal what I know on an as needed basis to limit my workload around here.”

I went on about my business leaving Dear Don to his. I’m going to have to keep a closer eye on this man. He’s flying under my radar and that puts me at a huge disadvantage.

It feels like summer although we are still weeks away. The weathermen and women are all promising a delightful no humidity mild temperature week ahead. I hope they get it right.

I am still nursing my bruised ego following the realization that I failed at my attempt to work outside the home. I am still moping but not as much. Hopefully the weather will turn things around for me.

As soon as June rolls around each year Vacation Bible Schools pop up all over our county. Usually First Baptist in town is the first followed by many others all of varied denominations.

Ours at Liberty Hill started this past Sunday and by the time you read this another year of VBS will be completed.

We opted out of helping this year deciding instead to take the week off. But this past Thursday night brought an unexpected pleasure. The phone rang around 7:30 that evening and a voice from our past said hello. This young woman had worked along said Dear Don for years at Batesville Casket and we had both developed a relationship with her and her two girls.

They are longtime members of the Olive Ray M.B. Church in our community. They were in the midst of their VBS and the young woman was calling to ask if Dear Don and I would be judges of the classroom door decorations and the skits performed by each class.

What a treat! We gladly and eagerly accepted.

That Friday night we showed up to a big crowd from toddlers to Senior Citizens. Dear Don and I were two of three judges for the night. The other judge was from Rock Hill in Sardis.

We were given clipboards with papers to rate each decoration and each skit from 1-5, with 5 being the best.

We walked around the church, up and down stairs and in every nook and cranny. All of the decorations were based around the years theme of Managing God’s Creations. It was jungle or Safari themed and the time and effort that was put into each door, room and skit was evident.

We had a wonderful time of fellowship, laughter and blessings, followed by a bounty of refreshments. The church even presented us with gift cards as tokens of their appreciation.

Seeing the little ones dressed in Safari vests made from large grocery bags, wearing hats made from Styrofoam bowls peering from their homemade tissue roll binoculars was the highlight of the night.

We laughed and talked about the night all along the short drive back home and until we finally went to bed. What a surprise. Thank you Olive Ray for thinking of us. We certainly received a great blessing from being in your midst.

Hope you all have good attendance at your VBS this summer.

Stay tuned.