I love this picnic. It really is a time where I can collectively look at our church and just sigh a contented sigh of love for these people. Everyone feels a part of the group. Everyone is welcome to play and participate and wait for the pig to be ready.

The Nelson family roasts a pig every year. It is a beautiful thing, but it is only completed by the secret and lovely bbq sauce that Mrs. Nelson makes. This sauce is sweet, a little spicy, and the only acceptable way to eat the Nelson pork provided. And that’s just the beginning of the table.  After you get too much meat on your plate you have a potluck sampling of beans, salads, desserts, and sides that certainly cannot fit on one plate. If you have never had the opportunity to enjoy a Faith family potluck, I feel sorry for your loss. We have classics (baked beans with bacon), gourmet (roasted sweet potatoes), patriotic (blueberries, raspberries, and golden (white) raspberries in cream), and even whole foods (a quinoa salad with vegetables).

After everyone sits in everyone else’s chairs (I’m never sitting on anything I bring to the picnic) and has eaten more food than they should (with a second helping of a pear cheesecake dessert) we wait around for the main event. There may be some board games beginning or a soccer match or two, but when Paul’s big voice booms out that the egg toss is to begin, the crowd gathers.

The egg toss is massive. Participants range in ages from 3 to…well let’s just say Grandpa’s are involved. Eggs often bounce and don’t seem to break. Early breakers sneak to the egg crate and get a second (or third) egg when no one is looking. This year, in an attempt to thin out the crowd quicker, new spinning and throwing rules were introduced…with surprising results. This was probably the longest lasting egg toss yet. Groups were forced to move from the grass to the dirt, spin before throwing, and spin before catching. After a long and arduous battle the winners were…no one! Everyone broke the egg on the last toss. A tie was declared among the teams of Zac and Joseph and Steve D and Mark P. It was a fun and difficult battle.

So if you ever want to feel like you belong to a small community or if you want to eat some of the best pork sandwiches ever, or if you feel like getting egg in the face (as two of our participants literally received) come on by next year (but show up on the 4^th not the 5^th). I’m sure it will be just as wonderful as it ever is.

By Brenda Dempsey

• Dakota’s constant commentary on what was happening. “We’re on the stage now!”
• The beginners singing “Gloria Patri” in the most beautiful voices of any 3-5 year olds I know.
• Josh Shibley being promoted by his dad – while wearing the exact same outfits.
• The highschoolers reading the entirety of Psalm 73.
• The six high school graduates all staying in Long Beach for college (and all going to college).
• Zac’s name being spelled Zach, and Mike’s comment that he added the ‘h’ because he’d been hanging out with Erich Post for so long.
• Pastor Dan’s cheesy (and yet funny) joke about the donut holes not existing.

I am often reminded that I love my church. On Promotion Sunday I was reminded that my church is a place where young people are appreciated and loved. That they are brought up to love the word of God and to know what is in it. I, in fact, still have and use the Bible I received on promotion Sunday many moons ago. The mission field of our children is an important one and I am glad that I attend a church that takes that mission seriously and reverently. May we always be a church that chooses to teach our children the truth of the gospel and the meaning of service to God.

By Brenda Dempsey