The hen's party was held a week and a half ago on September 1st. Here are some photos from the event. About 14 ladies from church came to welcome me to the rank of "hen" or housewife. It was an absolutely lovely time.
Here I am laughing with Mrs. Carins, Julie Kingston, Louise and Bromlyn (Mrs. Carins' daughters), and Lorraine tenHaaf. Mavis Connors is just slightly visible in the right-hand corner.
Here are the thoughtful ladies figuring out little conundrums of grouped symbols on paper that represent a common phrase or idiom. For example, E C N A L G stands for "backwards glance." From left to right, you see the heads of Jaslyn and Lorraine, Debbie, Roweena, Ava, Mrs. McNeilly, Mrs. Faulkner, Mrs. Rodman.
Apparently the great challenge for the modern housewife is to take down laundry quickly in the midst of a busy day. All of us ladies got to prove our skills by using one hand to gather pegs from the line and see how many we could get in that one hand without dropping any. The competition was fierce!
Unexpectedly, the American who scarcely has used a clothesline before (dryers being much more commonly used in the States) won with 15 pegs held haphazardly in one hand. As you can see, it was not a matter of careful method. "Beginner's luck," it's commonly called.
After that we opened gifts, each being themed to begin with one of the letters from the phrase "kitchen tea." Believe me, the cupboard is now well-stocked! But more importantly, the ladies all showed a very kind and welcoming spirit to the new pastor's wife. The whole display of kindness and generosity was very sincere and touching.
After the games and gifts, we read a few verses from Proverbs about the energetic, loving, wise housewife of Proverbs 31. It was a lovely way to remind us of the beautiful ideal of Scripture for our high calling as managers in the home.
I wish I had pictures of the spread we had later for midmorning tea. The fine china tea set was out in celebratory style; the delicate sandwiches and scones were scrumptious; the chatter over cups of tea and coffee was cheery. Overall, the hen's party was a total success.
P.S. I just realized I forgot to mention the marriage survival kit! It is a very creative and humorous box of resources for when I hit rough spots or just need a little something. Perhaps you can guess a couple of the contents; chocolate, Kleenex, etc. But some of my favorites were marbles for the ones I've lost, buttons to keep my lips closed when necessary, a virtually indestructable mug for when I need to throw something across the room, a 5 cent piece so I'm never truly broke.... and the best of all, a bunch of cards to refer to for sympathetic advice when I'm really frustrated with some situation and only for use after having committed the matter to the Lord.
People also brought some tried and true recipes and a book to paste them into, which promises to be really handy. Before long, I'll learn to be a well-rounded housewife... with a bit of time and practice, that is.
