God is a Party Planner Too

As my title says, God is a party planner. I know this because He told me to plan a party for not one, not two, not three, but twenty three tween girls. At my house. At the same time. For no apparent reason. And like all things GOd plans, it was a hit!

Four packages of cookies, 90 pizza rolls, nachos and cheese, lots of chips, several gallons of punch and two pounds of twizzlers. That, my friend is how you woo said tweens! Add to that a big open space, Just Dance, ping pong, air hockey, charades, board games, and even a little dress up....yeah, that's a party!

Serena's party with ALL of her girl classmates invited was Friday night, and out of a total of 23, 19 were there! We had no idea of how many were coming, as RSVP now means "Surprise me", apparently! It was all good, however, as we were prepared for whoever showed up. We were praying for a full house. We got a very full, very loud, very excited full house!

It got loud as soon as there were just 4 girls here. Serena stayed upstairs and greeted every girl individually. I was pleased to hear one parent say, "I sure wish every parent would think of inviting everyone. This is so nice." And let me tell you, before I get too involved with party details, this party was a hit and it wasn't because of the food.

As all of the girls arrived, I was getting a bit nervous. Apparently earlier in the week a few of the girls had been fighting. I kept my eye on all of them, just in case, but saw no evidence of any kind of fighting. No dirty looks, no exclusions, nothing! In fact, they seemed to be having a wonderful time. A couple even told me, "this is the best party I have ever been to in my life!" I would find out later it's really the only party one of them had ever been invited to, and I don't know why. That girl knew how to have fun!! Another girl seemed so reserved and nervous, but when we turned out the lights and ran the disco ball, I caught her dancing a bit! I called out, "you go girl! You've got moves!" She just had a big smile on her face and moved a bit more. Oh, God, you're SO very smart about these things.

I had prayed for this party leading up to the night, and all I asked for was that everyone would feel the one thing we all want to feel at any age really....loved and accepted. I hope they felt that way, because as far as I could see, and as much as I could do, those girls were loved and accepted, if just for one night. They seemed to include one another, organizing games of charades, and taking turns with the Wii. I played air hockey with some of the girls, and made small talk with a couple more. Steve and I stayed with them the whole time, not to spy, but to truly enjoy them and get to know them all. I even did a little crazy dancing, but only when Serena's back was turned. She had asked me not to embarass her. Well, my dancing is cool, so she's a little off on that anyway.

What a joy we had with all of the girls, but particularly with our own daughter. We watched her entertain, and care for her guests in the most mature way. She walked them to the bathroom, got them cups and wrote their names on them, greeted them as they came and too their coats. One had gotten knocked over by an overzealous friend, so Serena stopped to pull her up and ask her if she was okay. Ironically it was a girl who hadn't been getting along real well with Serena for different reasons. She walked each girl to the door personally as they left, and thanked them for coming. She then thanked us profusely for letting her have the party and couldn't stop bubbling about all the fun she'd had.

We were all exhausted as the last guest left, but did a big high five, as we realized that the real praise belonged to God, who gave me the idea in the first place. Now, did having the party solve anything for the long term? I don't know. However, I think back to that one girl who exclaimed, "this is the best party I've ever been to in my life!!!" and I say, "yes". If just for her, then yes. I remember saying to Serena, "if someone says they didn't have a good time, I will know they are teasing, because every girl had fun!!" She agreed.

Sometimes when we are in someone's home, we get to see them in a different light. A softer light. Sometimes when we get out of our usual setting, in this case, school, we get to be who we really are, not what is expected of us. We get time to see others in a relaxed setting, not on a playground. It was comforting to see that although some of these girls have had a rough time of it socially, all of that seemed to be put aside. I'd like to think it was the lighting, and I don't mean the 60 watts in the basement.

God. What a party planner!