Yes indeed, for me, it was a busy day… walking here and there, answering questions in person, on the phone, and on-line. When do the doors open? Is this really free? Do I need to register to get in?
Ok, allow me to give this a little context. I am talking about the event that we hosted on Monday night. It was the CEF Faith and Family Night event with Mike Huckabee. I can honestly say that I put more work into the preparation of this event than any other CEF event held over the last seven years. Due to unforeseen circumstances, one of our ministry workers in the local CEF chapter office had to back away from finishing the organizational processes needed to get ready for this special night. I won’t get into specifics, but pray for him. He is facing some serious health issues, major surgery, and a season of recovery. This is no need to say his name here in this article. Just pray, God knows who he is and what he is facing.
So, back to my story… I believe that God is teaching me a valuable life lesson that probably includes: dependency, faith (wouldn’t you know it), hope, reality, resource, and manna. You see, to be open and honest, I was very disappointed by the crowd on Monday night. We worked hard, I personally got a promo recorded for local TV, I promoted the event (live) on eight local radio programs, we had the event in one of the local newspapers (front page), we spent money on Facebook advertising and local talk radio ads, I spent LOTS of hours creating supporting print materials, I put together a nice “local voices” video montage, we covered all known bases… and… the crowd simply did not show up. Not even for a FREE event to hear a personality like the Honorable Mike Huckabee. However…
After a few days of reflection and a lovely conversation with a friend, I realize that this was simply not the right moment for us to have that elusive breakthrough event where we host more than 1000 people and raise the lion’s share of our annual budget. Regarding the lovely conversation, this lady friend said that she felt that the smaller gathering allowed for more intimacy and the “free to come” element allowed some people to attend that may not have been able to otherwise. Also, this friend observed people who were emotionally moved by Huckabee’s message to us.
Oh, I could redeem my fragile humanity by sharing more, but I will move on. I do believe that the event was a success in many ways. May the harvest spring up from the seeds that were planted at “Faith and Family Night – 2023.” Amen.
Oh, and if you are wondering about the article title and a mention of 12,000 steps… that was how many steps my watch told me that I took on Monday 🙂 Now, here are a few photos that I snapped with my trusty Pixel Pro smartphone. Thanks!
