Bean Supper

Bean Supper
Originally uploaded by russandval.

(It took me a while to get around to posting this, my apologies.)

When we were at Mayfair, in Oklahoma City, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving was a church-wide bean supper. The food was made and served by the men. Really, it was served by a handful of men in particular, who had started this tradition many years earlier and continued.

We didn't have Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving day (since we'd had it on our team retreat and since Russ and I represent two different countries that can't agree on a date for the holiday) but Stacey and I decided we needed to have a bean supper. We spared Russ and Keith from having to cook the food themselves, so we prepared the beans and cornbread. The way our schedule ended up, the bean supper was sandwiched between a team meeting and Brock's birthday party so the entire team joined us for the meal. It was a little way to feel united with our old church family.

One bittersweet note: as we we getting ready to eat, Keith received an email that one of the men that was responsible for the bean supper when we were at Mayfair, Bill McIntosh, had passed away that morning. Bill was an incredible servant of God and had been a huge supporter of missions. He and his wife Bonnie were so encouraging of all our endeavors, from the college Mexico trip to Russell's first trip to Brazil with Basil to our plans to move here. We are grateful that God blessed him with such a long life so we could know Bill, and Bonnie remains in our prayers.