They did lovely cakes at the bring and buy sale for charity.
Sally prepared them and they were adored by so many in the community when they came along. In fact they were known as the sally-cakes. Sally laboured over those every year and they were a delight that the group really appreciated. It got to the stage where they didn’t even have to ask, the mention of the sale and Sally would be right at it.
Then, however, Sally moved on. Her daughter had moved to Australia and had sent for her and she was grateful for the opportunity to spend some time in a warmer climate as she looked forward to retiring.
The group were a little put out by it, because when it came to the sale, people were expecting the cakes. The first time they put on a sale, the remarks were made about how it was a shame that there were no cakes. In fact the collection at the overall sale took a dip as a result. The group panicked and looked for someone else to do the cakes.
Paul tried doing them – they flopped. Jenny had a go – they flopped. Kelly had a go – they flopped. They had even got Sally to do a video of the way of preparing the cakes and the group had a competition to see who could do the cakes like Sally. And they all failed.
Kyle was the youngest son of Paul and he didn’t pay too much attention to the whole thing, because if it wasn’t Fortnite, he didn’t want to know. He told his Dad that if there was a video game competition that would be something that would interest him. Paul turned it around and challenged his son to develop a games corner where folks could compete as well as contribute to the cause. Kyle got excited about that and got his friend Holly to help.
As the group were scratching their heads over what to do about the cakes for the next sale, Kyle and Holly set up their games corner and used their social media contacts to generate interest. The sale had a big upswing in interest not just among those in the cirlces of interest of Kyle and Holly, but also of the parents of those who were suddenly keen to attend a bring and buy sale for charity. Attention turned from cakes to the games. Paul took that on for the next sale and a games corner for those who understood that you didn’t need a games console and a screen to have fun.
From there, others in the group identified areas that they enjoyed and would put forward to get people interested in the sale. When Sally returned for a visit at the time of a sale, she was surprised by how wide and diverse it had become, whilst retaining its simple, homely and friendly structure.
She felt as though her departure had eventually released something among the group where rather than depending on the strengths of an individual, they were free to express their strengths for the good of the whole. It brought a sense of joy to her that she had not experienced since she was part of a group that discovered she was good at making cakes.
(Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 