Early last month, Betty Jane and Penny planned two separate tea parties on the same day in an effort to raise enough money to sponsor a child in our sponsorship outreach for a year. Betty Jane hosted at her home because she had the most teacups, and more teacups meant more generous hearts could gather at their tables.
They made room.
The parties had a Kisses from Katie theme, and they even went as far as to make “rat” cupcakes inspired by this section of the book (pages 88-89):
I am not one to step back from or fear much, but one situation is always certain to evoke the human emotion of fear in me. It isn’t the rampant disease I encounter multiple times each day or the threat of war in a fragile nation. It is much simpler than that: a rat. One night, I had the very human need to go to the bathroom, but before I could crawl out of bed, I heard the unmistakable sound of little feet scratching around. I couldn’t move. I was paralyzed with fear. Most of the time, I am fearless; I’ve always been that way. But the thought, sound, or sight of a rat just does me in. So I lay there, in the sweltering darkness of my room, unable to get out of bed. I had to ask myself why I was so afraid of a relatively small animal. I’m not sure I ever answered that, but I did begin to think about how often, as human beings, we are crippled by our fears. We are afraid of change, of loss, of being hurt. We cling so tightly to what we have because we are afraid of what would happen if we didn’t have these things anymore.
We are happy to say that Betty Jane, Penny, and their generous guests raised enough money to sponsor two children for a year. You see, we believe God can use anyone and anything to change lives… even tea parties in southern California.