Fancy schmancy tea party

Lora & I were invited by Nancy to a "tea party" for the "Prayer Blanket Ministry" at her church. They make blankets & stitch praying hands w/ their church name on them. The blankets are prayed over & then presented to those who are sick or have a sickness in their family or experienced the death of a loved one.

We each had our own place @ the table.

Each of the ladies decorated a table. This was ours. It was lavender & blue. Nancy used her own wedding china.
She also decorated this table. It was black & gold.
We walked around to see all the different tables & this Barbie inspired one caught my eye. I collect Barbies myself!

I wish I had thought to take a picture of all the food. It was mainly finger foods & desserts. And I swear to you, there was at least a 20' row of tables full of it. Nancy made these "mice". And at the end of the longest line of food I have ever seen, was a chocolate fountain w/ all the fixin's!

The speaker was Jackie Vaught, who is the mother of Shanda Shearer. Those of you who live around here will surely know that name. She said today was Shanda's birthday. She would've been 30 years old. She was 12 years old when she was killed. I didn't quite know what to expect she would speak about, but I was pleasantly surprised. She talked about Shanda's life, the events leading up to her abduction, and the murder itself.

It was very touching to hear her speak about something so horrific. She was very well spoken, poised & matter of fact. Her message to the ladies was mainly about your relationships w/ your children. (Even though I'm not a mom, I could still appreciate it!) Make sure they know you love them & no matter what you will always love them. She spoke about how parents today want to be their childrens "friends". She says "no way". You're the parent. Period. You can be their friend when they grow up & have kids of their own. She talked about privacy & how your children should have none. It's your home & you're stuff. If you think they are involved in something they shouldn't be - go through their room, go through their stuff. She'd rather have a child be mad than a child be dead. (Told ya she was matter of fact...)

She read a poem that they had on Shanda's casket. It talked about how they would see each other again. Then she said that's what gets her through. Knowing she will see her daughter again & knowing that her daughter was w/ her right now, listening to every word he said. She even opened the floor to questions when she was finished.