By my calculation, tonight’s Board and Pastors’ Christmas Dinner will be the 34^th such affair for Karla’s culinary expertise. We started in Bad Axe, when Karla cooked a meal for the church board and the entire pastoral staff (me, myself and I). She has carried on the Christmas tradition at each church. The board and staff for years was small enough to have the meal in our home. As the churches grew, so did the size of the gathering. Now, the event is held in the church foyer (Karla didn’t want a “funeral dinner feel” to the meal, and Central Church’s foyer with big Christmas trees and a high ceiling makes for a lovely setting). Tonight, there will be 50 or so folks for dinner. 

Karla plans and searches for the perfect recipes all year long. She keeps notes on what folks ate and what they didn’t eat (Note to self: No Liver and onions. C’mon, she has never served liver and onions). She thinks and rethinks how to make a meal that even Goldilocks would say,  “everything is just right.” This year’s main entre is ham. There will be a potato dish that she first tried out on our home group (aka “the guinea pigs”). There will be veggies and salads and I don’t know how many deserts. All homemade. All prepared to perfection.

It can be a dangerous effort too. A few years back, she was taking the glazed carrots out of the convection oven, but the food tins proved to be too heavy. As the carrots dropped all over the floor into a sugary, sticky mess, she slightly tore her rotator cuff. She might not have given” life and limb” for this meal, but she has given a “limb.”
 

Some pastors’ spouses play the piano or lead a ministry. Back in the day, when it was mostly male pastors, the question most frequently asked at interviews was, “can your wife play the piano.” Karla played the flute (and she did accompany congregational singing with it, but that’s another story for another day). She doesn’t lead Ladies Bible studies. She isn’t the missionary president type. If you want to get on her “naughty list” ask her to do something up front. More “Martha” than “Mary” (the sisters of Lazarus from the story in Luke 10), Karla is a behind the scenes worker-bee. Hospitality and serving are her gifts. 

Solomon once wrote: A good woman is hard to find, and worth far more than diamonds. (Proverbs 31:10 MSG). He ought to know and apparently Solomon looked and looked and looked for a good woman (he had 700 wives and another 300 concubines… umm… maybe he looked too much.). It only took me one try to find “a good woman worth more than diamonds.” 

Karla is invaluable to me. She keeps me going when I’m ready to quit; helps me in more ways than I can list; and has made me look good more times than I can count. When she finally has time to sit down and read this article (probably sometime next week), she won’t be happy. She’d rather be in the background than in the spot light. Still, I’m very thankful for the love and effort she puts into tonight’s meal. Central church is blessed to have a great church board and wonderful pastoral staff, but I’m most thankful for tonight’s chef.