This blog post is adapted from the children’s moment at my church Community Baptist Church today.
Memories are a wonderful thing. What are some memories you have of Halloween and growing up?
One of the nice things about getting older is that you have better memories than when you did when you are young.
One of my memories that I have of Halloween Parties of the past was at my growing up church. We would play games, wear costumes and ingest lots of weak Kool-Aid and Reese Cups.
These parties would take place in the church basement or social hall now known as the “youth room”. My growing up church is in downtown Henderson KY it is a very old church. One thing is for sure sometimes you would hear strange noises or feel like someone was around, and they were not. I think it was the friendly Holy Ghost. The floors would creek and the place even smells old.
Two things that I remember most about the Halloween parties were the spook house and the fortune teller.
We would convert the church social hall into a fun Halloween experience. The haunted hallway was converted into a spook house. We would take cooked spaghetti and refrigerate it and have people stick their hands in it and tell them it was human brains. We would take grapes and freeze them and tell people that it was eyeballs- all things that gave people a scare. It was a fun experience putting the haunted house together. It was a memory.
In another closet off of the social hall we had a fortune teller setup. The fortune teller was good she dressed up nice had a Chrystal ball, a deck of cards and everything. She would invite people into the hall closet and tell them of this incredible future they had. I had to try out the fortune teller many times because she told me of so many good things that were going to happen to me, I just couldn’t resist.
My fellow friends enjoyed it too and would go back multiple times. It became so interesting that the adults starting going in the closet to have their fortune told. Yes, this was taking place in the basement of the First Baptist Church.
The lady who was fortune teller was Mrs. Mary Bullard. She was quite a stitch of a lady. Us kids really loved her. She was a school teacher and a music lover. Her daughter Jeannie was the church organist for many years and her husband JC ran the sound system for the church. She went with us on many church music camps and always kept us entertained with many of her bigger than life stories.
The next year Halloween rolled around, we had another party at the church. Since Fortune Teller Mrs. Bullard was such a hit she was asked back and again the adults enjoyed her prognostications as well. She told one lady she was going to have a baby- she did a few months later. She told another she was going to get married- she did a few months later. At that point, I think the fortune teller character at the church Halloween parties was axed for future years.
We all know that “immortal invisible, God is only wise” and only God knows our future. What we do know are that God’s people (like Mrs. Bullard) can create for us memories that help God live in our lives.
Mrs. Bullard died in October 8, 1990 but her memories of love and care for us kids live on today.
Mrs. Bullard taught many of the young musician programs at the church. During those programs, we learned many songs I still remember today that tell me bible stories and lessons Jesus taught. She created for me memories.
How many attended bible studies this morning at 9:45 a.m. (or as we used to call it Sunday School)? If you didn’t I encourage you to remind your responsible adults to get to church each Sunday early so you can attend and make memories like I did when I was your age.
I will tell you another short story that I heard this week. Someone said that they missed going to church for about six weeks this summer and when they came back nobody missed them.
This is another reason we need to be a part of bible study/Sunday school or small groups. When we are in smaller groups and meet regularly like we do each Sunday here at Community Baptist Church it makes it easier for all of us to check on those that are missing.
And now for…the rest of the story. The "lady who had a baby" was my mother who, at 31, had 2 adopted kids b/c she'd been told she couldn't have any of her own. Everyone at FBC laughed at the "prognostication". Well, as Nibby said, she ended up pregnant just a few months later! Psh…what do docs know? It provided some good torment years later when we told my little brother he was an "accident". Ha!
Nibby, I haven’t thought of Mrs. Bullard for years, but she was a character and loved to talk. I was a bridesmaid at a friend’s wedding at the old Audubon Baptist Church and was standing in the receiving line. Mrs. Bullard greeted each member of the wedding party warmly as she went down the line, being very familiar with everyone involved. When she got to me, an outsider and a Methodist at that, she stopped and introduced herself. Then she stayed for quite some time as she connected me to my family, my friends, and whatever connections we may have shared. The problem was that Mrs. Bullard was holding tightly and vigorously shaking my hand, and Mrs. Bullard was an enthusiastic hand shaker. I had a scar for many years on my finger from the ring which cut into my finger as she shook and talked, and talked, and talked.
She was definitely eccentric. I loved her!
An awesome read!