On Saturday we hosted 19 people for a cookout. I had never met half of them. Needless to say I’m still recovering.


Our church has been encouraging regular attenders to host cookouts this summer and invite friends/neighbors who don’t normally attend church. Being the most introverted of the introverts we did not jump for joy when we heard about this plan. I enjoy hosting people, but if I’m going to have someone into my personal space I like to know them. We decided to host one anyway because it was the Lord’s work and, to be honest, I was hoping for some extra heavenly treasure for my efforts. 


It first it was a manageable size. We invited the landlords, four neighbors and two friends we knew from Fort Campbell. Nine people was a nice size and we knew them all. Then Christopher decided to invite the people on the other side of Hippie Bob and Sue. That was venturing into uncharted neighborhood territory. They weren’t home but the people on the other side of them were so Christopher invited them. While he was talking to them, the guy next door came to see what was going on so he got invited too. Then Matt from work got an invitation. Then a family from church said they’d come help out. The numbers quickly got out of control.


I channeled my nerves into selecting the right color scheme and planning cupcake flavors. At one point I said something about how my gold and white with touches of pink color scheme didn’t make one bit of difference. No one would notice anyway. I didn’t even want to bother with coordinating straws. (WHO AM I?) Let’s cancel the whole thing and move to Montana. Christopher thought I should ditch the color scheme and we should focus on more important things like how much food to buy and having enough seating. 


Matt and Phil (an unexpected addition) arrived early. The neighbors old and new trickled in shortly after. Most of the neighbors had never met. We were the new kids on the block bringing everyone together. Bob and Sue couldn’t come because he was running his 25th yard sale of the year. I asked him where he gets all the items he sells (he has a never ending supply in his yard) and he said “they fall from the sky. It’s bad for business when it rains.” I’d imagine so. The family from church came just in the nick of time. They socialized and helped and saved the day. We could have survived without them, but they made the experience a million times easier. If we get a few treasures in heaven for this they will certainly get several mansions. The moral of this story is introverts hosting a party should always have extreme extroverts on the guest list.


All in all the event went well. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and we were glad we did it, even though we did look like this the second everyone left.