Town Party, Country Party

 In the first season of Little House on the Prairie, there’s an episode called Town Party, Country Party. Mean ole’ Nellie Oleson invites the girls to her house for a fancy party, and then Laura and Mary invite everyone to their house for a country-style party. Nellie didn’t find that one nearly as fun, I’m afraid. And of course, there’s the whole competition thing that always flares up among girls of that age. Tucked neatly inside are important life lessons, and clearly, Mary and Laura really did have the better party, even if it wasn’t as ritzy.

            Sunday night, I had a little party at our house, and while I prepped for it, I went through my fair share of sweating that I was the country-party version of the hospitality. It’s silly in every single way, because none of it was true, but it made me pause to consider how many of us don’t want to offer what we have because we fear it might not be as good as what someone else can offer.

            You see, several weeks ago, the ladies in our Sunday School class decided we needed more fellowship in our lives (not wrong!) and devised a plan to get together once a month, on a Sunday evening, just to hang out and talk.

            Last month was our first gathering, and we showed up at one of the ladies’ homes on a warm and sunny Sunday evening. We sat around what would have been a campfire, if it hadn’t been almost 90 degrees in the blazing sun right in that moment. We enjoyed some snacks, we took turns playing with puppies one of the ladies brought along for fun, and we caught up on life. All the while, the host’s kids and husband played a game of flag football in the front yard, and we got to enjoy listening to that while we chatted.

            I signed up to host this month’s gathering, because I knew it would fall on fall break weekend and the crowd might be smaller. Since our house is small, I didn’t want everyone to feel squished. It was all very strategic, and I felt great about it until last week when I sent out the reminders. What if no one wanted to come? What if I made all this food and no one showed up? What if they think little houses by the water are dumb? What if I’m Laura and they’re Nellie?

            Except none of them are anywhere CLOSE to Nellie. They are all sweet as can be!

            So we cleaned the house, and I washed all the throw blankets so I could roll them up and put them in a basket to keep people warm as the sun went down over the lake.

            I pulled out hot chocolate packets, bags of flavored tea, honey sticks, and latte pods so they could have warm drinks with their snacks if they wanted.

            I timed the baking of a fresh apple crisp so it would be warm out of the oven when they showed up (and the house would smell like cinnamon!) and grabbed some ice cream to go with it. I made one of our favorites – taco dip – and paired it with a bag of tortilla chips. Then I panicked that I didn’t have enough food, so I ripped open a new bag of trail mix and poured it in a bowl and stole some of Ryan’s pretzels for another bowl.

            I turned on the TV to one of the fake coffee shop channels with the comforting instrumental music playing in the background and set out the flowers my friend gifted me this weekend. (Stunning!)

            And then the hour arrived and cars began to pull into the driveway. Lexi lost her mind with joy at all her new friends that had come just to see her. We pulled more camping chairs out of the garage and everyone made a big circle to sit, talk, and enjoy the stunning display of leaves over the lake.

            I took them inside, gave them a tour of the house, and let them load up plates, bowls, and mugs with snacks and drinks, and then we ate and talked for the longest time.

            Ryan took us for a couple of spins around the lake as the sun went down, and Lexi ran from one friend to the next, trying to give equal love to everyone.

            When we came back, it was almost dark, and we scooted all the chairs a little closer to the fire and kept talking.

            It was the best night, and after the last person left, I realized that there’s no such thing as town parties and country parties. It’s all just a lot of fun talking to the people who share life with us every week. I’m so glad I was brave enough to take a turn!