The Miracle of the Christmas Lasagna

As the Activities Committee chair for my ward, I can tell you that we had been planning for our ward's party since JULY!!! We really wanted it to be successful and fun for everyone; but as little stress for the committee as possible.

I don't remember how we came to the conclusion that we would have lasagna, salad and french bread, but that was the menu that we made (and stuck to!). We half way expected lots of complaints, since it isn't the traditional American holiday meal, but I never heard anyone complain!

Our party was scheduled for December 19th. Judging by last year's party attendance, we were planning on 150 to 180 people, and I was going to buy lasaagnas accordingly. And, we had people sign up to bring bread and salad, so that just left us with the makings for ice cream sundaes, to worry about.

As I said, 4 months worth of planning . . . it was going to go smoothly, if it killed us!! LOL So, we planned to set up on December 18th, so that all we had to do on the 19th was show up and put food on the table. * We had decided to do family style food service. I HATE waiting in a long line for food, at ward parties! Anyway, we set a time to set up tables, etc. with the Elders' Quorum, (some men in our ward) and we were all set to go.

We arrived at the church at the assigned time, only to discover that someone was using the gym for a presentation that evening. They told us that they would be finished by 8 pm, so we could set up tables at that time. Disappointed, we asked the men to come back at 8, and we set to work wrapping the plastic ware in a napkin, with a ribbon tied around them.

8 o'clock rolled around, and the other group was done with their activity. But, none of our helpers could be found! So, the men from the other group helped us instead! That was so kind of them, and we really appreciated the extra hands.

Anyway, the bishop of the other ward, who was there helping us, mentioned that they had 210 people in attendance at their Christmas party. That got me thinking, "wow, maybe we had better plan on that many, too!" I know that sometimes people don't go to any activities all year, but can be found at the Christmas party. So, in setting up tables, we set enough places for 250 people, though we thought we were setting our sights a little high! My theory is, however, "better too much than not enough" and that includes settings for dinner. Who wants to stop eating to set up more tables???

So, the next day I went to Costco and purchased 2 more lasagnas. By my calculations, we would have 216 good sized servings, and if we had to . . . well, I just didn't think about that! So, I arrived at the church at 4 pm, to get 7 lasagnas in ovens there - they take 2 hours to warm up!!

All of the other 17 lasagnas had been divided up, to lovely people in the ward, who agreed to warm them and bring them to the party. (Thanks, Nancy, for thinking of that small detail!!)

As party time arrived, all of the salads, loaves of bread and lasagnas started to arrive. We had planned on one bowl of salad per table, and one loaf of french bread and a pan of lasagna. So we started to get a little stressed about the salad . . . even though a few people brought HUGE bowls of salad, that we divided up into smaller bowls, we were worried that we wouldn't have enough. And, some people hadn't realized that they were supposed to bring their bread to us, sliced, buttered and heated. So much for all the planning for a smooth running party, huh???

15 minutes after start time, one lady came into the kitchen and announced, in a panic, "We need to set up more tables . . . there isn't enough lasagna!" I did my best NOT to panic, and, rather jokingly said, "well, we need to hope for the miracle of the loaves and fishes here, because that is ALL we have!"

After considering, for a moment, how to best deal with that dilemma, I said, "Well, we can just pass pans of lasagna on, when everyone has been dished up! We'll move it to the next table!" One committee member said, "Well, we'll leave that to you!"

At first, I was a little timid about it . . . I mean, how do you politely say, "Could you please hurry up and put some of that on your plate?? We need to move in over to another table!" Ya, crazy, right??? But, after the first 2 or 3 tables, I just jumped right in and started dishing people up. Meanwhile, we had to grab more plates and cups and plasticware for all of the new arrivals. (Let me interject here, by adding that my well-laid plan for music failed - the ipod that I borrowed from my friend, didn't work, after I had taken time to load 4 hours worth of various Christmas songs onto it. That was a bummer! But, someone else ran home, really quick, and got some CDs, so we did have some nice background music!)

Anyway, back to the lasagna! By the time I made sure that the newly arrived guests at least had access to some lasagna, I went back to the kitchen, to see what else we needed. Eventually I did get to sit down, myself, to eat. We had a sweet little nativity story program, by the primary, and then it was time to see Santa Claus and have dessert. I didn't worry about the lasagna anymore, as I felt like there wasn't anything else that I could do!

By the time the party was over, we had SCADS of salad left, and 2 full pans of lasagna left! I know that Heavenly Father truly blessed our efforts, and stretched that food to feed all of us, and then some! Miracles do happen, and I feel so blessed that He blessed our little corner of this vast world with something that He knew that we needed. This was a very humbling experience for me, because I cannot doubt that my Heavenly Father is mindful of what I need.

And, what a nice way to remember the reason for the season, even Jesus Christ, our Savior.

Merry Christmas to all!