Writing a bulletin is a lot like cooking dinner.

I mean, they are similar right from the get go. Each night moms across the world answer that classic question, "what's for dinner?" (I sound like the beef commercial!) So did they plan a whole meal menu in advance? Or are they just going to wing it and throw something together? Did they shop for specific dinner items at the grocery store, or did they simply restock on staples (in my case, cheese, bread, pepperoni, and oh did I mention cheese?)

Even then, is the food made from scratch or is it pre-cooked/reheat stuff? I heard someone at work boast they home cook by boiling noodles from a bag, dump on sauce from ajar, and microwave precooked pre-sliced chicken to lay on top. While that is not what we would consider home cooking, it IS cooked at home so technically it counts. Yet when a certain lady close to my heart makes chicken and dumplings, she cooks up her chicken from raw breast portions, dices the meat, and uses the stock to flavor the flour/egg made from scratch noodles she rolls out and cuts with a pizza cutter on the counter. (Who would have thought you could make use of a pizza cutter like that!)

Finally, how long are the meals remembered? I don't know that I could recall every meal for the last month, let alone the last 13 years, that Deniese has made for me. I know Dave eats them and sprints off, when he's home for dinner at all. Deniese threatens Dave and I with having to cook, especially if we complain (I never do, I mean come on; complain about food?) and sometimes she could use a break. Once in a while she will freeze up and say she can't think of anything to make in spite of a cupboard full of food, at which point I take her out to dinner and let her choose from someone else's menu (and let someone else do the dishes, too!)

So how is that like a bulletin? Well, several folks have written them now. Some of these will worry and fret about what to write, and will take weeks to sound out and reason what they are going to say. They carefully plan the topic, the presentation, and the conclusion. I on the other hand sit down each Saturday (morning I hope, sometimes night!) and write up whatever comes to mind. Today I literally dreamed this topic up when I woke up in the early morning, and since the topic persisted I figured I had better write it down so it would go away. My usual writing is not so haphazard as you might think - I strive to use the staples I have at hand. I want to encourage, hold your attention, sometimes make you think (but not by offending or getting in your face! I'm better than that!), and as opportunity permits transfer some information about scripture. Did I mention cheese?

However, even though I am a throw-together bulletin cook I still cook from scratch. I try very hard not to just take a canned, pre-written story I got from an email and reprint it here. I do like a break once in a while, but by and large each one is written from my hand. Besides, on occasion the elders will ask me to write a bulletin about a particular topic and there is rarely some handy preacher story that fits the bill quite right.

How are the bulletins remembered? Someone told me they have a drawer full of them from years past at home. I see them sticking out of bibles, and every so often someone I don't know will email me with a note about one they read online or had mailed to them by one of the members here. And yes, when someone nits a them I am always glad to have that person write next week's edition! However, so many like to nit and run. So far I have not had a day where l couldn't think of anything, but I have had days where I needed a break and reprinted some old preacher story. As long as it fits my criteria and is nutritious and delicious I am willing to serve it up.

One last way bulletins are like cooking dinner? Some folks like chicken, some hate it. Many don't eat their vegetables, and yet once in a while what a cook thinks is boring gets eaten and the diners fight to lick the pans out. I am ever surprised when I write a bulletin that I think is great and no one says a word about it, yet I will write one I am a bit ashamed of because I think it's sub-par and folks rant on about it. The thing is, they always turn out right if we just follow the recipe book perfectly! (No adjusting needed for altitude, either, just attitude!) It's when we don't that we bum the toast. Think about it.

Randy