I’ve discovered that in order to log 11,000 steps a day I have to make stepping my #1 priority. The only problem is that my family wants to be my #1 priority and so do my friends, my church, and my writing. It seems like they’re all fighting every day to be #1. Today my church won. We held our annual Strawberry Social this afternoon in the church pavilion. This is a tradition that’s been going on as long as any of our oldest members can remember. It rates right up there with Christmas and Easter in importance. Bethlehem Lutheran started in a German farming community, and farming still commands a lot of respect from us. The Strawberry Social is a celebration of summer and God’s provision. We share our abundance with the whole community and give away any profits made. This year’s money will go to drill water wells in Africa.

So my first steps this morning were to Wegmans to buy the ingredients for the salads and shortcakes I needed to make for the event. Besides every kind of strawberry dessert you can think of, we also serve barbecue, hot dogs and salads, lots of salads. The strawberries were all hulled yesterday in the church kitchen.

I spent a lot of time on my feet in the kitchen, but mostly standing in one place, not stepping. While I worked I prayed that the rain would stop by 4:00 pm. (It did.) and that people would not stay away because of the weather. (They didn’t.)

So, it was a great day for food, faith, fellowship, and fun. Not such a good day for stepping.

Day 173: 7,825 Steps  YTD: 1,545,393 Steps  Goal: 1,628,000 Steps