Service Auction

Our women's church activity this month was a service auction. Our first task was to think of a service we were willing to donate. We then wrote our idea down on a card. There were quite a variety of services: dinners, all kinds of baked goods, jams and other goodies, a car detail, closet organizing, house cleaning, sign language lessons, party planning, a hand-made quilt, a knitted baby hat, etc. I volunteered 4 to 6 hours of babysitting at my house. I thought that would be common, but I was the only one that volunteered the babysitting.

We then had to fill out a survey of things we've done. Some of the questions were religious based (did you say your prayers this morning), but most were general (have you ever checked your car's oil). Each item on the survey was worth a certain number of points. We used those points to bid on the services. I got an embarrassingly low number :-)

The first part of the activity was a potato bar, where we all brought a topping. It was yummy! I am pretty sure I'm one of the few that went back for seconds. Because of my diet restrictions, I haven't been having potatoes lately, because I normally eat them covered in butter, sour cream, cheese, and bacon bits...none of which I can have now. But, I topped mine in broccoli and green onions and it was really good!

We then had the auction. One of the women, Janelle, was our auctioneer. She first read off all of the services, so we had an idea of what was available. I wrote down the things I was interested in, but the thing I really wanted was the sign language lessons. My daughter, Shaya, has really been interested in learning sign language lately...When I was little, one of my friends was deaf, so I actually knew quite a bit of sign language then, but it's been a long time. Shaya knows her letters now, and I've been teaching her a few phrases, but I knew she'd love the lessons. Fortunately, those were auctioned off near the end, so most people had spent their points already and I was able to get them! Ironically, the person that does the lessons won the bid on my babysitting... I told her we should make behind-the-scenes arrangements to swap for future lessons and babysitting (although, she teaches professionally and charges quite a bit more than I would to babysit).

I have heard of service auctions, of course, but that was the first one I have attended. It was a very fun and creative activity that I was fortunate enough to be able to attend. Not to mention, the socializing! Our church has a lot of really good people in it, and I've enjoyed getting to know them and becoming friends with many of them.