Wood-fired barbecued chicken. Sweet basil lemonade. Fettucini with roasted red pepper pesto, scalloped potatoes, organic greens and blackberry cobbler a la mode, all catered by the Carpenter brothers of Deer Harbor Inn Restaurant.
Top it all off with an inspirational talk by international nurse, author and poet Diana Stuhr and you’ve got a community women’s luncheon hosted by the Orcas Island Community Church.
“She has the most amazing ability to endear herself to people; she is so warm and outgoing, you feel like you’ve known her all of your life,” said Barb Iwarsson, who has known Stuhr since nursing school in 1966. “She has this incredible gift to make people feel at ease.”
All ladies are invited to attend the annual Women’s Spring Luncheon, to be held at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 7 at Rosario Resort’s Discovery House.
Stuhr, who will share stories and insights at the luncheon, has worked as a nurse in Guatemala with Central American Mission and in Ethiopia with World Vision. She joined Wycliffe Bible Translators in 1988 and spent 15 years working in the Philippines. She now lives in Portland, Ore. and trains new members of Wycliffe.
“She is an extraordinary poet and has a gift for really expressing God’s love through the Bible and her own words and how she relates to Jesus,” said organizer Susan Clark. “She’s just got this amazing sweetness about her; love for the Lord just flows from her. She will be providing thoughts God has for us, one-liners from the Bible, references about what God thinks of us.”
This year’s theme will be “Sharing our loving God’s awesome handiwork in choosing and designing each of us as proclaimed in Psalm 139.”
From journals kept during her time in the Philippines, Stuhr authored a book of short stories and poetry entitled “He Spoke, I Listened.” She has also co-authored three books about religion and spirituality with Jean Lieffers.
The cost is $30; reservations required by Friday, April 29. Partial and full scholarships are available. Please make checks payable to: Orcas Island Community Church, with “Spring Luncheon” on the memo line. Mail to: Susan Clark, PO Box 235, Orcas, WA 98280. For more information, call Susan Clark at 376-7046.
