Rain!!!!

It finally rained here today after many days of heat and no rain. A person could hear the grass drinking! The birds were taking baths in whatever small amount of water that they could find.
We are busy trying to find a Bible study for our winter Texas volunteer group, although we also want their input. We have such a great group in Pharr for the winter, and hope more decide to join us - great Bible study, fellowship, and food!  We have been praying about what to study - which direction to go, but so far nothing seems to jump out at us. Patience - not one of my best virtues.
Our daughter and her husband here in Arkansas feed the deer in their yard - she got some amazing pictures of recent visitors to their feed lot. And no, they are not going to shoot them!

Aren't they beautiful creatures?

There are so many different denominations in this world today with so many different beliefs and interpretations of the Bible. We all need to pray that we understand what God wants from us, and not rely on the beliefs and doctrines of others. Listen to what is being spoken, think about it, pray, and then go to the Bible to read what is written about it. We need to be strong in what we believe and stick to our convictions.
Growing up in Chicago and going to a Catholic school was a pretty big challenge for me. I loved the nuns, but still feared them. Every single one of them (short, tall, skinny, plump)  had a very skinny and sharp "pointing" finger. They all knew how to use it to poke you if you were misbehaving. My least favorite nun was sister Bernadine - tall, skinny, with a permanent sour expression on her face. It was my luck to have her for two years! My favorite was Sister Bernadette - short, plump, always smiling, never frowning, even acted like she loved children.We attended chapel every day, went to confession every week (which I will talk about in another post), attended church every Sunday, and generally were "good Catholic children". Perhaps I was the exception to the rule. There were rules in the classroom - even in kindergarten.A large slide was actually in our classroom and was part of the recess time for us. The unwritten rules were that when Sister blew the whistle, you were to return to the education area - recess was over. If you were at the top of the slide, you were to return down the ladder - under no circumstances were you to slide down. A lesson in obedience and discipline. (I guess you know where this is leading!) If you committed the sin of actually sliding down the slide after the whistle was blown, you had to walk back up the slide, holding onto the sides and hauling yourself back up. The first time I did not adhere to the rule was a challenge - to see if the nuns would actually make ME walk back up the slide. They did, and with angry instructions about disobeying Sister's and God's will. And of course, it must be confessed to the priest. After that, it was fun trying to outwit the whistle - one eye on the clock and one eye on Sister.
This is just a small sampling of how I was raised for a few years in Christianity - knowing about God but not actually knowing God. We need to be so careful with those who do not have a clue as to salvation - be gentle, not condemning, but just understanding and presenting God's will as it is outlined in the Bible.
I was in a local store the other day - sort of a speciality store. The owner, for some reason, began talking about his former life of marijuana smoking, two divorces, loosing homes, boats, etc. due to a worldly lifestyle. I had not mentioned that I was a chaplain, nor had I verbally told him I was a Christian. He related how he was saved through the grace of Jesus Christ and turned his life around, even falling to his knees and humbling himself before God. We talked about Jesus' saving grace and how thankful he is now where his in his walk. How amazing that we can have a discussion like this, without confronting, condemning, or being "pushy" in our faith.
Be sure to check back for more of my life growing up in  a Catholic Italian family in Chicago in the 40's, in a very diversified neighborhood.