anticipating Thanksgiving

As this Thanksgiving Day is almost upon us, we all need to reflect on the bounty of favor God has granted us, as we often forget in the hustle and bustle of daily activities to thank God for the little things - a close parking space, a great deal on a big purchase, the wonderful weather, blue sky, flowering bushes, friends, just being alive. We all have things in our lives that seem to present us with problems every day, some things are on-going, some are physical, some emotional and even some spiritual. Just dwell on the positive things in your life, and the negative things will not seem so important. Thanks and thanksgiving is mentioned so many times in the Bible - there in itself is a message. "Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name: make known among nations what He has done". I Chronicles 15:18

white roses on our patio

look what He created!

hot pepper plant - lots of peppers and more blooms

Our Monday night Bible study this past Monday was totally awesome!!! We did have a lesson to study and try to get through, but because the Holy Spirit was with us, we had a time of  fellowship with discussion, testimony, revelations, and answered questions. Thanks to everyone who was there and all of your support. Fred and I feel so unworthy of leading this group, but God has been with us all of the way.

our Bible Study class - small now but it will grow every week

We had a CRM chaplains meeting Saturday at Alamo Rec Veh Park, as most of our chaplains are now here in the Valley. It was so nice to greet those we have not seen for awhile. Of course, we had a pot luck. I forgot my camera in all the hustle, but I'm sure if you go to baker's blessing.blogspot.com you will see many from LaVon Baker, our CRM camera guru! Whoops, I just checked it and saw nothing about CRM - she must have slowed down for the holidays, as I don't see any there yet.

We want to wish everyone a very happy and wonderful thanksgiving, filled with all of God's blessings!!!

Bible Study and potluck

Our Bible Study has begun at CHI on Monday nights with an introduction to Jeremiah, the weeping prophet. The book of Jeremiah centers on repentance, a very unpopular subject at the time as well as in current times. People do not want to be reminded that they cannot be of the world and still be of God - so many people today as in Biblical times do not want to give up all their worldly desires to follow Jesus. This does not mean that we cannot enjoy life, just that we do enjoy life in a Godly way. We hope to increase the size of our group as more friends arrive from the North and be able to share in God's word and plan for us all.

an invitation



Last week we headed out to Reynosa to deliver all the games and prizes for the CHI carnival held there on Saturday. We got a chance to visit with the girls we sponsor, as well as all of the RIN children, and enjoyed a wonderful meal  of chicken mole' provided by RIN's great cook, Maria. We had time to visit houseparents as this trip was not rushed or filled with other duties. Our sister-in-law, Susan, made our girls beautiful quilts, and a friend, also named Susan, embroidered their names on them. As you can see from the pictures, the girls were so excited to get them.  We finally wished everyone good-bye with promises to return for the carnival on Saturday. Because of God's grace and protection, we had no problems on the border either entering or leaving Reynosa.

Lupe with her quilt

Paty with her quilt

Although Sonia has left the home, she does return for visits so her sisters displayed her quilt.

 

The carnival is held for all of the neighboring residents as an offering of good will and friendship. The kids (and even the parents, as Bingo is offered for the adults) wait all year for this event, where there are games, prizes, food, and an awesome spiritual skit presented by a local Christian youth group.  A very excited father and son leaped with joy as the won a 52" TV in the raffle! It was a time for Christian fellowship and loads of fun. It was a very tiring, long day but worth every minute of it! We manned a plinko game - a child dropped a ball and where it bounced off pegs and landed was the gift they received. We received over 100 stuffed animals donated by wonderful friends from Minnesota church which were the large prizes, also other donated prizes of toothbrushes and candy. Additional prizes were 10 free tickets for food or games (the most coveted prize). A loser ball earned the player a piece of chocolata. We don't know who was more tired at the end of the day - the visitors or us!

 

Fred and Kerm waiting for the players to arrive

Director Betsy Chacon drawing playing lines

enjoying the fishing game

Fred, Lupe, Paty, and Leila



Any week here in S. Texas is not complete without a pot luck of some sort - our Bible Study includes finger foods, and today was the volunteer pot-luck at CHI in Pharr, Texas. Lots of wonderful food, good fellowship, great volunteers, and of course, work assignments from Betsy!!! But we love her and the great work she does. Tomorrow is my day to work in the resale shop-  yeah!!!! Lots of great things there - lots of treasures to be found.

some of the CHI volunteers getting ready to eat

Randall Chacon welcoming us all for the season

the treasure trove of bargains

God is good - His word is His promise - always let us listen to him when He speaks and follow His commands,

So many opportunities, so little time!

We are settled in here in South Texas for the winter, enjoying the absolutely perfect weather this last week. Cool morning, breezy days (only have to turn the a/c on late afternoons), cool, quiet evenings. Already have had one church service, one pot luck, one patio party, and two park meetings, not counting the other meetings attended in relationship to our duties here at the park.

God instructs us to help others, love others, and spend our time in service to Him.  "You my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to  indulge the sinful nature: rather serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command, "love your neighbor as yourself". Galatians 5:13-14.

There are so many opportunities to serve, and so little time to do them!!! As chaplains for CHI, our main service responsibility is to minister to the volunteers. We do so by Bible Study on Monday nights (we are startiing our first study this coming Monday) - pray for wisdom and understanding as we show others the wonder of God. We also have a prayer time on Tuesdays, which involves whomever is at work that day, as well as any others who wish to join in. Our prayer focuses on CHI, the children, the houseparents, and directors. Sometimes we have specific requests, as you can imagine with almost 60 children and 5 sets of houseparents, as well as teachers. Other times we  just pray for the continuance of God's blessing on CHI. We also include any individual requests from those present, which many times demands that we stop and pray at that very moment.

Our volunteer duties at CHI on the American side are at the resale shop/office in Pharr, Texas. It is not a large shop, but we are blessed with many, many donations of saleable items. I work in the store most of the time, sorting and marking items, as well as acting as cashier. It is fun to see familiar faces again, as well as the many newcomers who have recenty heard about us. I get a chance to practice my limited Spanish. I do not fear being laughed at anymore, as the people aer willing to correct my errors, and help me with pronunciation and new words. CHI is planning a huge 3 day yard sale this week , so we all have been getting ready for that. It is quite a production, with many volunteers working daily, both inside and out. Fred and the other men volunteers have been busy setting up tents and whatever it is that men have to do to prepare for this sale. They have also been traveling around the area, doing pick-ups as people call in with donations. We have everything from clothes, to holiday items. electronics, and furniture. This is a great fund raiser for CHI and the time goes very fast.

the inside if the resale shop, with the many clothes we have for sale - we only feature name brand nice as new clothing

Some of the Halloween items we had for sale

yes, we have Christmas things already

CHI has many more fund raisers, from trips to the home in Reynosa, to birthday parties for the children, a carnival in Reynosa involving the surrounding area as well as other refuges, Christmas parties, Mexican Independence Day, etc. It is not all fun and games, though. It is much easier to take pictures of the fun activities than it is to try to show everyone the behind the scenes everyday activity just to keep CHI running.

The Church at Alamo Rec Veh is also giving everyone an opportunity to give and serve. We are sponsoring a  "Christmas in a Sock" program, where we donate socks and t-shirts to women incarcerated in prison in Arkansas. This program is close to my heart, as I have attended several Prison to Purpose retreats, and have seen where the PAL program (a Bible based program for inmates) has changed the life of so many of the women in prison - giving them hope and a reason to give their lives to God. Check out their website at prisiontopurpose.com

In addition to Toys for Tots, our church and the park itself are sponsoring many other areas where a person can serve - a person  does not have to participate in every one of them, just those that touch your heart.

Many of our winter friends are coming back "home" so we pray for travel mercies for them. We are looking forward to seeing everyone, and feeling sad for those not returning., In many cases of a death in the family, we are content in the knowledge that they are with the Lord, enjoying the benefits of all the promises He has made to us. Oh, to have Bob Fleck return and tell the wonderful stories of heavenly eternal life!!!!! What stories they would be.