Cooling Off

 

As the days fade into fall, the evenings are cooling off - just right for an evening walk. I took my camera along, as I  knew the "whistlers" in our park  (some type of duck) would also be out for an evening stroll. I sure was not disappointed! They were all lined up next to the lake, anticipating an evening swim. As I would approach each group, they would fly off in a coordinated line into the lake, soon to be followed by each group that I encountered. Some of the residents feed them, and they parade up and down the streets until they are fed. They also perch on roof tops, surveying the area. I knew that the white egret was also in residence, but did not really know how many there were until I looked across the lake from the opposite side, and saw them roosting in for the night.


ducks and other birds (click to enlarge it) 

a few of the whistlers

whistlers getting ready to fly

always on the alert

do they look nervous?

just a few of the many on the lake

maybe they cannot read

the many white egrets roosting

As I continued walking around the lake, it began to rain. I took shelter under a car port along the way, and waited for it to let up a bit. As I waited, I looked out, and saw this glorious

rainbow. Rainbows  always reminds me of the promise God gave Noah when He said that He would never again curse the ground because of man's sinfulness.  Genesis 8:22 says,  "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease".

 

     God's promise in a rainbow

 

 

It is hard to believe that another week has begun (well, perhaps so as it was Sunday football and the Packers won!!). This morning we studied the 23rd Psalm in Bible study with Chaplain Maloney. When you study how shepherds and sheep interact, you really begin to understand our relationship with the Lord as our Shepherd. Sheep are totally trusting in their shepherd, relying on him for their daily needs, and protecting them from danger. They know his voice, follow his lead (shepherds never herd their flock - they always lead them),  and are completely loyal. This is the relationship that we all should try to develop with God and rely on His promises that He will never leave us.

 

We are busy with a multitude of activities - preparing for Sunday church services which will begin in November - Sally and I have a great surprise for honoring birthday and anniversaries each month! We are also preparing for a ladies work out time - hopefully twice a week. Tomorrow we are preparing ourselves by trying to conquer the sessions. I am anticipating lots of water and break time until we perfect it. Pray that we can at least be an inspiration to all who care to join us.

 

Our new Sanctuary Outpost website is beginning to shape up, with videos and pictures. It is our hope that we can convey to all of you what CRMI is all about and how it's three divisions work within it. Those of us who are a part of this division have a passion for missions with a desire to instill the same desire in those who also want to serve in some way. We are always looking for options in all parts of the world where we can partner and spread the word of God.

 

CHI Director Betsy Chacon, along with Mexican Director, Melana Gulian, just returned after a 10 day road trip, visiting all of the churches and other contributors to CHI. They do this every year in order to keep in contact with those who are so loyal to CHI. During this trip, they met with a couple who were involved with CHI when there were only 2 Casas at RIN in Reynosa - now we have 7!!!!

We are praying that those who have not been to Mexico for a visit in a while will be able to this year to see all the improvements.

 

We are excited to begin a new winter season here in S. Texas, anxiously waiting to see where God is leading us this year -  we continue our work at CHI in Pharr, Texas, and Reynosa, Mexico, as well as being involved in Alamo Rec Veh activities, CRM projects, outreach ministries,  not to mention just relaxing in the warm S Texas atmosphere. We are thankful that God has given the opportunity to accomplish all of this in our golden years - to keep busy doing what we love. Please pray for us as we continue on this amazing pathway - we thank all of you for your love and support.

 



 

 



 

 

God's Creatures

Why are we always so surprised when we observe something new and amazing in God's creation? We thought Mama Bunny decided to not reside in our flower garden. We never saw her return, nor did we ever see her sitting on the nest or even go near it. This week we noticed that the nest area had been dug up - on closer observation there was bunny fur mixed into the nesting material, especially under the patio!!!! Yep, she had her babies right there in front of our noses, then moved them to a safer area, all without our noticing her. Is this also true of our daily lives? How many times do we see a need - a person begging on the street, a young mother struggling with groceries and two small children, an elderly person trying to load their groceries into their car, a husband trying to open a door while helping his wife in a wheelchair? It is all of these very small things that we should be aware of - helping out in a simple situation- at least simple to us - making life a bit easier for someone else. My greatest "high" one day years ago was when a tired mother of 3 was trying to make a phone call in a pay booth (yes, there were such things) and had not realized that the cost had been raised from 25 cents to 35 cents - she asked if I had change for a dollar so she could make the phone call. I simply handed her a dime, smiled, and walked away. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched her wipe a tear from her eye, smile at her children, and start to make the call. It was difficult to see her though because of the tears in my eyes. I hoped she passed it on!

Last night was an absolutely beautiful evening here in S Texas - as I weeded the cactus garden, and trimmed back the roses I enjoyed the coolness and the beautiful sunset on the horizon. The second wave of hummingbirds are back, and they were buzzing and chirping over my head on the way to the feeder. I was able to stand right under the feeder and watch them from about 12 inches away. They are such amazing creatures. The many trees in the park were full of birds, all singing and cawing loudly - enjoying the evening as I was. I need to remember to praise the Creator as well as His creation.

It is only September, but Sally Maloney and I are making plans for our 5th annual God's Worthy Women conference in February. We hope this year's conference will be the greatest and best of all - although what could be better than a lady coming to the Lord at one of our conferences??  We are lining up the program, hoping to give all of the ladies present there a true heart for missions, as well as helping them to truly be a  worthy woman of God.

Chaplain Dennis and Sally along with us, video taped a short video for use with the new Sanctuary Outpost website. Paul Darnell, one of our Canadian chaplains does an excellent job on putting this together for us, smiling, I am sure, at our inexperience. We are all still working on it, but you can check out the monthly updates at www.sanctuaryoutpost.org

The Sunday service message from Pastor Israel was on the topic of "Choices". Ironically enough, the subject for my October contribution to Sanctuary Outpost Newsletter  (the SON) is going to be about choices - the choices some of the children at CHI make as they become older and are exposed to the worldly fascinations. I should have it ready to post some time this week. Use the above web address to see all of the stories from Sanctuary Outpost chaplains.

Another one of God's tiny creatures decided to "find" us. A little male grey kitten showed up at our house one day, immediately took a liking to us, and acted like he knew us forever. He was very vocal, howling and yelling at us to let him in the door to be petted and held. We fed him, held him, then called our park director to help find a home for him. Linda was an angel - she found a home the next day and took him to his new family, but not before she, too, fell in love with him.

doesn't he have a sweet face?

A pair of doves have decided to take up housekeeping on a neighbor's night light. I happened to catch the both of them together, the female sitting on the nest, and the male keeping guard. They did not even appear afraid as I approached and took pictures. I wonder if these are the shy young couple I tried to photograph last year when they scooted over and hid in the trees???

proud parents to be

keeping watch over his family

gardening time

The weather has cooled off a bit, and the rain has added to the ability for us to transplant a lot of the cactus (or is it cacti) ? We had a very tall, beautiful cactus that was damaged in the freeze we had two years ago, and tried very hard to think it back to health, but to no avail. So Fred and Pablo (one of the workers here at the park) attacked it with a machete, chain, pitchfork, and truck to remove it as well as another one which had also frozen at that time. We saved a couple of "arms" from the tall cactus and replanted them, as well as some aloe vera and other plants, all very carefully I must say. Wearing leather gloves and trying to stay away from the pickers, we did well. I still would like a few potted herbs and maybe a flower or two. But for now, we call it done!

Fred and Pablo with the machete and pitchfork - the cactus was about 6 feet taller before they chopped some off

attaching the chain - this is quite a project

it is starting to go

it came out fairly easily

replanted with new cacti

some more plants in pots

aloe vera which was just one small plant - now it is three

the third aloe vera and a key lime tree

When we were at RIN last week we toured another Casa renovation. The latest project "Makeover Mi Casita" began two years ago with the remodeling of Casa #3 - these homes have not been touched since they were built 30+ years ago. The project was begun to give the Tia' and Tios (houseparents) a home they could be proud of, as well as teaching the children proper care of a new home. Casa#3 was dedicated last spring (See an earlier posting). This year Casa #4 has been started - and I do have to say is going quite rapidly. Experience from Casa #3 has allowed the workers to proceed with confidence.

 



 

a very qualified and expert tile layer

it looks beautiful

The hummingbirds explosion has ceased for now. A cold front (prior to the rain) came in and the birds left. Just a few on still hanging on. Pretty soon, though, we expect another round of hungry birds. We just can't wait for their arrival - even if we were filling feeders constantly.

 

CRM International has developed a web page, still under construction,  just for Sanctuary Outpost , but very available. We are in the process of producing videos to add which we hope will enlighten this part of the ministry to you. The specific area that we are involved in is Safe Harbor - but there are other branches of Sanctuary Outpost. Be sure to check them all out, as we expand the ministry to include all areas of the world. Go to www.sanctuaryoutpost.org to view this new website. Many thanks to an ever competent Chaplain Paul Darnell for all of his work.

 

God puts people in our paths for very specific reasons - sometimes we do not realize it at the time, but again, as we look back on our lives we can see the direct (and sometimes not so direct) path that He has laid out for us. Sometimes we just need to be quiet and listen - the answer is always there.

Rain

We woke up this  beautiful Sunday morning to the soft sound of rain - much needed here in S. Texas. After a Sunday morning study of Psalms with Chaplain Dennis, we attended services at Great Oaks Community Church with a very thought provoking sermon from Pastor Israel entitled "Forgive As You Have Been Forgiven". Not only do we hurt ourselves and others when we don't forgive, we also hurt God. As Peter asked Jesus,"Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother when He sins against me? Up to seven times?"  Jesus answered," I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times".  Matthew 18:21-22. There is no limit to God's forgiveness, nor is there no limit when we forgive others.

Friday, we traveled to Reynosa to RIN along with volunteers Jesse and Darlene Curtsinger for the August-September birthday celebration for the children with birthdays during those months. The theme was "Oscar Night", including a red carpet to honor those with birthdays, as well as presenting "Oscars" to those children who won the most votes for most congenial, funniest, etc. The Curtsingers and we also won an award for being the best volunteers there (we were the only volunteers there, but it helped our ego). It was a fun night, with the kids really getting into walking the red carpet, eating popcorn before supper (a late supper at 9 PM), and cheering on their favorites as the winners were announced. Much excitement followed as Malena counted down from 3, 2, 1 and the honorees dove into their birthday presents. Later (much later - 11 PM) the excitement died down, the popcorn all eaten, the children worn out (as well as us adults) we surveyed the left over party decorations and longed for a soft bed. As it was so late, we had planned on staying over at RIN in the "honeymoon suite", the Casa reserved for the houseparents when they have a week-end off. As the extreme heat had turned into a cool breeze, we sat outside enjoying the coolness and quiet of the refuge. Later, we trooped inside around midnight and had our first sleepover with the Curtsingers, although we were so tired we all retired and immediately fell asleep.

Nelson hamming it up with Darlene

some of the girls dressed up for Oscar night

thank you. thank you

walking the red carpet

enjoying popcorn

baby Kayla with the chicken pox - can you see an epidemic throughout the refuge?

the happy birthday recipients

 

Paty and Lupe with their awards

 for all of my fans, I thank you!!!!! Dan the Man

We have had a huge influx of hummingbirds at the feeder. Many of them are migrating - stopping here for a couple of weeks, filling up on nectar, then heading farther South. We fill the feeder constantly, even for the occasional Oriole who shows up. There are many different types of  hummingbirds, as well as two different types of Oriels that we have seen. There have been 9+ birds at the feeder at one time,  others flying around waiting their turn. We often praise the beauty of creation, but also must remember to praise the Creator, who created all of this and gave it to us for our enjoyment. Read Genesis 1:29-30

one happy bird

now there are two

 and three

one more makes four

fifth one in for a landing

So far we have seen nothing of the rabbit who was building a nest in our flower bed. Perhaps they build more than one, and wait to see which is the safest??? We did not disturb the nest nor touch anything around it, but I think she decided that having her brood under the neighbor's bushes was safer. We will wait and see if she shows up, butwe have seen a rabbit hopping around that may be her, only skinner.

 

You all have a wonderful week, be blessed by our Lord  in all that you do.

 

 

 

Settling In

We have been busy since arriving in S Texas settling in here at Alamo Rec Veh Park. Since we hit the ground running last year upon on our arrival, we decided that this year we would try to get things done in about 2 weeks, then we could concentrate on everything else. We did get all of the cleaning, mopping, washing, dusting, and general deep cleansing done including ironing the valances and re-hanging them. All I have left to do is wash the outside windows. Now as I sit back and enjoy my sparkling clean house I wonder if my heart is as sparkling clean - has it had the general deep-cleansing as my outside appearances seem to have had? I find that I often need to check to see if there are any hidden areas that need cleaning - areas of unforgiveness, envy, gossip - I am human and therefore I sin. So I "clean" my heart daily by prayer and contrition.

We were surprised Thursday evening as we sat in our living room and watched out the patio door as a small rabbit began to make a nest in our flower bed. We had removed the flowers previously as they had died, and have not yet replaced them, and certainly will not now. The tiny mama dug in the soft dirt and started hauling small bits of dried grasses to place in the hole. She also brought mounds of longer dried grasses to cover up her nest. Looking at it a person would never know that a rabbit nest lay hidden under the seemingly overgrown flower bed. Now we hope that this is really her nest, and will continue watching to see if she has her babies there. We even go out the back door as not to disturb her when she is there, although she doesn't seem to mind our presence. Such small things give us pleasure - God knew how to keep us smiling. This morning before church, mama bunny was out, inspecting her nest, checking all areas, sniffing around to see if anything had disturbed it. I don't know much about rabbits, but wonder if she made more than one nest, and is checking each one out to see which one is the safest? We sure hope she chooses ours!!

if you look closely just behind the white post between the flower pots, you will see what looks like a rock - it is mama bunny digging a nest hole

she comes up for air, and then starts digging again

a big mouthfill of nesting material



more nesting material - because of the dryness if the area, there seems to be plenty of it

finished nest in the upper left - she then covered it all up so that it looks just like a mess of dried grass

We stopped in at CHI on Thursday to let them know we were here and ready to resume work - so far we have scheduled two days working at the resale shop in Pharr.  When activities start here at the park, I will only work one day. We also discussed with the volunteers when we would be starting our Bible study classes and what format they would like this year - videos, study books, or straight from the Bible. We want this to be their class - study what they are interested in, and how they want to study.

Another surprise for us was a call from CHI director Betsy who asked if we wanted to go to the refuge in Reynosa on Friday - of course we did!!! There were items that needed transport there, so Jesse, Fred, and I left late morning to be sure that we would be there when the children were released from school for the day. The two girls we sponsor, Paty and Lupe, now go to a junior high in Reynosa, so after being greeted by the elementary kids (one of the new little girls rushed up to us and yelled "Americanos" as she threw herself at us for a hug - she is fascinated by the fact that we Americanos have different colored eyes), we sat down to another wonderful dinner prepared by cook Maria, until the older children arrived - and we were reunited with Lupe and Paty for another season. The girls have grown into beautiful young ladies - poised and ready to conquer the world!

Jesse and the kids preparing the lunch area - Jesse almost looks like he is supervising!

another of Maria's home cooked meals

and it was delicious as always - bistek, rice, and tortilla's

Paty, Fred, and Lupe - the girls are so proud of their junior high uniforms!

During the week we stopped in to visit Becky Rodriguez at Great Oaks Community Church in Mission, Texas to say hello and check on the food and clothing outreach that we were involved in last spring. We were pleasantly surprised to see that it is going strong with many people being served with this wonderful ministry. Keep up the good work, Pastor Israel and Becky  and we will continue to help promote and support this community project. Today, after a study lesson at our park given by Chaplain Dennis on Psalms we drove to Mission to attend church at Great Oaks. Pastor Israel is doing a series on Relationships, which is really going to prove eyeopening. He, too, is inspired by the Holy Spirit and devoted to his flock. We expressed our sympathy as both Becky and Pastor Israel lost their fathers this summer - both within a week of each other. The greatest consolation is that we will all be together again in eternal life according to God's promises.

We will certainly keep everyone informed of the birthing process if it happens outside our door - through blogs and pictures!