Brotherly Love

I am again amazed by God. But I really should not be! Chaplain Dennis' sermon this morning was based on giving, not giving of your money but giving of yourself. Using  God's spiritual gifts to tell others about Jesus, to bring others to understand and accept the gift of salvation , and to just love your brothers. After church, we went to Sunday School class on Revelation, taught by an excellant teacher, Dorothy Miller. The theme throughout her study was based on loving your brother, obeying God's commands, and doing everything possible to walk in Jesus' path. How ironic that both of these messages pointed us in the same direction. Ironic - no - God lead, yes. "Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by doing so some poeple have entertained angels without knowing it"    Hebrews 13:1-2

 I mentioned earlier that we had a pelican visiting us on our lake. Earlier this week we discovered there were 12 of them, floating around, preening as we all admired their beauty. This morning there were 24!!!! The lake is being filled through a culvert from the Rio Grande and fish of all sizes get caught up in the flow and are dumped into our lake. How the word got out I have no idea, but we really do enjoy their beauty and grace.

just a couple looking for supper

a small family group searching the shoreline

for such big birds, they certainly are graceful

come here, Heathcliff, I see a fish



another family group

Today is Pray for Our Country Day. I  hope that all of you have prayed for our country, our leaders, all of our elected officals, those who protect us in law enforcement, and especially those who serve in the military. Pray that they all make decisions for the betterment of our country regardless of their specific parties, and not for their  own advancement. Our country is in dire need of a spiritual revival - pray the God rules and not man. "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord". Psalms 33:12

Yesterday we held a Memorial service at our park for those who went on before us this past year. It was a very moving ceremony as we remembered the fun and laughter we shared with these friends, but the sad times also brought tears to our eyes. Their names are engraved on our hearts as we hope ours will also be in others. We are confident in the promise of our Lord that someday we will all be together again in eternal life.  Chaplain Maloney and Father Wijtman shared the interdenominational service with prayer, devotional readings, accompanied by our wonderful choir.

the choir @ Alamo Rec Veh Park accompanied by Betty Wilkens on our new piano

Chaplain Dennis Maloney reading the 23rd Psalm

Verla Johnson gracing us with her beautiful voice

our choir lead by Vera Welty

As Eunice Cox read each name, Priscilla Voss followed it by a chime form the piano

Father Wijtman offering prayer



We had another opportunity to take a group of people on a tour to RIN in Reynosa. Actually there were 33 people form Citrus Valley Park, so we loaded up 3 vans and traveled to the Haven. After a quick look at the kids in the elementary school, who proudly repeated"Good Afternoon" in English, we toured Casa #3, which was recently renovated and dedicated last year. We also were able to observe the progress on Casa #4 which should be completed in March. As part of the Makeover Mia Casita Project, this is the second of the homes to be remodeled since they were built 40 years ago. As usual, we were able to interact with the kids , especially our "girls" Paty and Lupe. Paty will be celebrating her Quinceanera (15th birthday celebration) this April which we certainly will not want to miss.


Luckily, most of us who have been recently sick are finally beginning to feel back to normal, although the fatigue is still there. Pray that we all are totally healthy soon.


If you get a chance to see the movie "The Grace Card" please do so. It is a great story of giving, friendship, and loving your brother as yourself.

We hope that you all have a very wonderful week, that all things go well for you. As Chaplain Dennis advised us this morning, take the time this week to tell one  person that God loves them.