Sunday Meeting

Saturday evening is not usually the time to update this blog, but tomorrow is going to be pretty busy - and I won't have the time to really do it justice. We have a guest speaker in church, followed by Sunday School, then I have to bake 2 desserts for an evening meal of 9 with Angela Neese (a speaker at our ladies conference), as well as making homemade clam chowder for our Monday night Bible Study but the first and most important of the day is our Sunday morning church service. Many people ask "why is it so important to attend church? Do I really need to be in church on Sunday mornings even though I am a Christian?" Hebrews 10:24-25 pretty well spells it out. "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up on meeting together, as more are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching".  I love the peaceful feeling of being in God's house, with other Christians, listening to God's Word, and praising Him with a group of other believers.

We held our 5th annual God's Worthy Women conference this last Friday which started out early this year with no women seemingly interested, as we had no pre-registrartions. By last week, I called Sally Maloney and asked her to quit praying as this list had started to grow last month and not stopped!!!! It was such a great blessing to see so many ladies present, eager to fellowship together and listen to God's message. It was a wonderful success in that many of the ladies were first time attendees, and were so inspired by the speakers and eagerly looking forward to next year. All of us CRM ladies worked really hard to make this a memorable event for the women attending. We enjoy all the preparations and planning, but look forward to putting our feet up at the end of the conference and catching our breath. Many thanks to everyone involved, from the speakers, to the planners, to the servers who kept us supplied with coffee, water, and tea. And thanks most of all to God for bringing all of these ladies together to praise Him. We believe we have instilled in these ladies the heart for missions.

ready to begin

Paula and Vicki ready to register

Karen, Sandi, and Sally ready to greet ladies

answering really tough questions -" what is your address?"

Children's Haven International booth with Director Betsy Chacon and helper Susan, , who graced the stage with a style show of beautiful clothes from their resale shop

Angela Neese, with many items from Central Asia, where she ministers

some of the many ladies who attended

praising the Lord in song

Cliff Green, portraying the apostle John, as he prepared us for the woman at the well

Myra Green, portraying the Woman at the Well in drama and song. Myra also lead a bible study on "Living Water"
check out her website at www.biblealivetheater.com

We did take a half day out to tour a sugar cane factory. I had scheduled the free tour before realizing it was the day before our conference, but all worked out well. It was extremely interesting even if we did not get to see the inside of the factory, which is a co-op. Over 45,000 acres are planted in sugar cane, which takes 6-7 months to harvest, working day and night. Because of it's proximity to the border and dense growth, these fields are good hiding places for illegals wanting to come to America. The co-op warns those people who may be in the fields when they are getting ready to burn the fields, only to make sure no one is injured and not to report them to the Border Patrol. Red signs in two languages are posted, as well as a loud speaker on a pick up, which drives around the outside of the fields, announcing the burning.   The field is burned from the outside 4 sides to the inside, so anyone caught in the middle would certainly be in danger. Please do not feed your hummingbirds with raw sugar, as it will ferment in the heat and cause - yep - intoxicated birds!!!! All of the processed sugar produced at this factory goes to Domino's. The factory itself is self-contained - it recycles everything from water using it's own water treatment plant, to using the by products for fuel to run the boilers, etc, as well as having their own generators to produce electricity, of which they sell half back to the electric company. We watched a video of the actual process of making sugar from cane, and listened to a very informative company representative. I certainly have more respect for sugar.

part of a sugar cane factory

the office area

another section of this huge complex
 

this is a very short piece if cane

The coming days are going to see some of our park residents preparing to leave for their Northern homes, some for the summer, others to not return, due to age and/or health problems. The park gets a little bit quieter and less hectic, and gives us time to take a deep breath, look at what God has done thorough us, His humble servants, and listen to where He wants us to serve next. Psalm 104 is God's GPS system for all of His creation, all we have to do is listen.