Did you know that 50% of the cotton grown in the United States is grown in Texas? About 10% of that is grown right here in the Rio Grande Valley. It is truly beautiful to see the fields when the cotton is in bloom - like a white carpet covering the earth. It has already been harvested- huge bales of cotton are sitting in the fields, ready to be picked up and taken to the mills - to become fabric for clothes, sheets towels, etc. Some of the stray cotton bolls gather up alongside the roads looking almost like the remains of a recent snow storm.
It is still a hanging offense in Texas to steal cattle or to put graffiti on someone else’s cow. It is also illegal to indecently expose or swear in front of a corpse in Texas. In Galveston, Texas, it is illegal to have a camel run loose on the beach.
Oscar, the Academy Award statuette, was named for Texan Oscar Pierce, whose niece worked in Hollywood for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. When she saw the gold statuette, she reportedly said, “Why, that looks just like my Uncle Oscar.”
The city of Slaughter, Texas, has never had a homicide.
The most popular snack foods in Texas are Frito pie (a bag of Fritos mixed with chili, onions, and cheese eaten straight from the bag), peanuts in Dr Pepper, beef jerky, jalapenos, and corn dogs
Charles Alderton (1857-1941), a Waco pharmacist, first created Dr Pepper in 1885. The oldest working Dr Pepper plant (since 1891) is in Dublin, 94 miles west of Waco. There is also no period after the “Dr” in Dr Pepper
The world’s largest (and oldest) rattlesnake roundup is held every March in Sweetwater, Texas. ( I think I will skip this event).
It has been still hot here - about 100 degrees every day. Luckily, our park has an indoor pool, so we try to swim an hour or so everyday, usually accompanied by friends with the same idea. By the time we walk home, we are almost dry. We feel so blessed to be able to cool off from the heat, but pray for those who have to work outside, or even those who do not have air conditioning or even a fan. We often see newspaper hawkers on the streets in the extreme heat trying to sell their papers to make a living. It seems strange but they wear long sleeved shirts or blouses, a hat with a towel hanging down the back to keep their neck cool, while the rest of us try to wear as little clothing as possible! Also present are those holding signs asking for help for some reason or the other. The most heartbreaking are the veterans. We always offer prayers for their safety, asking God to bless them, helping them to find a way out of their current conditions.
Pastor Israel's sermon this morning reminded us to never be afraid to proclaim our faith,(we cannot keep a good thing a secret) and to always let His light shine out the darkness into the light through us. God commands this type of faith from us. Read Mark 7:24-30 to learn of the perfect faith of the Syrophoenician woman.
A growing and abhorrent cancer in our world today is the kidnapping of humans for the slave/sex trade. If you think this is not prevalent even in our country, you are so wrong, as in the case of the kidnapping of the two young Amish girls recently. I recently read a fictional novel pertaining to this very subject, which made it seem so real - it certainly could have been based on what is happening world wide today. Our pastor's wife in Arkansas has made this her personal mission. She travels to Cambodia to Rapha House, whose goal it is to fight child trafficking and exploitation by rescuing them and providing a place to bring them to lasting freedom. See Rapha House at www.raphahouse.org. Please pray for Linda and her team as they prepare to leave for Rapha House in Cambodia - pray for safety, both in travel and as they are there and that they make a huge difference in the lives of these girls.
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