It was a week of parties - one day it was 2 at almost the same time. Children's Haven had the "Welcome Back Volunteer" luncheon at their office in Pharr, Texas. It was a good time for fellowship and catching up on what everyone was doing throughout the summer. The resale store did very well last year - $37,000 in sales with most of the items selling for $3 or less! What an achievement. Fred and I worked our 1/2 day this afternoon - the store was packed and busy all afternoon - I barely had time to price items and get them on the shelves. Sometimes they were purchased as I was getting ready to mark them. Praise God for His blessings, Pastor Jesse and his wife Belinda came into the store this afternoon to visit, bearing 2 hot wonderful meals that Jesse had cooked for us - what a godsend for sure as I had not yet figured out what we were going to eat for supper!!! Beans, rice, and a delicious goulash (but they call it something different) of hamburger and vegetables. Thank you Jesse and Belinda for your saving grace - just as God saves us with His grace when we get ourselves in a bind.
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| the lobby of the CHI office with the pictures of the amazing kids at RIN in Reynosa |
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| some of the volunteers, enjoying the appetizers |
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| don't they look good? |
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| Director Betsy Chicon welcoming us all |
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| dessert |
Friday was a gorgeous day as we met for our monthly/Christmas Chaplain meeting at the Echo Hotel. The seafood buffet there is excellent and very reasonable, especially for us seafood lovers! Of course, there was the hamburger bar for those who do not care for seafood. The salad bar is so good, especially since they featured cheveche - the awesome seafood cocktail.
Chaplain Bill addressed Spiritual Warfare as Satan is truly rampart in the world today. We all need to be prepared to meet the enemy - "Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled round your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Ephesians 6:10-17.
Our Helping Hands quilting group donated 20 adult and 25 youth quilts for the food and clothing distribution this coming Sunday. Imagine the joy of a child who gets to pick out his very own quilt - not to be shared with other siblings or relatives. What joy there is in their eyes. Our park has also been donating small canned hams so many can be assured of a ham for Christmas. Most of these people share a grill with neighbors (they probably have no stove, electricity or gas in their homes). These small hams can be put on a grill to heat them or cooked any way they choose.
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| Judi, Vera, and Rena, avid quilt makers, along with Fred and one of the three bags of donated quilts |
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| the Monday morning quilting is a beehive of activity |
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| men are even involved |
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| tying the quilts |
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| sandwiching the layers |
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| busy at work |
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| another row of sewers |
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| this was actually a tree skirt pattern turned into a cozy child's quilt |
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another creative pattern |
On Saturday we were invited to an 80th birthday party for a park resident, as well as a shower for the niece of the maintenance man, Pablo. We started out at the birthday party for a time then advanced to the Annex for the shower. There were the now familiar Mexican shower games and wonderful food. This is the first baby for the young couple (a boy ) and you could see the joy on their faces as they talked about their son.
First the birthday party
80 years old and still loves race cars
Jim and his wife celebrating Jim's 80th birthday
lots of help serving
From there we went on to the shower.
Pablo and his beautiful wife Margarita
the decorations were very elaborate
cute candy/nut cups made from small Styrofoam cups - adorable
Mama Ashley waiting for Zachery
the proud parents-to-be
cake pops - actually frosting covered cake balls - very tasty
the girls had to dress the men as babies, then the men had to drink a baby bottle
Along with all of our other commitments, you can see it was a pretty busy but fun filled week. We would find time to read Scripture each day to prepare us for the day's ups and downs - it seems that things seem to go much smoother when you start the day with some quiet Bible time. Try it this week.
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