Simple Sunny Sunday

Today really a simple Sunday - we took a short detour this morning on the way to church to buy a Sunday paper from the neighborhood paper lady  ( she is perhaps in her late 40's). She is on the street every day and stays there until all of her papers are sold. I used to have the paper delivered on Sundays, but the cost was over $2 - I can buy a paper from our favorite lady for $1.50 (we give her $2) for which she always replies, "God bless you". After church services we began our search for a bed skirt. We have a beautiful quilt a friend made and I would like a matching bed skirt, Can you believe how difficult it is to buy a bed skirt in a store in any color except white, ivory, brown, or black?!!!  Sure, you can check online, but how can you determine the exact color? Oh for the old days of the 5 and dime when everything you needed was right there in the store and employees were readily available to help you. We will keep looking - the elusive bed skirt will show up one day soon.

so gorgeous and comfortable to sleep under

 

 

On Friday we picked up produce at Border Missions for the food and clothing ministry at Great Oaks Community Church. I was really unsure of the quantity of produce available due to the huge amount of rain the Valley has had this spring. Many of the huge fields have been plowed under as much produce had just rotted in the fields - some of the seeds never even germinated. The farmers could not even get into the fields to save some of the produce. We were amazed at the amount of produce available when we arrived in Hildago at Border Missions- many tomatoes, bell peppers, Mexican squash, bananas, cabbage, lettuce, cucumbers, and loads of limes. What a blessing.

 normally these fields are full of veggies

 miles of empty fields

 both sides of the roads are barren

as far as the eye can see - nothing





 

 

 

I have noticed on my evening walk that the level of the lake has gone down some - even the water birds seem to be returning. We saw 6 whistler ducks when there were only 2 last week. Some of the great white egrets were also visible on the other side of the lake. We miss the birds on the lake and hope they all will return soon.

 

This morning Pastor Israel continued his series regarding the armor of Christ according to Ephesians by trying to define righteousness - being just, doing what is right (you cannot define a word by using the word itself), mora,l good , blameless, even upright. Being righteous is the absolute character of God. It is ironic that many of Chaplain Bill's sermons last year was based on many of these very verses. In Ephesians, Paul reminds us to be strong in the Lord and in His powers. "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rules, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 10:12.  Temptation comes not only from the world but also from within.  In the Old Testament, it was pretty simple to appear righteous - follow the law, keep God's commands and everything is ok. But the standard was raised in the New Testament, as Jesus died for our sins and righteousness goes beyond keeping God's commands. Being righteous is not the heart of the problem, but the problem of the heart. How righteous is your heart: do you keep the law through faith? Faith in the resurrection, faith in the knowledge that Jesus wants a relationship with us, and all we have to do is believe in Him and we will be saved. Following the law of God is obedience to Him  and because we believe we strive to do what is right according to His law.

 

Continue to pray this week for those who are in physical need of prayer - the needs are many. If you cannot think of anyone who needs your prayers, pray anyway - God knows who they are.