As I walked a bit in the beautiful weather we have been having, I noticed that the turtles were also enjoying the sun. At one time there were 4 perched on a fallen log, sunning themselves as the napped.
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| sentry duty - he stayed there all afternoon surveying the lake |
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there was one |
Radio controlled cars were racing on the track one glorious day - it was fun to watch as sometime the cars did not respond to the controller and went every which direction! Our lives are sometimes like that - we hear God and know what He wants, but still decide to go our own way - only to wind up in a pickle!!! When God is in control, our lives go as He planned. Watching the cars was fun, but not something that I would want to do - the speed boats seem more exciting.
all is well - when God is in control
now we want to take control as these guy are in control of their cars (they think!!)
whoops - our lives out of control and in a pickle
We have received so many generous donations for our ministries. In two weeks we will be going into the colonias to deliver food, quilts cleaning supplies, toiletries, but most of all, the message of God's love for all of us.
quilts and more quilts, thanks to our Helping Hands sewing group
generous donations of food (meat, peanut butter, cake mixes, coffee, etc.), Ziploc bags, scotch brite scrubbers, pencils, erasers, bags of soup mixes to just name a few of the things we receive weekly. needless to say, our Texas room has become a store room.
Our church Memorial service this last Saturday was so very nice. We honored 23 of those loved ones who passed away last year. After a prayer, "The New 23rd" sung by the choir, a Scripture verse, a reading of a lovely poem, and a short prayer penned by one of those who passed away, several people lit candles for their loved ones. They also received a rose from one of the beautiful floral bouquets and a copy of the poem. It was a very moving service as we ended with "Amazing Grace".
candles ready to be lit in honor of loved ones
Our ladies Bible study group is so very interesting - we are studying "Christianity - Cults and Religions" in an effort to understand other religious practices in order better understand Christianity. The most important thing we need to remember to do is not to criticize others beliefs, just ask them what their beliefs are, try to talk to them about their Bibles or others books and answer discrepancies accordingly, using their own books for reference. A huge endeavor while trying to be gentle and understanding.
wonderful ladies - friends studying God's Word together
We had the opportunity to attend a program featuring The Texans (a Branson based gospel group) and Lulu Roman (remember her from Hee Haw??). The Texans are family gospel singers with an amazing talent, as well as a huge ministry - drilling wells in countries with poor water supply. Lulu gave her testimony of being a throw-away child (her mother had the mental capacity of a 7 year old due to the many beatings and head injuries she had received from her alcoholic parents) and given to an orphanage by her grandparents at age 3 because they no longer wanted to care for her. Lulu spent all of those years until she was 18 having no friends or relatives, never being adopted, living a very lonely life. She went to school at a public school, became involved in drugs and became out of control. After leaving the orphanage at age 18, she wandered in a drug filled life when she became pregnant. The doctor informed her that they done all they could to save her son, but because of her drug use, he was destined to"Dude, if you are real, save my son and I will turn my life over to you". It took time, prayer, and more set backs before she truly became a child of God. Her story was so powerful. She has a beautiful singing voice that she now uses for God's glory and praise.
The Texans - praising God in song
Lulu Roman - relating her life before and after God
singing her love of God
she is so full of love and joy in the Lord
Chaplain Lee touched on a very important subject this morning - manipulation, Job 1:6 and 2:1 talks about the devil going back and forth across the world, but have we ever seen him??? No, because he used his demons to torment us with negative thoughts. We are such an emotional people - always wanting to be entertained, not realizing that there are so many things that displease us, allowing us to grumble and try to change everything. The world has been brought into the church. Did Jesus show a lot of emotion in His speaking and ministering?? Probably not, as people in His time did not show a lot of emotion - they did not need to be entertained. We want to do what God wants us to do, but we get distracted by the world. The road to distraction is very wide.We talk about (gossip is a better word) others, even our preachers without realizing that talk is negative, faith is positive, When people start gossiping, we need to ask the gossiper if we can pray for those being talked about. More times than not, the gossip stops when people realize that we will not take part in it.
As we go through this next week, remember that being a follower of Christ is not easy (as I felt this last week because of all the inconveniences caused by the many park activities, trying to remember that all I was doing was for Jesus). God is all about change - not trying to change others, but to provide change in our hearts.
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