Hot and Humid

The weather here has been very hot and humid, especially if a person has to work outside in it. We usually try to get things done in the morning and do inside chores in the afternoon. It seems to get the hottest here around 5 PM.  In retrospect when we were living up North the hottest part of the day was noon or shortly after. This week we had plenty of indoor activities to keep us busy. After receiving 2040# of rice last week, we spent the week bagging it all in 3# bags in preparation of the big distribution in August. It is a tedious but very relaxing job. And we have 2 amazing ladies who help us out with the project.

just a few of the boxes of 18 3# bags of beans - we confiscate the perfect boxes from the dumpster area at Little Cesar's Pizza - they just put them outside for us

We recently were in Arkansas and had the opportunity to have a 4 generation picture taken with our daughter Chandra, , grand daughter Sydney, and great granddaughter Harper when we were at Harper's 1st birthday. It does not seem like a year has already passed since she was born, but I am sure her mother feels like it has been years!

Harper on her 1st birthday

4 generations of happy ladies

We took a quick trip to Mexico this week to pick up a few items - it was even hotter there although we went early in the morning. It seems as if the prices have increased in Mexico  just as they have everywhere else. There were plenty of folks shopping - they too were intent on getting this job done and back where it was cooler. There is a great fruit/vegetable stand just as a person crosses the border on the American side where we usually stop. We picked up some cold water, some Roma tomatoes and a couple of mangoes. Total bill was just $3. God has so blessed us by allowing us to be called to a place where fresh produce is so reasonable and easily available.

We had the pleasure of listening to the youth group sing at church this morning. The talent that the 4 kids have was unbelievable as they sang from their hearts, praising the Lord in worship.  

the youth group was so inspirational

Pastor Robert's new sermon series on reclaiming cliches focused on the saying "Hate the sin, love the sinner". How many times do we say this not realizing that it really is not what God meant. A lot of people think Christians are hypocrites. Actually the aforementioned saying is the heart of hypocrisy. We call those folks sinners, but they are really children of God. Does the Bible really say hate the sin, love the sinners? Read John 8:1-11  about the adulterous woman to get the true meaning. People make mistakes but in our minds mistakes make the person - if the person lied, cheated, or stole, we put them in a category in our mind, forgetting who they are today and not who they were. We label them. We tend to forget that people do make mistakes, even us. Yes, we do make mistakes and our mistakes are no bigger or smaller than those others make. We justify our mistakes against those of others that we think are worse. We preach grace but seem to give out judgment. What does God call us to do?? Love others. We take Jesus' expectations of those who follow Him and judge others by those expectations. Love people, love people, love people, and hate sin. God's grace is bigger than our sin.

Have a truly blessed week - savor the warmth and sun - cooler weather is sure to come.