Raining Cats, Dogs, Elephants, and Bears

How often do we pray for provision from God, then get to a point that we almost ask Him to stop??  No, we never want to do that. When we first built our Texas room a few years ago, Chaplain Bill blessed it to the glory of God. God began to bless us with provisions (clothes, food, misc. items, stuffed animals, etc.) If it were not for the Texas room, we would have no place to put them. Even to this day, we do not use the room except to receive blessings from God. I did find  small corner to sew (when I have time). A couple of weeks ago Ida and the colonia ladies prayed for toys for our Thanksgiving and Christmas give-away. We received over 100 - more than enough for the children who would attend. This past week we received 174 more!!! Beautiful toys for the kids - 10 washer and dryer loads. What a blessing! Are we going to ask God to stop blessing us?? Absolutely not. What we cannot use for our ministry, we can pass on to other ministries in the area.    "²⁰ Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us".  Ephesians 3:20 New International Version (NIV). We cannot imagine His power and ability.

Another beautiful week in the Valley. Doors open, fresh air flowing through the house, even the birds are signing with joy. Listening to great Christian music by Walter Plant!!!  I do get time for myself in the mornings for Aquasize - a water exercise opportunity with other ladies. We are beginning to have a few members of our group more as more of the Winter Texans are returning to the park. The opportunity is there to fellowship with them and hopefully encourage them to attend Bible Study with us on Wednesday nights. We are going to have an awesome study - a sort of "stand alone" study each week, filled with amazing truths and revelations as we study what the Bible really is and what it stands for.

Yesterday was a big work day in the colonias as friends Chaplain Roy nd Paula Gee and Doug and Yvonne Lundquist accompanied us to the colonias to help sort out clothing donations.. We spent all morning sorting, packing, and marking boxes of clothes. Working with the ladies from the colonias was fun, as they know a "pocito" (tiny or small ) amount of English as we know the same of Spanish. We laughed as we tried to talk to one another, get a point across, and learn a few more Spanish words. Luckily Laura, who lives in the colonias, knows English fairly well and translated, as well as Ida who could translate from English to Spanish. The kiddos that were there with their parents  sang a few songs that they had learned in Sunday School. What a fun but extremely tiring day. We ended the day with prayer, a pizza party and many laughs. Actually, we did quit at 1 PM after arriving and starting in at 9 AM - exhausted but so filled with love and accomplishment.

One of the local department stores (Penny's) had a great sale, and as Fred is going to mow for the coming season (after he strongly said he was going  to quit when the Winter Texans came back) and needed some cooler work polo shirts. So we purchased 3 of them one day for 85 cents - yep - 3 for 85 cents, and 3 the next day for $4.65. These shirts were marked 30 and 40 dollars regular price(overpriced for sure)  but I feel we got a great bargain.

Have you ever gotten into trouble? How many times had your parents told you to "do as I say not s I do"? Like when you did not want to go to church, but your Dad said you had to go, but he did not go? This happened when I was growing up - the reason being that my parents were of a different denominations. Yet in my mind my father was not walking the talk. So if something is the correct thing to do, then why don't we do it?? Do we loudly and arrogantly make sure that others know we are right  when we think we are? If we do so and offend or insult someone then no one is really going to hear us. After leaders tell us where we are wrong then do nothing to help lead and instruct us they are not true leaders. Some leaders live to be noticed (politicians, perhaps?) but are they really overcompensating for their actions. I pray that we are doing what God has actually called us to do, and it is not for our own personal satisfaction. It is not about looking holy, but being holy in our hearts. Don't just preach the gospel, live it.

Happy November - when you wake up each morning, think of something that you are thankful for.

PS: Listening to Walter Plant singing "You don't have to walk on water, it is how you walk on land". How perfect.