Bag Lady

I am now officially the bag/box lady of Caring Hearts Ministry. In the past month I have bagged/boxed 80# animal crackers, 150+# of donuts (Dale and Eunice, where are you??), 50 or more boxes of clothing, and helped with a few of the 1000 #of beans and 50# if rice. Two very special ladies help with the rice and bean bagging – they wat to be involved in the ministry, but really cannot do a lot of physical work - bagging beans and rice is perfect for them. We now need to get a ton of rice (sounds like a lot, but will be needed for when we are gone for two months). Most of these items have already been or are soon to be distributed. We have a system for procuring boxes – we drive to a nearby Little Caesar’s Pizza dumpster – they have the perfect size boxes we need!!! One of the locations told us to call in the morning and they will save them all for the day and we can pick them up in the evening. God has a strange way of helping us to get what we need for the ministry!!! We are now in the process of raising money to add onto and enclose the building in the colonia where the ladies live and help distribute the food. They really have a system – there are two ladies who make a decision, based on the commodities received, as to what goes in each family’s box. Sometimes Ida intercedes and changes the routine, but for the most part they know what is available and how much goes where. The rest of the ladies fill the boxes – perhaps 5 tomatoes, 8 limes, a bag of tortillas or bread, some donuts, rice, beans, etc. depending the day’s supply. They all work together well to make sure everyone received the same amount, even themselves. Last week there were few pineapples, not enough for everyone, and some cases of soda. Ids saves those items for after the distribution – then the ladies who help are given the special items!! It is a system that works out well. Last Friday I was bagging again – this time cherry tomatoes in quart bags for each box. I don’t interfere in their system, but do what I can to help lighten their load. If you feel led to donate to the building fund – go to crmintl.org, click on Caring Hearts Ministry, and donate. Be sure to indicate if the donation is for the building fund or just the general ministry fund. Every donation is a blessing.

It has been a week of sniffing, coughing, and sneezing here in the Valley. Something is blooming (perhaps the cottonwood trees, or the ragweed), but everyone has allergic reactions. I was a victim all week – coughing so hard that I could not sleep and my ribs hurt. I finally asked the pharmacist what I could do to alleviate the problem – a simple Zyrtec or Clairton pill. Whoa – that simple?? I took the pill yesterday and within 30 minutes my symptoms were relieved. I slept all night in bed (not in the recliner) and felt so much better this morning. I did ask God to help with the issues – guess He led me to the pharmacist!

Fred is in the process of making some 3-dimensional crosses. These are made from oak and make great gifts. He does not sell them, but gives them away. Some folks have ordered a few and then made donations to the ministry. He has 50 in the process – 10 already spoken for. He has always loved working with wood and seems to have found his niche.

Church this morning was a bit light – don’t know if folks are gone on vacation or just do not like the service time change. We will ride it out until the end of May when a decision is made as to what time the service will be. We really prefer 9AM, then Sunday School. Right now, it is Sunday School and then a 10:45 church service – not to our liking. There are two other services (8:30 and 11), but those are more traditional services – we prefer the contemporary one. Pastor Robert continued with his courageous series – today focusing on being courageous about church. Not a specific building or denomination, but a body of Christian believers in Christ. Honesty is hard and especially hardest with your own family, but as Christians we are all family. blood relation or church family. Family is those we love, but fear the most in letting them down. Sometimes God’s servants in authority seem to think that through God they have power – this is may be so. God wants us to wait for His power to do His bidding the way He wants us to do it not the way we want to. God sends His people to do His work – His servants. When we reject God’s power and servants, His work does not get done.

Our daughter and her husband returned from a 13 hour drive this weekend after attending the funeral of Scott’s grandfather, ready to hit the bed and sleep bit, when they found their house house flooded! A pipe had burst, flooding bedrooms, bathroom, and hallway, and who knows where else as they have not yet uncovered the whole area. Please pray for them as they deal with the clean up and insurance company.