Selected Selectivity

It is already May and usually at this time we are planning our Northern trip. Due to the fact that our oldest granddaughter is getting married in mid-September in Northern Wisconsin, we are not leaving the Valley until August. It will be different, as we have never been here throughout the entire summer – although we have been her in July so we should be able to climatize. God is so amazing to bring us the opportunity to minister to others in a different space of time.

We are involved in Friends in Faith in church. Before school starts, we are assigned a youth from the church to write to all year, encourage, pray for, etc. Our name is not revealed to them until the Reveal Party in May, which was today. We were excited to see our “special” girl (a 10^th grader) in this special party, but, alas, she was not there. We stayed and took part in the refreshments, and met some of the other great youths in our church. We hope to some time to meet Andrea - the young girl we spent snail mail time with.

Again, a busy week – I anticipated a quiet week where I could do some slow time for myself, but of course, God had other plans. I packaged 120 bags of dried fruit (a combination of peaches, plums, and nectarines) to use in our Friday distribution. We also picked up 90 pancakes of tortillas from a nearby tortilla factory, not to mention the food donated from the few Winter Texans still heading North. I got inspired to then clean kitchen cupboards – a bigger project than I anticipated, although I got to spend time with the Lord as I cleaned, sorted, and then rearranged cupboards, including the pantry. Wow, I can really find things again now, with space to share. I have 3 boxes of donations to the CHI resale shop of stuff I have not used in a couple of years, or even had doubles that I did not know about!

The items that are donated to CHI resale store are sold and all of the proceeds go to support the refuge for disadvantaged kids in Reynosa, many of them placed there for their own safety by the Mexican human services. We support a young lady there, Pati, whom we have supported, through the support of Prairie Grove Christian Church in Prairie Grove, since she was 10 years old (she is now going to be 20 in June). Pati is going to start her 2^nd year in college, studying to be a Mexican Abogado (lawyer). We are so proud to give her this opportunity to become a role model for other kids, as well as “helping others” as she talks about her goals. She comes from a very poor family in the colonias in Reynosa (which are many times worse than those here in the States) and wants to be able to help her family rise above of the deplorable conditions in which they live.

We started a new sermon series today reflecting on Jesus after the tomb. We think of Easter as just a day – the Sunday Jesus arose from the grave. Easter is really a season called Eastertide. It begins on Easter Sunday and continues until Pentecost. Jesus was still on earth during that time, appearing to disciples and trying to help them understand His crucifixion and resurrection. Have you ever spent time looking for something when it was right there under your nose in plain sight?? What changed in order for us to see it? The item did not certainly suddenly appear – although we seem to think so. This phenomenon is called Selected Selectivity. Many experiments have been done to prove this. A group of people were told to watch a video showing two basketball players bouncing a ball. They we asked to count the bounces. They were so focused on watching the ball that they did not see a person walk across the screen in the background. I guess I am different than most people – I notice really odd things in a movies or program – things such as the actors wearing a wedding ring when they shouldn’t be, watching them drink from a half empty glass, only a few minutes later seeing that same glass full (and no one has refilled it). When I mention this to those who are watching the same thing, they look at me sort of weirdly. But most of the time we are so focused on what we think we see, rather than what we actually see. The experiment proves that we can only focus on so many things at once, depending on how intently we focus. If you remember the story in Luke of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. As they were walking along they are talking about the crucifixion and resurrection and all that had happened in Jerusalem. All of a sudden, a stranger appeared on the road, and joined them as they walked. They asked the stranger to join them for a meal as it was getting dark, the road was dangerous, and they feared for His safety. As they sat together to break bread, Jesus took charge and broke the bread. It was then that they realized that it was Jesus who was walking with them the whole time.  They were so amazed that they ran back to Jerusalem (7 miles away) on the dangerous road to tell the rest of the disciples. Do we pay attention where we are in our walk with the Lord? Why do we suddenly see Jesus, when He has been there all of the time. What has changed in us??? We allowed Jesus to be in charge as we changed from host to being hosted. Sit still and know that He is God – He was there the whole time.