Father's Day

A truly interesting week - full of work and fun. One of the ladies we play cards with hosted the card night at her house and informed us that she is leaving the park - she bought a house in another park. She also leads our Aquasize in the mornings - we sure hope someone else steps up to lead us. No not me - I do not like to be committed to something every day of the week.  Our card night is fun, although we are down to only 4 players now, but it still is competitive and yet yet a game for fun. My partner and I won all three games ( yes, I am very competitive.)

We now distribute to a church in another colonia - last Wednesday we served 50 families! God is so good - we were not sure we would have enough provisions for them all as we have no way to keep the vegetables cold from Friday to Wednesday. Last Fridy we served 125 families- PTL. A distributor who has extra provisions also has a huge cooler He stores all he is provided with, uses what he needs, and calls us on Wednesdays to come and pick up the extra - still fresh from the cooler. God seems to always be one step ahead of us and we never want to get ahead of Him.

I go with Fred on Fridays during the summer as our faithful winter helpers do not arrive until about October or November. This Friday started out quite warm as we drove to Hildago to pick up our weekly supply of veggies, fruit, etc. As we were waiting we were invited to join in the morning prayer - a truly uplifting experience. As we all stood in a circle, Tracy opened in prayer in both Spanish and English, then everyone began prayer out loud, all at the same time, some voices quiet and gentle, some very loud and forceful. As we all prayed for about 5 minutes in both Spanish and English, you could feel the Holy Spirit in the room as we all offered praises in our own way. We were then instructed to put our feet in the circle, then  our hands, sill touching, send then raised them up at the same time in praise

 It is an unwritten rule, as you wait in line to be loaded, you help the person in front of you load, in turn they and other will help you load. I help with our supply, but usually sit in the vehicle as Fred helps others - too  many folks helping and I would be in the way.  As I sat there contemplating the beautiful morning,listening to the mixture of voices, watching the ever gentle morning doves, Fred brought me a big slice of fresh pineapple. Angel, the sort of the warehouse manager, cut a pineapple and shared it with us all. Lucio, another faithful worker at Border missions, presented us with donut holes and kolaches We so much appreciate all the work they do and yet they honor us with whatever they have to share.

the ladies separating  produce and filling boxes - look at the huge stack of fresh pineapples

a table full ready todistribute

the sweet and gentle colonia pet who waits patiently for a hand out - right now he is snoozing in he cool shade

We have had two days of beautiful much needed rain. The grass will soon be growing and ready for Fred to mow again. So many areas are parched already so we are so grateful for this cooling rain. One day it was 95 degrees, then started to rain, and dropped to 81 degrees. A huge relief.

Today in Sunday School we studied prayer, from the book Paths to Prayer by Patricia D. Brown. It was so very interesting to explore the way different folks pray - the different methods they use, and the way to incorporate them into our own personal prayer time. I shared the ay we wall prayed Friday morning which seemed to fit right in with the morning study.

Our lake is beautifully filled up, the ducks seem to love it as they splash around, ducking beneath the surface to catch tiny fish, and making all sorts of happy sounds. Our duck families are being decreased, as the snapping turtles snatch the babies right out of the water. It is sad to see a family of 12 reduced to only 5, but I suppose this is the law of nature. Some of our other water birds have left, but hopefully they should return soon.

This morning's sermon, continuing the first judge series, focused on the passing of leadership - the fact that Samuel was forced to pass his judgeship on to a king which the people requested. Samuel felt that he had failed the people as they no longer wanted a judge but wanted a king as the other countries had. If at first you don't succeed try, try, again is a phrase we often hear. Sometimes we find it hard to try again. No one likes to fail. Saul, the first king, lead well, until he began to turn again the Lord's ways and the country was in turmoil. Just as Samuel was concerned as this was a second failure, God wants us to face our failures just as Samuel did. God directed him to go to Jerusalem and find Jesse, as one of Jessie's sons was to be the next king. Samuel obeyed the Lord, even though he had no idea what was in store for him when he arrived in Jerusalem. Facing our failures also means facing our fears -Samuel was fearful. Our fears sometimes stop us from trying again. Facing failure is facing the future - the unknown. Samuel was facing the unknown - relying on God to lead him in the right direction. We often get swallowed up in our failures and do not persue the future. It is difficult to recognize how God is working in our lives I wonder where Caring Hearts Ministry will be in 5 or 10 years from now - how it will grow or fail??? As co-founder  of God's Worthy Women, I stepped down from the leadership team last spring I wonder what dierection it will now go - who will be the leaders, and what it will accomplish in the future.I will sit back and let God take control.

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers, to those who are father figures to others, and to all the mothers who take on  duel role in their families.