Peeps and More Peeps

Yes, it is that time of year when the Peeps appear. Can you believe that some people ( you know who you are)  never had Peeps until they were mature?? Ever since I can remember, my Easter baskets always had Peeps in them. Back then, there were only yellow Peeps - to this day I can only eat yellow Peeps. Forget the chocolate bunnies, the fruit and nut eggs, and those horrible hard candy coated fondant eggs (yuck). The Peeps were the only thing that went first!!! I admit, I already had my first (and only) package of yellow chicken Peeps yesterday. I do like to let them set a day or so after opening them so they get a bit crunchy on the outside. I am writing this as sort of a satire - Easter is soooooooo much more than Peeps and Easter baskets. But I do love Peeps!

This week was even busier than last week, with so many donations of clothing (new and handmade), food, and other clothing. The Lord provides us with with so many donations that we barley have time to finish sorting one donation than 2 or more appear. We are not complaining - although our days are filled and tiring, it is a wonderful type of tiring - sort of a peaceful tiring if there is such a thing. We had a great abundance of produce - nice fresh produce including bunches of cilantro and even mint. The tomatoes were almost overwhelming (which insured that our people received plenty of them) as well as packages of a broccoli/cheesy mix provided by our home church (Prairie Grove Christian Church in Arkansas). Last year they provided us with 33,000 packages of this staple which is so welcome to those in the colonias as one package serves 6-8. From what I have heard, they are packaging another 30,000 for us to bring back with us in the fall again this year. We are so thankful to them for helping to support Caring Hearts Ministry. We also had clothing for the ladies to search through (ropa usada - used clothing) as they love to do, as well as new items for the kids.We also received many pillowcase dresses for the girls, most of them with a matching pair of new panties, provided by amazing, caring folks. Those were to be distributed yesterday, so hopefully I will have pictures next week.

Lots of pictures this week - everything is working well.

squash, lettuce, celery, tomatoes

 more tomatoes, green mangoes (very bitter but good with chili powder and lime juice

lots of donuts, Pepsi,and boxes of canned goods

the ladies hard at work sorting produce and filling boxes

I was part of this - filling bags with mountains of cherry tomatoes

many done and more to go

time of prayer - to thank God for the provisions and to bless all of those who come to receive

a box of great eating - this lady lives in the colonias and works faithfully on Fridays

cilantro, sweet red peppers, mint, bread, and a package of the broccoli/ rice mixture

choosing clothing for the family

happy recipients

we served over 115 families

a new jacket - thanks to wonderful donors

and a onesie to go with it

a new shirt made by one of our chaplains

so happy with a new to shirt

shy

his mother could not believe that we were giving this to her son - why, what for, why us? she asked - because God loves you we answered

a pile of chihuahua puppies - a  lady in the colonias raises them to sell

food we picked up - the Winter Texans return home and drop off their non-perishables

we came home to find this on our patio

bags of clothing to be sorted from Children's Haven

boxes of food, and bags of about 100 lap robes

time for me to relax with a cup of tea - yep - mint tea was delicious

 The picture, titled "Grace" and painted by a gentleman from Minnesota many years ago. How many of you saw this picture in your homes, or the homes of relatives??

The sermon this morning was based on prayer you pray at the dinner table. There are many different mealtime prayers - some repeated at every meal, some spoken out loud and some silently, some prayers related to each day or occurrence, some old prayers, some modern prayers. Joshua thanked God for bringing food - manna - a new diet for his people. When he finally entered the Promised Land (after 40 years of eating manna in the desert) the manna stopped and the Israelites were able to eat from the bounty of the land. Joshua was born in Egypt, although he was a Hebrew slave to the Egyptians , often eating only the leftovers from the rich. When the day came for them to leave Egypt, they ate the Passover Meal the night before they left, their last taste of meat for 40 years. For a whole generation they wandered in the wilderness because they disobeyed God. Only Joshua and Caleb were the only two who originally left Egypt to enter the Promised Land. Our mealtime prayers are our testimony, whether they are prayers we say every day or those we say in thankfulness for God's provision. We always praise and thank God.

Blessings from Heaven

This has been a most interesting week - marveling at the enormous donations we have received this week. 23 beautiful pillowcase dresses with new matching panties, a large bag of new clothing for toddlers (boys and girls),baby onesies,  beautiful handmade dresses and shirts for toddlers (from one of our wonderful chaplains who sews all of these herself), many boxes of food from those Winter Texans heading home, 2 lounge chairs, boxes  of miscellaneous stuff for Children's Haven, and 6 large plastic bags of women and men's clothing to be sorted.Our poor Texas room was stuffed - we were supposed to pick up from another awesome donor but had no room to put anything. Not to mention another 8 cases of cheesits. Needless to say we were busy - but a satisfying type of busy. As Winter Texas are still heading home from the parks, I expect we will be just as busy for the next two weeks or so. Every time I open the door I find more bags of donations on our bench outside which was put there for the purpose of leaving donations. Folks don't even knock or ring the doorbell - the things just appear. We were eating supper last night and I heard a noise and thought someone was at the door. A good neighbor just opened the door and put a bag inside! Love the surprises. As many of the items were delivered already, I have started cleaning each area of the Texas room as it empties out - washing walls, pictures, etc. That too, is such a satisfying job - the look and smell of a clean room.

Many of the folks here in the park have been falling down - catching their foot on a step or a crack in the sidewalk, etc. and really injuring themselves. Not to be outdone I was not paying attention one day after getting the mail and took a nosedive onto the the sidewalk. Luckily I did not not break anything - just scraped my elbow and arm - but in the process when I hit the cement, my arm flew into my other arm - yep - I punched myself and now have a saucer size beautiful colored bruised arm! A kindly gentleman tried to help me up, but before he got here, I leaped up (did not know I could move that fast) before too many people saw me - I was not hurt physically, but my pride took a mortal blow! Note to self - keep your mind on what you are doing.  Please keep in prayer those folks who fell and broke wrists, legs, ribs etc. One lady cut her little finger off - the doctors are trying to save it, but are not sure if they can.

A beautiful Sunday morning as we went to church - Miss Opal came with us this morning as she was feeling better (she had a cold and did not get to church last week). We attended first service and then Sunday School. As it happens so many times our sermon this morning blended into our Sunday School study. The sermon from Matthew 6:19-21 "Do not lay up for yourself treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal." Our Sunday School lesson was regarding the 9th and 10th commandments telling us not to covet our neighbor's things. Do you know that the  most lucrative business today is storage buildings - if all of the population were to stand in a storage shed, there would be room for again as many people!! Just ponder on that for awhile. Our "stuff" represents idols which come in many forms to distract us from the true God. the god of stuff is the god who makes us forget the true  only God. Our favorite memory involves a gift or food. Think about that for awhile. What is you favorite memory?? We all love presents don't we? Why do we buy  presents for others on Jesus' birthday?? Stop placing value on something that really has no value. Remember that last gadget you had to have? Are you using it or does it just sit there gathering dust. How many exercise machines are being used as a clothes rack??  Our faith and salvation are our greatest treasures that we cannot lose or that cannot be taken from us. We must sacrifice the god of stuff for the God of heaven and earth.

Mexican Fiesta

On Saturday we attended the last Mexican Fiesta at CHI/RIN in Reynosa, Mexico. The day was a bit dreary and cold, with some of the folks absent as the Texas crud is again striking in the parks. We had a slight delay, as when we were ready to leave (with Fred driving a van)as I asked my last question before we left was, "everyone have their passports?". Oh no, one lady did not have hers nor her driver's license. She and a friend left the van. but called her husband who said he would run home and get it and be there in a few minutes. We are so happy we waited, as he soon arrived and we were on our way. We were granted grace and mercy as we crossed the border with no red lights. If we received a red light that meant that we had to pull into the inspection area. Usually , it does not amount to much as they ask a few questions in Spanish and we just shrug our shoulders as if we do not understand and point to the CHI sign on the vehicle. Luckily, we just drove on through customs and on to the refuge. We took a tour with those who were new, visiting a casa with kids in it, the new remodeled casa almost done (this will complete the total  7 casa remodelings), a short tour of the grounds as it was cold, and headed to the auditorium where Besty promised us treats! There were all sorts of Mexican candies and nuts for us to try. The kids then presented a program, and we were served tamales, beans, Mexican bar-be-que (different from ours but very good), and chalupas with varying degrees of hot salsa. We walked over to the gym and were again presented with a program of Mexican dances, and of course, the breaking of the pinata. Our dessert was then served - chocolate flan. Again very different, but good. We got to visit with Pati whom we sponsor and have for 10 years now. We will help celebrate her ollege graduation soon - she then will be a Mexican lawyer - different than our lawyers, but a very respected position in Mexico. We left early enough, but did have a 1-1/2 hour wait on the bridge coming back to the US. I always have extra water for those in the van, as well as a book for me to read.

treats from the left: sweet peanuts (there were also very spicy hot ones), coconut candy, the round was a goat's milk caramel, the roll was a guava roll, the little round was marzipan (very different from the marzipan we are used to), and mango tamarind. Even a peanut brittle which was like a hard sweet nut roll. All very good -  was a bit apprehensive about the goat's milk caramel, but it was super delicious

last festival of the year

the sword dance with real swords for the older guys

the ribbon dance which wound the ribbon around the pole

some of the newer kids and their partners

a wedding dance

Johnny, one of the four boys who came a few years ago with lots of baggage - they are all so well adjusted now

the older kids having fun - they then pulled someone out the audience to dance with - yep - I was chosen (I think Fred and Pati were somehow involved in this)

Pati and her partner

the old man's dance - so funny

the kids really love this one

the end of the Mexican hat dance

the pinata almost broken - a few candies fell out

breaking it the rest of the way


Mother Nature is really raising havoc with the country - all the rain, snow, and flooding in areas where it has never flooded before (whoever heard of flooding in Nebraska?). Please pray for all of those in danger's way - also for the winter Texans returning home that there is no damage to their homes and property.

It is getting quiet here in the park as the Winter Texans leave - every day seems like an exodus. Many will remain for awhile yet to eep us company - some have purchased property and will remain all year so we will not be totally deserted.

A month or so ago, I wrote an"Inspiration" for the Welcome Home Winter Texan weekly paper. Our CRM chaplains all write these devotions and they are printed throughout the season. I heard from a few folks about it, so thought I would reprint it here.

Happiness

What is happiness?  If you ask 100 people what happiness is or what makes them happy, you will probably receive 100 different answers. If you look up happiness in the dictionary you will read: “happiness is the state of being happy”. No help there. Happiness is a mental or emotional state of mind ranging from contentment to euphoria, depending on where you are at the moment. Psalm 144, verse 15 says, “Happy are the people who are in such a state: happy are the people whose God is the Lord”. God’s people were living in a time when their barns were full, their livestock were productive, and there was peace in the villages. They were happy, living in a time of abundance. Palm 144 is all about praising God for His grace and provision.

What makes you happy? Are you so wound up in worldly happenings and possessions, thinking that the more you  possess the happier you are? Or are you happy and content that Jesus is our Savior, the Lord of Lord and King of Kings who died for our personal salvation. Yes, He died for YOU as well as me and everyone else. The book of Psalms refers to happiness many times. Psalm 3:13 says “Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding”.  Wisdom is not found in reading books or listening to the news. Wisdom is reading God’s word until you really know and understand it. Wisdom is knowing that God wants you to live His word as well as read it: to make it a part of your daily life. God wants you to be happy. When you gain wisdom from the Lord you will live in total happiness and contentment. Life presents many mountains and valleys that may make us happy beyond belief, or it may leave us depressed. How we deal with every situation in life depends on how we trust the Lord – He is always with us. Rejoice and be happy in every areas of your lives because He lives!  

Sunday Already

What a whirlwind of week (not to mention the hour of sleep we lost). We had a load of items to take to CHI on Monday as a result of patio sale in our park. So, Fred drove Yvonne and me to work at the resale store at CHI, unloaded all the stuff, then he and Doug went to RGBI (Rio Grand Bible Institute) to pick up food for the colonias on Tuesday, then came back to pick up us ladies, along with huge bags of donated clothing from CHI to be sorted and taken to the colonias on Tuesday. Tuesday was CRMI bookwork, as well as trying to get caught up on personal stuff. The donations kept pouring in from the patio sale, so that was sorting and packing- either colonia or CHI. Wednesday I did get time to clean the bathroom and wash towels and then again loading and sorting. I snuck in a few snippets of time to work on a quilt. Thursday was back at RGBI to pick up – yep – more cheesits. As I now write this Fred is packing some of the 6 boxes we received. Friday, we found time in the afternoon to do bit of grocery shopping after the morning colonia distribution, home to put away groceries, then a visit with friends (a time to relax and eat a quiet dinner out with them. Saturday was finding more things on our patio, as there was another sale in our park, Chaplain meeting, (left there with a load of decorations, etc. for the resale store) and on to a find raiser for CHI (with a stop at home to pick up more stuff on our patio to drop off at CHI on the way. Sunday was church, back home to find the patio with bags of clothing, and took short drive to another park to pick up a load of cardboard for Border Missions, back home, unload, and now taking a break from sorting clothes. Some friends are giving us a needed break later on as they invited us out for Diary Queen (she has coupons she needs to use before heading back to the snow and cold in Wisconsin later this week). I had to check my calendar almost hourly to make sure I did not miss anything!!! I am not complaining, God is so good in providing these things for the ministry – we are just humble servants – but do keep busy.

Our last Chaplains meeting was Saturday – a sort of bittersweet meeting, as many of the parks have new owners and things are definitely changing.  Two parks have become family friendly so a lot of longtime residents (used to a 55+park) are moving or selling their homes. It is understandable, as the up and coming generating is moving away from large home, into smaller homes (mobile perhaps) and using their income to travel or just do different things with their family.  They do not want to wait until they retire and then go to one place for the winter, play cards, shuffleboard, etc. and be limited to what they can see in that area. The owners do have to keep up with the times, though. Some of the chaplains are leaving for their Northern homes for good – not to return again next year.  Luckily, we do have chaplains to take their paces, but again, it will take awhile for the residents to become used to a new preacher. Vickie is retiring for Board Secretary and Administrative secretary, so a replacement will be needed for her, as well as for myself, as I am resigning as treasurer/bookkeeper of CRMI. 

One afternoon last week we chaplains met at the home of another chaplain who has been diagnosed with kidney cancer. He only has one kidney (he lost the other one to cancer) and is not going to have surgery or chemo treatments, leaving it all in God’s hands. We met (12 of us) with the intention of anointing him with oil and laying hands on him as we prayed. It was an extremely emotional experience, well aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the room. Earlier that afternoon, we all shared testimony of how God’s healing played a part in their lives or the lives of others. We know that God can heal in an instant, but we also know that God has plans for our lives, and those plans sometimes do not included physical healing. No matter the outcome, this gentleman will win – either be healed or in heavenly realm with the Lord. Please keep him in yourporayers, as well as his wife.

Winding Down

It does not seem possible but the season at the RV parks seems to be winding down already, although I cannot imagine why folks want to return to mountains of snow up North! Many of our friends are leaving this month, some of them very soon. And sad to say, some of them are not returning, mostly because of health or family issues. They will certainly be missed as we have spent many wonderful times with them. (I don't want to name anyone as I certainly do not want to leave anyone out).

It has been a pretty hectic week as it always seems to be prior to the end of season. A patio sale here in the park brought loads of "leftovers" to our doorstep for our ministries. People leaving so do not  want to repack or take any of the items with them, so we are the blessed recipients of things! And things they are - from clothing, to small appliances, to purses and shoes, men stuff ( cords, ruler, nuts and bolts, etc.), rolls of carpet, mops and brooms, blankets, and even holiday decorations, So we sort and pack and sort and pack - most of the items go to Children's Haven International and the rest to our Caring Hearts Ministry. EVERYTHING is used in some way or another.

Last Friday another chaplain couple accompanied us on our Friday distribution. These are new chaplains and wanted to see exactly what Caring Hearts Ministry is all about. I hope they have an idea of all that is done through the ministry for the sake of those less fortunate. It was a long morning, but we thoroughly enjoyed their company and help. We usually do not take those huge bags of donuts to sort, but since I had help, we took some of them and us ladies packaged them. There were donuts of all types, decorated sugar cookies, and kolaches, with probably a hot dog and jalapenos inside. The camaraderie was fun but also very productive.

I was so very distraught with all of the political shenanigans going on lately that I turned to the Bible to try to find some solace there. Our country is heading straight for disaster if we do not return to the Lord. A spiritual revival is so much needed. Our country is so divided which leads to downfall. "But Jesus knew their thoughts (referring to the Pharisees) and said to them, "every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided divided against  itself will not stand".

This morning was communion Sunday at our church here in Texas. While at home in Arkansas we have communion every Sunday, but no matter the procedure it gives us time to reflect how our lives exuded the spirit of Christianity the past week. Our sermon this morning referred to seeing the speck in our brother's eye and not seeing the log in ours. Luke 6:37-49. Our being It is the essence of who we are. We see others faults but not our own. What we don''t like in others is often what we don't like in ourselves. Compassion not condemnation is  the basis of being a Christian. The way  we envision  others depends on who we envision,  such as "I am firm, you are stubborn, they are pigheaded". Same thing, different ways of looking at the same characteristic. It all depends on how you view things and others. Jesus prohibited judgment by condemnation. If we place judgment on others, we are taking the place of God. God had perfect love and holiness - we do not.

A beautiful warm day today - but the warnings of 40 degrees tomorrow morning - a drop of almost 40 degrees!!!