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.