Spring

Spring has sprung and so have most of the Winter Texans. Most of the have already returned to their Northern homes to find the now almost gone and to prepare for their summer fun. A few remain - one couple from Quebec lives at the end of our block. As I was sewing the other day, I heard a dog bark, looked up and saw a flash of a critter run around the corner, followed by their dog. It was sooooo funny (probably nor so for the cat though). The neighbor was hollering at her dog, the dog was barking, and the cat was making tracks!! Sure wish I had a video! The cat successfully got away, so no harm done. We have lots of feral cats here on this side of the park - some neighbors take them in - one neighbor has 8 in their house, and numerous outside. A sad situation, as they keep having kittens - one had babies under the truck across the street 2 weeks ago. Luckily, someone took them in, but the cats need to be neutered and/or taken to the shelter. A few are OK, but we are overrun this year it seems.

Lots of flowers and shrubbery blooming, (which does not help my allergies) but it is pretty, although there is nothing prettier than springtime in Arkansas - the red buds, dogwoods, and Bradford pears to just name a few. Sometimes it would just take my breath away to see the beauty - the beauty that God created for our enjoyment.

We have again been overwhelmed with donations as the Winter Texans leave - lot and lots of non-perishable items, clothing, etc. It keeps us bust most of everyday - along with the Tuesday and Friday distribution of food. Who received 4 boxes of honey bars ( like snack bars) - each box held 600!! What an amazing donation. 

We also received many pillowcase dresses in different sizes made form actual pillowcases, the larger sizes  from fabric.Each dress had a pair of panties attached. As you can see from the expressions on these girls faces', they were thrilled. They even put them on over their clothes because they were so excited. The boys received shorts and shirts that they too , were excited to receive. Ida made baskets for the kids with candy and toys - she also included a few cans, boxes, and bags of soups, beans, mixes, cereal , etc. ( donated of course) so that they could take this home to be used for the entire family. One little girl was very sad, as her mother was put in jail the night before - the mother was illegal, had been deported once before, and will now be deported again.  The saddest part of the whole situation is that the mother does not want the responsibility of the children ( 2 other older sisters) so depends on family to care for them. 

pillowcase dresses - these will be so cool during the hot summer - they got to choose their own dress

We have been so busy that I think I forget to mention that I did take a bit of a down time a couple of weeks ago. Three of us ladies went to Mexico early in the morning - had breakfast at Renee's              ( everyone seems to go there). They have the most wonderful Mexican pastries - so very similar to  ours - like huge cinnamon rolls but without as much sugar. A couple of us had breakfast, while one lady chose a pastry. We then went to a spa to have a pedicure - a nice relaxing time at half the price of a pedicure in the states, and just as good if not better. A few minutes of shopping and we were back home by 10:30. We plan on doing this one more time before one of the ladies goes home (she is the one who drives into Mexico so we do not have the long walk across the bridge). It was a great time of total relaxation! The bridge waits now are terribly long - about 2+ hours as many of the border guards were called away for other assignments because of the border crisis. And folks it really is a crisis. If you lived here you would truly understand the importance of controlling the immigration. One lady, who lives just a couple of miles from the border, has a night camera in her yard. Last week 16 illegals jumped the privacy fence in her gated community and hung around in her backyard for 20 minutes right next to the bedroom window. A total of 26 were spotted in that small area. There is a holding area here in the Valley where 1000 folks who we granted immunity were being housed (this term is used very lightly as it is an unused nursing home) where waiting to be sent to their sponsors throughout the US - they were waiting last Saturday to be sent out on buses, trains and planes, as another group of 1000 were being processed in. All of this in one day. Not nearly enough staff.

Service this morning were very soothing - it looked like rain when we entered church - and it did rain throughout the sermon with a bit of thunder (God speaking?) but it was a peaceful soft rain. After church it had quit enough to walk over to Sunday School classrooms. The sun is now shining and it is a beautiful day.

How do you face endings?? We all experience endings - be it a retirement, for teacher and students and teachers it is the end of the school year, or perhaps the end of a relationship. We face them all with with mixed emotions and feelings. The Israelites faced changes as they lived quiet peaceful lives as God had promised, then the Babylonians ravaged their county - nothing as left of Israel as it was known. Many of the people we taken to Babylonia as slaves - the rest were left to fend for themselves. Israel as a nation was ended, as the people thought God has deserted them- just as we feel God deserted us.  God had a future for them, just as He has a future for us. God does not deal in permanent endings. God will do new and wonderful things in our lives as He ends one area of our lives and sends us on another. Look For It!