Happy Fall Y’All

Happy Fall Y’All

Fall is my very favorite time of the year. Yes, I love Christmas and Easter, but fall brings special memories of the smell of leaves burning, harvesting the end of the garden produce, pumpkins, and the excitement of the kids returning to school and Halloween. Sometimes I dreaded the school year beginning because of the expense of outfitting and providing school supplies for 4 girls! I hated to tell them that, no I could not buy 2 pair of Levi jeans for each kid – way too expensive. Our girls were very creative – one of them sewed her own jeans and then sewed the Levi label on to it – the others just sewed Levi labels on their Plain Pockets. Problem solved. It does not seem like fall here in the Rio Grande Valley as the temps today are still on the 90’s.  I did get my fall decorations out and put up – a new twist on the decorating though. We were deep cleaning the Texas room when I decided I needed to move my spinning wheel out of the corner and put it in the living room. Fred then informed me that there was no room for it there – whoops. So I picked my battle and went with his suggestion –put it on the landing in the Texas room. Beautiful, don’t you think?

A bit dark, but looks good

This pumpkin belonged to my mother-in-law when she was in a nursing home. We bought it for her and kept it filled with her favorite hard candy.

Detail of one of my creations

We were actually busy this week with pick-ups for both Children’s Haven Resale Shoppe and our Caring Hearts Ministry. Fred was busy moving stuff around in the storage container making room for new supplies which will be coming soon. We did some clothes sorting, and packing for the ministry – mostly fabric donated by others for quilts that Ida and her gals will be making. I even contributed a bit of fabric as I sorted and cleaned out my “stash”. I also found time to cut all the strips for another quilt that I am starting – lavenders, greens, and greys - should be nice when finished. We are making strip quilts in our Friday Busy Bees quilting group, so thought I would get a head start.

Our sweet Miss Opal is on a rehab right now, as she became ill and had a pacemaker put in. She now needs rehab time to try to get her strength back. We visited her this morning and she looked pretty perky, although she seems resigned to the fact that she has to slow down and cannot do as much as she has done. She said she was ready to go home as she has accomplished everything that she ever dreamt of doing – I don’t think the Lord is done with her yet though. Please keep her in your prayers for God’s will to be done.

Have you ever thought or wondered if you are truly representative of your community?? When we are in Arkansas we truly are – as most of the folks there are Christian, Caucasian, middle to upper class folks, just the epitome of all American person. But being down here in South Texas made us realize that we are not representative of the community around us – which is mostly Hispanic (At the grocery store this morning we were the only Caucasians there), lower to middle class, mostly single parents, struggling to just make a living at mostly minimum wage. Oh sure, there are Hispanic doctors and lawyers, but those are the exceptions, not the norm. If you truly want to be part pf the community, you have to get to know their culture and their place in society in order to be able to talk to them about your faith. When we are in the colonias, Fred and I often forget where we have come from and imagine ourselves in the same positions the folks are there. We try to imagine the gratitude that they have for the gifts of food and clothing in order for them just to manage from week to week. We often forget how very blessed we are – but in retrospect those folks also feel very blessed. If you want to minister to others in a different sector of society or religious faith, you have to actually try to imagine yourself in their position without seeming to be superior or “above them”. Try to feel their hurt in times of depression or devastation, or exasperation at seemly stuck in a rut and cannot get out. Love them, encourage them, and become a part of them.

Please keep a family in prayers as they have lost a son/father/ husband/brother this morning. A close cousin (as well as close friends) lost their son this morning to cancer – Brian was only about 56 and was just diagnosed 2 months ago and went very quickly. Our hearts ache for that family, as our kids grew up together in their early years. We will always hold a special place in our heart for Brian.