Blessings

This has been another unexpected, surprising week, although I should never predict the blessings of the Lord. We received 200# of beans and 200# of rice – what a wonderful blessing for this time of year. Fred spent two days bagging them up in individual family packages ready for distribution on Friday. I also brought home from a donation 7 large bags full jeans – all sizes for all family members. I sorted and packed them also for Friday’s distribution. On top of all those wonderful gifts, we received more than a full load of produce and other commodities to add to our baskets to give out. All of the girls in the colonias who volunteer to help were overjoyed to see of all this. They asked Fred where I was, as Doug always goes along on Fridays in the winter time so guess I will have to tag along now and then to assure the girls that I am still thinking of them and want to see them.

There was a terrible accident here in the park yesterday – while residents were moving a shed, somehow the driver stepped on the gas rather than the brake and drove into a mobile home, injuring the two resident sitting on the patio. Both were taken to different hospitals – one with a broken ankle and the other with multiple, serious injuries. The driver of the vehicle was also transported to another hospital, as it seemed that he was having a heart attack. Please keep all of these folks in your prayers, as they all need healing – both physical and emotional.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, we need to focus on the Christmas season... Today was the 1^st Sunday of Advent. Peace was the theme for the first candle. With all of the hustle and bustle of the season, we cannot ever forget the whole reason for this celebration. Because of Christ, there is a CHRIST mas. As we have our place for sale, I did not put up a lot of decorations, but am enjoying all of those that are around. The most important of course is my manger scene- which I could not celebrate without.

Today’s sermon was really interesting, with a theme that I never really thought about. Planning an event takes time, sometimes a year or more. When we were planning our ladies retreat, we started immediately after the current one in order to have everything in order for the next year. Even planning a celebration, be it an anniversary, wedding, etc. takes time and planning. When the time of the event actually arrive, there is a burst of activity to make sure all turns out well. The same happened with the birth of Jesus. Many, many angels were involved in the event, carrying messages to everyone from God. All of these people needed to hear what was going to happen and how to react to it. Zachery also received a message from Angel Gabriel, informing him that he and his wife, Elizabeth would have a child, and that they would name him John. Zachery was a priest chosen by lot. He was chosen to enter the Holy of Holys and burn the incense. When Gabriel appeared to Zachery, he was so shocked and wondered how that could be as he and Elizabeth were very old. Because of his doubt, he was struck mite until Join was born. Sometimes the sound of silence scares us. Our culture wants us to be verbal and tell others about Jesus, but sometimes this keeps us from honoring Gd. Silence helps us protect the inner fire of the spirit in us, Silence is the forerunner of speaking- it prepares us to speak. There is a difference between saying something and having something to say. How many folks do you know that talk just to talk? Their words are many, but the message is not there. Where is the silence in your life? Be still and listen – in that silence you, too, may hear an angel. Throughout the whole Christmas story, angels appear and reappear. Read the book of Luke to see what I mean.