The past week has been cool - yesterday it was rainy, damp, and cool. Just the perfect weather to do a bit of sewing and reading, except one of the chaplain arrived with a pick-up full of donations, including canned hams for the colonias for Christmas. Their park always seems to come through with the needed hams. There were numerous quantities of sheets and towels, clothes, and miscellaneous kitchen items which were separated for the colonias and also for Children's Haven International. The chaplain and his wife stayed and helped us separate and box up items, which was so greatly appreciated. Right now our Texas room looks like a warehouse with boxes of canned food, and other items to distribute on December 18th in time for Christmas. This coming Saturday we have a chaplain's meeting where the chaplains have ben asked by our administrative secretary to bring a gift for a boy and one for a girl. I am gong to bring wrapping paper so we can wrap the items and mark them age appropriate. In a perfect world, we would like to let the children choose their own gift but that could take hours and then some of them still would not have made a choice. My blog next Sunday may be late (maybe even Monday) as we will be preparing bags of canned goods to give out on the 18th, as well as making up sets of sheets and towels to also give away. This last Friday's distribution was amazing - it was a good thing that we had a lot of help as we gave away 90+ boxes of vegetables, including coconuts and tunas ( not not fish, but those prickly pear fruits that the people love) , as well as cartons of cream of chicken soup and peanut butter. We again received boxes of dairy products from Donald J. Trump so the folks have plenty to help during this crazy time. The weather was cool, so one of the ladies, who lives next door, made a kettle of hot chocolate with cinnamon, and others brought Mexican street tacos with onions, jalapenos, and salsa, croissants, and the sweet crispy Mexican pastry. We were so well fed that day, as when we picked up the vegetable in the early morning, one of the missionaries gave us breakfast tacos - don't know what was in them, but they were good. Then our special lady, Magdalena, sent 4 warm breakfast burritos for us to take home. I never seem to have to cook meals!!I have been asked to give a meditation on the 18th as that will also be our Christmas celebration in the colonias. I finished writing it, and had it translated into Spanish also so the ladies could sort of follow along. It is from the Book of Matthew, and is centered on Joseph, Jesus' earthly father, and the type of person he was. We then will leave on the 19th for Joshua, Texas, for a couple of days. then on to Arkansas to spend Christmas with our family. We have not done so for over 10 years and feel strongly that we need to do this. It will be a time to relax in the true meaning of Christmas.
More people have returned to the park and there are many activities that do not involve gatherings. A lot beautification contest was held with prizes awarded, nod now there will be a Christmas decoration contest. There are quite a few festive decorations up already. The music parade continues around 7 every night, as golf carts ride around the park, playing Christmas music and honking horns. And I do believe there is going to be Christmas caroling.
I do love this time of year and had to sew another Christmas stocking this year. Many years ago, one of our daughters was with me at JoAnn fabrics and saw a Christmas stocking that she wanted me to sew for her. She is now 56 and still has it. Of course, since we had 4 daughters, I had to sew 3 more, then 2 more for us. As the girls grew up, there were boyfriends who needed stockings, then husbands, then children who grew up and had children of their own. So --many stockings were made. The pattern was copied many times as we all have a copy of it. I tried to search the internet for the original pattern and found one seller, but it was already sold. Over the years the colors and fabrics have changed, but the original design remains the same. This year I made a buffalo plaid (black and red) with a silver flecked black toe and cuff. I imagine a person could tell when the stocking was made just by the fabric.
Achsah was a lady in the Bible who wanted more. She was the daughter of a prince of the tribe of Judah and the only girl in the family. Her father promised her in marriage to the man who was able to capture Debir - the city of the Book. Othniel accomplished this feat and won Achsah, as well as a portion of the south land. Ascsah was not satisfied and wanted springs of water to irrigate their fields, so her father then gave her the upper and nether springs. She still was not content with the dowry she was given, she urged her husband to ask her father for more. Because she was human, as we, too, are, we must pray to be content where we are and for what we have. As a result, Achsah was never satisfied.
It was a great day at our home church in Prairie Grove as a mortgage of 1.25 million dollars was paid off and the mortgage was burned. This loan was for the addition centering on the spiritual growth of the children and was paid off in 5years! What do you do when you reach a milestone. You keep going. God does not have plan for you as a spectator. If you are not moving forward in your spiritual life, you are moving backward. Your walk with Christ is to press on and take hope. God has a plan for your life. He loves you as your heavenly Father. He wants you in a relationship with Him. There are 3 branches of salvation: justification, sanctification, and glorification. Are you in Christ, and do you know that for certain? Have you made a profession of faith? If so, you are justified. You have to be justified to have glorification. Your citizenship is in heaven. God came once and He is coming again. When that happens, you are not gong to have the same existence as you have now. Right now you live in a sinful world. You are working out your salvation today - which God has worked in. It is God's work in us daily as we live in obedience. Sanctification helps us to deal with the practice of sin by obeying Him. Our heavenly father puts up fences because He wants to protect, just as humans do. You have to be obedient. You need to press on and take hold. Take hold of what God has called you into. There will be suffering as we continue to walk with Christ. There will be better things for us. There is only one God and only one way to Him, and that is through His Son, Jesus Christ. You cannot make any steps in following Jesus until you become vulnerable as you are a work in process. Progress not perfection - you are on that journey. We want the world today to be over (no more COVID or election problems), but we can still grow in that journey. Rejoice in the Lord, but also rejoice in your circumstances. Don't let your circumstances destroy your joy. You are not at the finish line yet - forget the past but strain forward for what is ahead. Press on toward the goal - keep active in your walk with Christ. Press on to what God has called you to do. Live up to your identity as a Christ follower. Live up and olok up.
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