Summer Musings

We were sitting on the patio one morning as a roadrunner ran by with a lizard in his mouth totally unconcerned about us just 6 feet away. Love sitting here watching the world go by watching the deer, birds, ground hogs - all of God's wonderful creatures. We have had rain off and on all week, downpours and soft gentle rains. Our daughter's garden just drinks in all the moisture, then sprouts up in the heat of the day. 

                                                                        Arkansas rain

 We did get a chance to visit one of our daughters nearby, although we social distanced outside. She is a personal director at  nursing home where Covid is prevailing, and she took every precaution to protect us. We had a wonderful time, as we had not seen her on a year, but hated the fact that there were no hugs and kisses. Another daughter was coming for the weekend to visit, but she, too, decided to stay away for awhile as her granddaughter could have been exposed to Covid at the day care. Our daughter lives at the same residence. The grand daughter and her mother both tested negative, but as a precaution, again, she decided to to not take any chances exposing us. I cannot imagine those people in a nursing home not being able to see relatives, or their relatives not being able to visit. We all need to remain safe, and to ask God to heal our country from this virus and also for the unrest that abounds.

This past weekend celebrated the Independence of our country. Many traditions were not observed, many activities were canceled, and the world seemed upside down. We celebrate American Independence Day on the Fourth of July every year. We think of July 4, 1776, as a day that represents the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the United States of America as an independent nation.We celebrate the release from the anarchy of England, and proclaim ourselves as a Christian nation. Let us not forget the foundation of our great nation and return to God - He has not left us, we have kicked Him out of schools, our government, and sometimes even our families. 

We were going to physically attend church at Our home church of Prairie Grorve Christian Church, but decided to wait another week perhaps. We were able to watch it again live, on a big screen TV this time instead of on my computer. Pastor Vance continues in the Book of James. God's plans are forever. What He commanded at the beginning of time still stands today. We ask God to bless America, but we as Americans and Christians need to bless God. Our country was ordained to be a light to other nations. We need to keep on with the Christians foundations that formed us. We are presently battling for the soul of our country. What we need now is wisdom from God. " If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given Him" James 1:5. This is a verse to go to if you need an answer to life's problems. The most important thing for us to understand is what wisdom is. We can have knowledge but not wisdom. Wisdom is knowing what to do with knowledge. Wisdom is skillful living - taking your knowledge with a Godly view and applying this to your daily lives. There are three types of wisdom. The first is reflective wisdom - to look into a situation and know how to use wisdom in a Godly way. There is also practical wisdom which is common sense. It is how you do life well by putting God's words into practice.Solomon said to seek wisdom, Jesus said to pray for wisdom. James contrasts worldly wisdom to Godly wisdom.If you don't include God in your life, you can call yourself an atheist. The last of these is worldly wisdom. We need to know the origin of worldly wisdom which is not from God. It is inspired by the devil which is rebellion against God. Worldly wisdom operates as a bitter envy and selfish ambitions. This is evident in the protests and riots of today. The outcome of all of this is the thinking that does not include God. It produces disorder - every evil practice which is anarchy. The origin of Godly wisdom comes from above. We need to have a reverence of  the Word of Gd and of God Himself. The operation of Godly wisdom is as a peacemaker - a gentle way of life. We need to be considerate and submissive, sincere, impartial without hypocrisy. 

The out come of this is peace and righteousness. If you put Godly wisdom into practice, you are the person who built his house on a rock. God is the rock.

How wise are you?

 

Remembering and Forgetting

October brings some migrating birds (where ARE those hummingbirds!), but also the beginning of the largest winter migration - Winter Texans or Snow Birds. A few couples have wandered back to our park, as well as a few new ones. Next week promises to see a trickling of a few more (the snow in the North have pushed them South). Our Chaplain Bill and wife Ali are also due to arrive in a few weeks, as well as the rest of the CRM Chaplains in the area, ready to start services in the parks by November 1. We are going to have quite a few changes in our church services this year (not the service itself  but the praise and worship part of it) so please pray for us that all changes will be for the better, but most important, are to the Glory of God.

With the coming of the winter season here in the park, I won't have as much spare time as I seem to have now. Although we do keep busy with the food and clothing ministry, Border Missions soup kitchen,  and volunteering at the resale store for Children's Haven, we still have time for relaxing hobbies. Fred relaxation consists of mowing - with all the rain and heat we have had, the lawns here at the park have gone wild, so Fred is helping the maintenance crew catch up on mowing. It keeps him busy and allows me the free time to do some fun stuff.  My latest glass creations are flowers from vases and candle holders - they slip over a metal rod stuck in the ground to look like sparkly flowers. I also have been practicing my spinning. Grrrrrr - all I spin so far is lumpy stuff, but it is getting better.

they really do sparkle when the sun shines on them



close up of glass flowers

We have some wonderful produce donated to Great Oaks Food Ministry this week - beautiful peppers, limes, squash and tomatoes, as well as bakery items and tortillas. Because God blessed us with so much extra, we again were able to share with another church. He seems to know our needs before we can even determine them ourselves.
When we see people leaving the church with bags of fresh produce and bakery items, we know God has lead us here for a purpose.

 look at all those beautiful peppers, squash, and tomatoes

limes and cucumbers, too

 

 

We ventured over to the Mexican market (pulga) next to our park the other day to get a few sweet onions and found those delightfully delicious little bananas. They look like a banana, with a thinner skin, and taste just a bit different. I used a few with mango, pineapple, and spinach in my morning smoothie - simply heavenly. Do you suppose there are fresh fruits in heaven, or do we just live by the fruit of the Spirit??? 

 

see how tiny the banana is compared to a dinner fork? I am going to find out if they have a different name than little banana!

 

There is a really weird tree growing here in the park (actually lots of them). I may have  mentioned it before, but the leaves are different from each other - it is very beautiful but certainly not like any trees that I have been used to. I imagine they will all turn the same color eventually but for now they are certainly unique.

 

 some of the leaves are green and some are pink and green



 the branches are very long and lined with leaves





 

Pastor Israel's sermon this morning was sort of a continuation of last week's sermon, entitled "What You Do Matters". Chameleons change their color in order to blend in with their environment, but Christians should not blend in. People should be able to tell that we are Christians just because we do not act like many others. So many times people are raised in a Christian family, only to fall into the temptation of the world because they forget what they had learned, just as the Israelites did after they crossed into the dessert after 400 years of captivity. They forgot that God parted the Red Sea, that He provided food (manna) and water (from the rock). He lead them towards the Promised Land in a cloud, promising them a land of milk and honey. Because forgetfulness is a part of our human nature, we need to ask God to remind us of what we are supposed to do. We can do this by daily devotions, Bible study classes and listening to the Word of God. Temptations are out there and can overcome us when pride enters the picture so stand strong in Christ.

 

Continue to pray for Israel. Why should we pray for Israel? First and foremost because human souls are suffering, struggling and fighting to survive there amidst physical, political and spiritual warfare. Why pray for Israel? You should pray for Israel because God commands our support and aid of Israel throughout the Bible. We hope that you will join us in prayer for the State of Israel.