Summer Heat

Another sunny Sunday in the Valley , actually a hot one – 91 degrees already with a bit of humidity. We had some  excitement this morning – went to pick up Miss Opal for church – door was locked, no answer to the knock or bell. Checked with her brother-in-law who also had gone over to take her to church (Miss was Opal was a bit confused and thought we were not not going to take her this morning), and also found the same thing. Tried calling her, but the phone was turned off. We went to church and checked in her Sunday School class – there she was. She simply called a friend to pick her up for church, forgetting that she has asked her brother-in-law since she thought we were gone. So relieved to find her safe and sound.

We are still receiving a few food items from the straggling Winter Texans leaving for the North. The items are so few (not enough to distribute to all in the colonias). We found a deserving family here in Alamo who were so grateful for all we had. One day we delivered to the lady who does work but makes just enough to support her adult son and herself. We had a gallon of milk which she was so happy to receive, as she had only $10 left for groceries and no milk for her cereal. She had bought hamburger and cactus ( a dish the Hispanics eat here). Her son wanted hamburgers, but she did not have enough for everything he needed, so split what she had bought with him. The next day I saw her – she was so excited. In the items we delivered to her were hamburger buns, lettuce, pickles, and catsup – just what he needed to make his supper.

 I had some work done on my computer - it seems as if it will now let me post pictures. Hooray - below are some of our loyal ladies packing produce even in the heat. 

Our watersize leader is back from her 50 day cruise so we are starting our morning water exercise class tomorrow morning. It has been awhile so we have to be retrained! We follow a CD with specific routines and usually have it so memorized that we can talk and workout at the same time I think tomorrow we will have to concentrate on listening closely.

Spent most of the week bagging dried fruit again - the people just love it and we have an ample supply for now. We delivered last Friday in the colonias with an almost overabundance of produce - so many fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as marshmallow fluff, dried fruit, and plenty of tortillas. This is a critical time in the colonias as the kids are home from school and need breakfast and noonday meals. There are free meals available at the schools, but no transportation for them to get there. 

The trees are again budding and flowering so I am back on the allergy medicine again. This year as we are not returning North until August, I am hoping there will not be any new budding or flowering! I never had any allergy problems before - this year is a real eye opener. 

After we got all the Miss Opal situation resolved, we arrived at our Sunday School class just on time - with a teaching of how the silk trade route affected the modern religions As the traders moved by caravan from country, the ideas, beliefs, and views were discussed. People formed their own opinions and became immersed in the religious belief of their choice that they had absorbed. Quite an interesting study. Our contemporary service has not increased in number as expected. We are hoping that we return to the the 9 AM time schedule as we earlier had. Many others feel that way, so perhaps it will happen. If not we may go to the traditional 8:30 service.

Pastor Robert continued his new sermon series of Jesus after the tomb as Jesus continue to walk with us. Have you ever felt left out? I have - I felt isolated alone, sort of not wanted or even in the way. It hurts not to be included when every else is talking about the event. Are there parts of our faith journey that we feel left out with something missing in our faith? Thomas is an example of that. He was not there when Jesus appeared to the apostles. They were excited when they told Tomaso about being with the Lord again, but Thomas needed physical proof that Jesus was alive. Jesus wanted Thomas to name his unbelief. Sometimes we too, struggle with our unbelief. What is it that keeps us from unbelieving?  8 days later Jesus again appeared to the disciples and Thomas was there that  time. When Jesus appeared and told Thomas to put his finger in the holes in His hands and his hand in the wound in His side, Jesus was giving Thomas the proof of his doubt. Just as Jesus responded to Thomas' unbelief, He was to respond to our unbelief. Name it to Him and He will help you to believe.

Our park manager had surgery last Friday on her shoulder - not exactly sure what- but all went well and she is recovering. Please keep her in your prayers. 

Selected Selectivity

It is already May and usually at this time we are planning our Northern trip. Due to the fact that our oldest granddaughter is getting married in mid-September in Northern Wisconsin, we are not leaving the Valley until August. It will be different, as we have never been here throughout the entire summer – although we have been her in July so we should be able to climatize. God is so amazing to bring us the opportunity to minister to others in a different space of time.

We are involved in Friends in Faith in church. Before school starts, we are assigned a youth from the church to write to all year, encourage, pray for, etc. Our name is not revealed to them until the Reveal Party in May, which was today. We were excited to see our “special” girl (a 10^th grader) in this special party, but, alas, she was not there. We stayed and took part in the refreshments, and met some of the other great youths in our church. We hope to some time to meet Andrea - the young girl we spent snail mail time with.

Again, a busy week – I anticipated a quiet week where I could do some slow time for myself, but of course, God had other plans. I packaged 120 bags of dried fruit (a combination of peaches, plums, and nectarines) to use in our Friday distribution. We also picked up 90 pancakes of tortillas from a nearby tortilla factory, not to mention the food donated from the few Winter Texans still heading North. I got inspired to then clean kitchen cupboards – a bigger project than I anticipated, although I got to spend time with the Lord as I cleaned, sorted, and then rearranged cupboards, including the pantry. Wow, I can really find things again now, with space to share. I have 3 boxes of donations to the CHI resale shop of stuff I have not used in a couple of years, or even had doubles that I did not know about!

The items that are donated to CHI resale store are sold and all of the proceeds go to support the refuge for disadvantaged kids in Reynosa, many of them placed there for their own safety by the Mexican human services. We support a young lady there, Pati, whom we have supported, through the support of Prairie Grove Christian Church in Prairie Grove, since she was 10 years old (she is now going to be 20 in June). Pati is going to start her 2^nd year in college, studying to be a Mexican Abogado (lawyer). We are so proud to give her this opportunity to become a role model for other kids, as well as “helping others” as she talks about her goals. She comes from a very poor family in the colonias in Reynosa (which are many times worse than those here in the States) and wants to be able to help her family rise above of the deplorable conditions in which they live.

We started a new sermon series today reflecting on Jesus after the tomb. We think of Easter as just a day – the Sunday Jesus arose from the grave. Easter is really a season called Eastertide. It begins on Easter Sunday and continues until Pentecost. Jesus was still on earth during that time, appearing to disciples and trying to help them understand His crucifixion and resurrection. Have you ever spent time looking for something when it was right there under your nose in plain sight?? What changed in order for us to see it? The item did not certainly suddenly appear – although we seem to think so. This phenomenon is called Selected Selectivity. Many experiments have been done to prove this. A group of people were told to watch a video showing two basketball players bouncing a ball. They we asked to count the bounces. They were so focused on watching the ball that they did not see a person walk across the screen in the background. I guess I am different than most people – I notice really odd things in a movies or program – things such as the actors wearing a wedding ring when they shouldn’t be, watching them drink from a half empty glass, only a few minutes later seeing that same glass full (and no one has refilled it). When I mention this to those who are watching the same thing, they look at me sort of weirdly. But most of the time we are so focused on what we think we see, rather than what we actually see. The experiment proves that we can only focus on so many things at once, depending on how intently we focus. If you remember the story in Luke of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. As they were walking along they are talking about the crucifixion and resurrection and all that had happened in Jerusalem. All of a sudden, a stranger appeared on the road, and joined them as they walked. They asked the stranger to join them for a meal as it was getting dark, the road was dangerous, and they feared for His safety. As they sat together to break bread, Jesus took charge and broke the bread. It was then that they realized that it was Jesus who was walking with them the whole time.  They were so amazed that they ran back to Jerusalem (7 miles away) on the dangerous road to tell the rest of the disciples. Do we pay attention where we are in our walk with the Lord? Why do we suddenly see Jesus, when He has been there all of the time. What has changed in us??? We allowed Jesus to be in charge as we changed from host to being hosted. Sit still and know that He is God – He was there the whole time.

Betsy BlueBonnet

The flowers and grass just love it too.  Little Miss Opal has been working in her yard every day, as it is cooler now and she just putzes along. She has planted some beautiful red leafed plants all along the back of her trailer, and is busy working on some neighbor’s yards also. We are nicknaming her Betsy Blue Bonnet, as she has sown blue bonnet seeds all along the bank of the lake. Miss Opal lives across the lake from us, but we can see her home clearly, so I keep a close watch on her when she is outside working in her yard. The weather her in S Texas is unbelievably wonderful – cool with rain enough to keep the ground moist. 

It has been a rather quiet week otherwise. Yesterday we ran a lot of errands and tied up loose ends that have been hanging out there for a while. Fred made connections with an outlet for tortillas and we picked some up on Thursday for the Friday distribution. Enough for everyone to receive one package in addition to the other items we distributed. Produce was low this week, but again, enough for everyone as we could fill in with donated canned goods, an ensure type of drink, and crackers.

Children’s Haven International is also fairly quiet – the perfect time for Director Betsy Chicon to catch up on her photo albums for Facebook, and try to finish up her newsletter.  The thrift store has not been terribly busy, but for some reason the sales have been very good for this time of year. All of the proceeds from the store go to support the refuge in Reynosa. I volunteer there on Tuesday afternoons where I do enjoy the interaction with the local residents as well as the Converted Texans (those who started out as Winter Texans and then decided to settle here germanely).  

We are still trying to get used to the time change of our Sunday Morning service. The most irritating of the whole schedule change is that we have to leave Sunday School before it is over in order to get to the service on time. (we only have to walk a few yards, but Sunday School is not over before our 10:45 service starts). We really do not want to change services, as we love the contemporary service and Pastor Robert Perales. Guess we will just ride it out until the end of May, when the time change will be evaluated again.

Pastor Robert ended his “Courageous” sermon series this morning with being courageous in a changing world.  We need to be courageous enough to share our faith to the world. God left us with a set of instructions but we often ignore them, just as we ignore the instructions when putting together a new piece of furniture or a bicycle for your child. We think we know exactly what to do until we wind up with extra parts. If these instructions were not important, why do you think they were included?? Or left to us in the Bible? We need to take a good look at what we are not doing to tell others about Christ as God commanded us to do. (Matthew 28:16-20). We are ambassadors for Christ. You don’t have to preach to others, or memorize Scripture – just tell others what God has done in your life. That I the greatest testimony of all.

Bag Lady

I am now officially the bag/box lady of Caring Hearts Ministry. In the past month I have bagged/boxed 80# animal crackers, 150+# of donuts (Dale and Eunice, where are you??), 50 or more boxes of clothing, and helped with a few of the 1000 #of beans and 50# if rice. Two very special ladies help with the rice and bean bagging – they wat to be involved in the ministry, but really cannot do a lot of physical work - bagging beans and rice is perfect for them. We now need to get a ton of rice (sounds like a lot, but will be needed for when we are gone for two months). Most of these items have already been or are soon to be distributed. We have a system for procuring boxes – we drive to a nearby Little Caesar’s Pizza dumpster – they have the perfect size boxes we need!!! One of the locations told us to call in the morning and they will save them all for the day and we can pick them up in the evening. God has a strange way of helping us to get what we need for the ministry!!! We are now in the process of raising money to add onto and enclose the building in the colonia where the ladies live and help distribute the food. They really have a system – there are two ladies who make a decision, based on the commodities received, as to what goes in each family’s box. Sometimes Ida intercedes and changes the routine, but for the most part they know what is available and how much goes where. The rest of the ladies fill the boxes – perhaps 5 tomatoes, 8 limes, a bag of tortillas or bread, some donuts, rice, beans, etc. depending the day’s supply. They all work together well to make sure everyone received the same amount, even themselves. Last week there were few pineapples, not enough for everyone, and some cases of soda. Ids saves those items for after the distribution – then the ladies who help are given the special items!! It is a system that works out well. Last Friday I was bagging again – this time cherry tomatoes in quart bags for each box. I don’t interfere in their system, but do what I can to help lighten their load. If you feel led to donate to the building fund – go to crmintl.org, click on Caring Hearts Ministry, and donate. Be sure to indicate if the donation is for the building fund or just the general ministry fund. Every donation is a blessing.

It has been a week of sniffing, coughing, and sneezing here in the Valley. Something is blooming (perhaps the cottonwood trees, or the ragweed), but everyone has allergic reactions. I was a victim all week – coughing so hard that I could not sleep and my ribs hurt. I finally asked the pharmacist what I could do to alleviate the problem – a simple Zyrtec or Clairton pill. Whoa – that simple?? I took the pill yesterday and within 30 minutes my symptoms were relieved. I slept all night in bed (not in the recliner) and felt so much better this morning. I did ask God to help with the issues – guess He led me to the pharmacist!

Fred is in the process of making some 3-dimensional crosses. These are made from oak and make great gifts. He does not sell them, but gives them away. Some folks have ordered a few and then made donations to the ministry. He has 50 in the process – 10 already spoken for. He has always loved working with wood and seems to have found his niche.

Church this morning was a bit light – don’t know if folks are gone on vacation or just do not like the service time change. We will ride it out until the end of May when a decision is made as to what time the service will be. We really prefer 9AM, then Sunday School. Right now, it is Sunday School and then a 10:45 church service – not to our liking. There are two other services (8:30 and 11), but those are more traditional services – we prefer the contemporary one. Pastor Robert continued with his courageous series – today focusing on being courageous about church. Not a specific building or denomination, but a body of Christian believers in Christ. Honesty is hard and especially hardest with your own family, but as Christians we are all family. blood relation or church family. Family is those we love, but fear the most in letting them down. Sometimes God’s servants in authority seem to think that through God they have power – this is may be so. God wants us to wait for His power to do His bidding the way He wants us to do it not the way we want to. God sends His people to do His work – His servants. When we reject God’s power and servants, His work does not get done.

Our daughter and her husband returned from a 13 hour drive this weekend after attending the funeral of Scott’s grandfather, ready to hit the bed and sleep bit, when they found their house house flooded! A pipe had burst, flooding bedrooms, bathroom, and hallway, and who knows where else as they have not yet uncovered the whole area. Please pray for them as they deal with the clean up and insurance company.

S Texas Spring

This past week has been wonderful weather – not hot and always a cool breeze. Sunny and warm – not like the huge snowstorms happening in the Northern part of our country. Record amounts of snow and still snowing. I really do not miss that at all. The growing season here in S Texas seems backwards to me - the opposite of what it was in either WI or AR. Harvesting of onions, broccoli, cilantro, cabbage, etc. is happening now.  Some fields are already planted with summer crops.

It always amazes me how awesome God works – a person just cannot out due Him. This past week we received a huge amount of clothing which I planned on sorting through plus the food the Winter Texans have left (yes – there are a few of them left here yet). We than received a call from another chaplain who knew of a ministry that God ended -those who took food to Mexico were cautioned by God to not continue with this dangerous travel in Mexico. The missionaries had beans, and animal crackers left and did not know what to do with them. We went to pick this all up – lots of beans, over 80# of animal crackers and some awesome crocheted hats and scarves for children. As it rained on Tuesday (a wonderful all day soft rain) Fred and I figured we would sort clothed and pack animal crackers. Needless to say, we worked all day on it!!! Some of the beans (they were already packaged – yes, thank you Lord!) animal crackers, and canned goods went to the new colonia area that Ida has tried to serve. So along with what we had already donated, this all was a great help. This particular colonia area has mostly older folks in it – so anything we can provide is helpful. Any of the leftover produce from our regular distribution also goes to them. We probably cannot provide for them always, but with the help of others, we can help them out – in their case a chance to have the few extras that they cannot afford. After the rain was finished for the day, even the birds were singing with joy and we could almost hear the flowers, trees, and grass sighing with pleasure.

Thing are very quiet here in the Valley now – with the Winter Texans mostly gone the roads are less crowded, the stores are easy to get into, shop, and get out quickly. We do love our winter guests, but it makes life a bit more complicated when they are here.

I am having a terrible time trying to connect to the internet with my phone. Everything was wonderful – quick connectivity, able to search and access web sites easily, then all of a sudden, I keep getting the message that “this page cannot be found”? What is that all about. So, I will have to go to the T Mobile store to see if they can figure it out. It was not a gradual thing – just boom and all sorts of trouble. So, if I do not get this blog published on time – well this is my excuse!!

This is the second week of the new church schedule – not sure if I really like it or not – we go to Sunday School but have to leave early in order to get to the church service on time.  Guess they are trying out the new schedule until the end of May to see if it works and how folks are accepting it. It is usually 12 noon before we are finished with Sunday services. The reasoning for the change in schedule is to allow families who want to attend the contemporary service to be able to get their kids ready and to church on time – although it really does not seem as if there are any new families at the service yet.

The message remains the same though – hearing the word of God. We continued our sermon series this morning on being courageous in our Christian life. Courageous faith is facing ourselves. Mirrors make us look like we were intended to look. You may think all is good and you look great, then you look in a mirror and are shocked t see what you really look like. I know I realize this when I see pictures of myself. Really now – do I honestly look like that?? We don’t like mirrors because they reflect back our true appearances. That’s self-reflection. Are you ever alone in a quiet place to reflect where you are with God? Perhaps the answer may be frightening – you see shame, guilt, pain, any number of things. These are the times when life confronts us with self- doubt. Is our faith strong enough to see us through? We cry out to God to rescue us. Sometimes when God reaches out to help us, we are afraid. The worse we are or seem to be the better God looks to us. Our insecurities highlight God’s security. Being courageous is to have fears and to go ahead and do it anyway.  Having a courageous faith is to face ourselves with a challenge of faith.

Mind Changing Weather

How can the weather change so drastically? Yesterday we were in the high 80’s with a beautiful breeze (actually some high winds) and this morning it was 50 degrees. It certainly presents a challenge – what to wear today – shorts or a jacket?? It seems that all this weather change this past winter has affected the residents by making them a bit more touchy.

Last evening, we went to the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan Del Valle with friends as they had never been there before. It is a beautiful shrine to Our Lady of San Juan. The church itself is magnificent with   mariachi band for services. I realized how very much different the current Catholic service is from the one I was raised in – although the pageantry and liturgical part of it is still there, including the incense. The smell of the incense brings back memories of long ago church services in Chicago – the nuns, the priests, and the sense of awe at attending church services in Latin. I tried to google the church and school we attended at kids, but found out that the church, rectory, and convent had been razed to make space for a “green area” for the students. It was a huge complex, beautiful church and buildings. I guess things never remain the same except in our minds.

We still have a few folks left here in the park, as well as the few Canadians that stop along the way, coming from the Cancun area and taking a break before heading back to Canada. I suppose they are trying to avoid the bad weather as the head North.

It seems that as the produce slows down this time of year, our supply narrows down as we try to keep the people in the colonias in fresh produce for the coming week. But no matter how meager the supply is, there always seems to be enough. We get many donations from those heading back North (for some reason Winter Texans go to Cosco and buy huge amounts of non-perishable items and then do not use them as they spend time in the Valley). It is truly a blessing as we repackage these foods in to smaller packages for distribution. We are still in the fund-raising mode to be able to raise the funds in order to close in the patio area of the distribution building as well as dry wall the existing building. It serves its purpose as it now stands, but adding those improvements would be a huge asset to the ministry of serving others. Caring Hearts Ministry continues to grow as we pray about adopting another area of colonias, this one being communities of older residents – those who cannot work and are on a very limited income, much in need of help. We ask for prayer as to how we can help these folks, also to bring others to assist us, those we can trust and rely on. God is good and will answer our prayers in His timing – but patience is not one of my best virtues.

We received a box of these weird looking things with our produce on Friday - what is it - a fruit, a vegetable, what???

after research and many questions it is determined that this is the bulb of a bnana tree - all those weird looking sprouts are bananas - strange

Church services were very strange this morning as we attended our regular service at a different time Changes are being made as the new sanctuary is now in use – we are still in the older sanctuary with the contemporary service, except at later time to accommodate those who have children and cannot make the earlier service. Guess we are really set in our ways, as we do hate change. There will be a trial period of 2 months to see how it will works out – the only problem is that we would have to leave Sunday School classed earlier to make the service on time – AND we perhaps would not get to sit in OUR pew!!! Are we not all creatures of habit??? There were a few changes in the set up of the service – it almost felt like we were starting over again – I suppose we were in a sense. The message remains the same though. This morning we were challenged to face God courageously. Courageous is defined as doing something that frightens us. Do you talk to God – I mean really talk to Him, not just “thank you” and then present your petitions? God wants to hear our inner thoughts – our fears, hurts, and desires. Pour out your hearts to Him – tell Him what you really fear – are you afraid of failing, are you afraid that following Him will drastically change your life and you are afraid of that change? Courage is facing God – sharing honestly how you are feeling. Courage is hearing the hard word of God and following it – no matter how difficult it sounds. Always share your hurt with Him, but also share your joy. If you can not be honest with God, how can you be honest with yourself?

Easter Celebration

Easter Sunday – a day we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. Can you even imagine what Mary and the disciples thought when they saw the stone rolled away, the empty tomb, the body of their Lord gone!! He told them it would happen and still they did not believe until he reappeared to them .

We celebrate this day as a new beginning – a time to start over and perhaps get it right this time. It was a bright and beautiful morning as we celebrated with many others in our morning service with a cantata and songs of worship, praise, and thankfulness. I do miss the early morning sunrise services in Prairie Grove at the Battlefield Park with the sun rising in the East as we sang praises to the Lord. Some mornings it was warm and comfortable, and others it was a bit chilly. There is something about worshipping as the sun rises – a feeling of hope and redemption.

We went to see the move “I Can Only Imagine” yesterday with friends.  It was the first time in a long time we went to a theater – such a difference from years ago!! Reclining seats, huge screens, surround sound. Remember going to a movie for 10 cents, having a quarter to buy popcorn, candy, and a soda???

My parents owned a local café in small Wisconsin town where they advertised the two movie theaters in town. As a thank you for advertising in their window, we received 2 free passes a week – I think I saw almost every show that came out in the late 50’s, except “Rebel Without a Cause”, as I was forbidden to see it. Maybe my parents thought it would be a bad influence on me?? The highlight of the whole movie experience was to have the reel break, and having to wait for it to be spliced together so the show could go on. What fun. If you get a chance to see “I Can Only Imagine”, please try to go see it. A powerful movie about forgiveness.

My amaryllis is in full bloom – the flowers are huge this year. I would take pictures of it, but for some reason I cannot post pictures. Sometimes technology frustrates me. The Easter lilies in the park have not bloomed yet – they are I fully budded out and ready to burst open.

We are so very thankful for all of the Winter Texans who are returning home- they donate their leftover food for Caring Hearts Ministry. We make packages of flour, sugar, pancake mix, etc. (from half used bags the folks do not want to take back North with them). We package cereal, oatmeal, and other items so that we ca distribute them to the colonias. There are so any items that are useable – snacks, crackers, unopened bottles of condiments, juices, peanut butter, and so on. We also receive many used clothing items as Snow Birds clean out their closets. All of the donated items are so very welcome – sometimes the colonia residents receive items they never had the opportunity to buy for themselves. Now as the produce slows down for a month or so and the kiddos are going to be home from school, all of the additional items are so very much appreciated. We also have beans, rice, and packaged individual meals of beans, lentils, and dried veggies that we have stored for these lean times. We often pray for enough for everyone, and regardless of what we receive, there is always enough every Friday. God is so good – He provides.

Please continue to pray for God’s Worthy Women, as a new leadership team is taking over – pray for the perfect place for our retreat next February, and that many souls will be reached. We are also in the early planning stages of a retreat in Arizona with our chaplains who serve there in the winter. Pray for plans to develop so we can reach ladies in that area. We had been talking about this for a few years, praying for someone to take the lead there, and we are cautiously proceeding – waiting for God’s will to be done in that area.

Have a wonderful week as we enjoy spring weather, more sunshine, and longer days. Pray for those in storm’s way, and for warming weather in the colder climates.

Let this Easter season be a new beginning for all of you -