Busy week

What a busy week for us. It started out with our Sunday church service, then our Sunday School class.  We are JOY (Just Over Youth) so we share knowledge with many Senior Saints. Studying God's word together
brings many surprises as we share thoughts, ideas and questions as we study the book of Esphesians. Later that day we attended our small group Bible study. This study also includes fellowship time with a family providing the feast for the the day. We were blessed with smoked brisket, smoked salmon, (absolutely wonderful) a huge mixed veggie salad,and a fruit compote dessert. We finished our study of the  Jewish Torah in relation to our beliefs of today.  I work at a local resale shop, and found wonderful prizes - a book about the Manners and Customs of Bible Lands as well as a Jewish Study Bible!!! Was God there with me at that time??? It certainly seems so, as these two books fit right into our study. Reading about the customs and manners of Bible lands sheds light on so much of the Bible - why certain phrases are used in relation to the cultural habits  during that period. The study Bible I hope to read this year, comparing it to our Bible, and trying to figure out basic difference.

Tuesday, I had two yearly medical tests (which has finally ended my yearly physical exams) and all are pronounced "Normal". Praise the Lord and thanks to Him for good health.

On Wednesday, I attend a class that a nutritionist friend is giving for ladies with limited income, and asked me to attend for additional moral support.  It is based on food in it's relation with the Bible and is a 5 week program. This was our fourth session, with emphasis on Biblical rules for eating, as well as many hints on how to eat healthfully and well as economically.  I really love this class, and the fact that a friend teaches it, encourages me to attend to as I receive many blessings from all the ladies present, remembering that there are so many cultural differences that we should be concerned with.  It is sometimes difficult for me to relate to a Katrina refugee, or a grandmother who has to raise her grandchildren , thus still having to work, or a single mother trying to support her family alone. Yet all of these ladies still praise God for all they have, willing to share with us.

Friday I attended a Ms. *Senior* ( I deleted the name of the Rehab/nursing home for sense of privacy) pageant where our daughter is personnel director. It was amazing beautiful, as eight ladies were presented to us, all dressed in their elegant clothes and perfectly arranged hair style and make-up. These ladies were accompanied by two male CNA employees, who gave up their Friday time off to escort these ladies in all their finery.  After answering questions about themselves, what their greatest accomplishment was, and their families, the three judges began to judge them, while the granddaughter of an employee sang the theme song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". A question to one of the ladies was "did your children misbehave or fight when they were younger?", was answered by "no". Asked why, she replied "I had the flyswatter" How I wish we could return to the time when children honored their father and mother, just knowing that misbehavior was to be immediately reprimanded. The ladies age were from 52-100- what a wide range. I wanted pictures of the participants and new reigning queen, but my camera decided to run out of battery power  - I put in what I thought was new batteries only to discover that that too were dead! I did get a few pictures, but due to privacy issues, cannot post them.

The two young gentlemen who gave up their morning off to escort the contestants - aren't they wonderful?  (I must add that the one on the left is my oldest grandson, Seth, the other is his long time friend and roommate, Jonathon). Boys to be proud of.

Early this morning I attended an orientation for a prison ministry that I am going to be involved in here in Washington County. I probably will not start this ministry this year, as we soon will be leaving here for South Texas. After attending the retreat last Saturday, I feel that this is where God is leading me while we are here in Arkansas. After being treated to a breakfast at the Correctional facility, we were given information on volunteer does and don'ts - so many that it is difficult to try to think like a person who is incarcerated with no outside freedoms. I must remember that their rules are there for a reason, and not for me to ask why????  The end result is the optimum. Is that not how our life here on earth is??? God is in control of our lives and is the final reward if we follow rules.

As I was busy with all these things this week, Fred was busy with the food ministry he is involved in, feeding about 12000+ people a month. He also started preparing the car for our trip to South Texas at the end of this month for the winter, where we are chaplains for Children's Haven International. We look forward to renewing friendships and ministering to those in Texas and Mexico.

Prison to Purpose Retreat

Yesterday, Sally Maloney, Ora Cowan, Connie Costa, and myself along with about 300 area ladies attended a Becoming a Woman of the Word retreat, sponsored by the Prison to Purpose ministry. What a blessing to see so many Christian women coming together to explore the reality of God in our lives. No  matter what happens in our earthly lives, we can be assured that God's Word is there forever, with a promise of eternal life with Him.

Chaplain Kenneth DeWitt, from the McPherson Women's Correctional Facility in Arkansas conducted 3 sessions, based on sin, righteousness, and judgement. Chaplain DeWitt is a powerful, persuasive, and passionate teacher as well as a pastor, husband, and father of 8. He has trained hundreds of women inmates in understanding the Word of God, in order to turn their lives around and have a purpose for living. His own personal testimony was truly awesome to hear - and to see how God has worked in his life to bring him to where he is today.

Stacey Smith is the co-founder of the Prison to Purpose ministry, after being incarcerated for 12 years, becoming transformed by a Christian based program (PAL) for inmates. She too, has turned her life around after an early release granted by Govenor Huckabee ( her original sentence was 60 years for a drug charge). God's saving grace helped her to minister to other inmates, allowing them to understand God's wonderful  gift of forgiveness. "And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is by law, but the righteousness which is of God by faith". (Phillipians 3:9)

The testimonies of the women who were saved by God's grace were so amazing to hear - women whose lives were destroyed by their crimes and unbelief  - who now have hope for eternal life because their belief and newly found faith. We do not have to be physically inprisioned, we are sometimes bound by the bars of our human reasoning. We all need the Word of God to free us from that bondage, to be totally free in His love, wisdom,  and understanding. There is a great difference in believing in God and  believing God.  I hope that each and every lady who attendied the retreat came home with a new perspective of obeying God's word (being submissive) and applying it to our daily lives.  Are we submissive to God's will only if it fits into our will?? Or is it all about God and not ourselves?

Sally and I just pray that our God's Worthy Women retreat in the Valley in February will prove be be a huge impact on those attending. Will we eventually reach 300 women?? The question should be "Will God eventually reach 300 women through our following of His will?". Pray that we find the perfect speaker, one who will help all of our participents come away with the same sense of God's perfect will and understanding of His Word in our lives as we did yesterday.



 

Rain

After many days of scorching hot days, we have been blessed with a few days of wonderful cool rain. The trees, hay, and lawn just slurped it up, leaving spots of green where brown once was. I often wonder what the earth was before the days of Noah when there was no rain?? How his neighbors thought he was really crazy to build an ark (who knew what rain even was)??? But Noah was an obedient man, God saw how corrupt the earth was, and decided to put an end to it all. Because Noah was a righteous man and walked with God, God chose to save Noah and his family. And because Noah was obedient, he offered  sacrifices to the Lord after the flood. Then God gave a covenant between Noah and every living creature that He would never destroy the earth by flood again - His sign of the covenant was the rainbow.  Everyone knows this story, but did you know that at that time God gave man permission to eat meat? How many times had I read this story and not even picked up on that piece of information. The Lord is looking down at our earth today, and I wonder if He is sad as He views the corruption??

Why did he not forget the chiggers?

Last Friday, we went to Branson to meet with a clock repair gentleman, bringing along with us 2 cuckoo clocks, and two old mantle clocks. We were pleased to hear that the cuckoo clocks could be repaired and possibly the mantle clocks. One of the mantle clocks belonged to Fred's great-grandparents, brought over from Germany. What fun if it will be to again ghear the clock chime the hour in a Preuss household!! While we were there we visited with Chaplain Dennis and Sally Maloney. Dennis is our chaplain in Texas at Alamo Rec Veh Park as well as General Director of CRM. Sally is just absolutely wonderful and a joy to spend time with!!! In just a couple of months, we will all be together again in Texas, along with other CRM chaplains. Cannot wait to see them all again. Saturday Sally and I are attending a women's Prison to Purpose conference in Rogers, Arkansas - " Becoming a Woman of the Word". We are still looking for a speaker for our God's Worthy Woman conference in Texas in February. Please pray that God leads us to the perfect person.

I have put my application in to Washington County Corrections to become part of the Prison Ministry, ministering to women who are incarcerated here. I don't imagine that I will begin this year, as we leave shortly for Texas, but in anticipation for next spring.  I am a bit nervous about this, but feel that this is the direction God is leading me while we are in Arkansas.

Growing up in Chicago as an Italian Catholic kid, I still have vivid memories of the interesting things we often saw and did. The candy store was half way home on our after school walk. There was so much to choose from for just a penny. What luck if I were to find a penny someone had dropped. To this day I am always checking the sidewalk for lost change! The boys always wandered around, laughing and shoving, buying all they could for a penny. I was one of the few girls there- the rest had gone quietly home to play with their paper dolls and study their numbers for the good Sisters at St. Angela. I would think and decide what to buy, then change my mind often. I usually bought the candy buttons on a strip - three strips for a penny. The next problem was what colors to choose - blue, pink and yellow, no green please. Sometimes I would spend my penny on a chance to get a gum ball from the machine. If you were lucky you would win one that looked like a baseball. Then you could trade it for a nickel's worth of candy. When you or another kid won it, you immediately became best friends for awhile. A chance to share a few  pennies worth of candy made you day very special. Sometimes I see those candy strips yet today, and it brings back memories of the carefree days of youth.

Hot days and birthdays

The weather is still very hot here in NW Arkansas. The drought is ever so evident as we travel around the area - the fields are brown, leaves are turning brown and falling off the trees, deer are starting to come into towns to search for food, lots of grasshoppers and bugs abound, and gardens are drying up for lack of rain. Many people just stopped watering their lawns and gardens because it is too expensive to water, as well as the fact that the water just evaporates as soon as it hits the air. This drought is prevalent all across the plains, and even into Texas. We did get a short shower last week - you could hear the trees and ground just swallowing as fast as it could to absorb the life saving liquid. I did find these tomatoes in the garden, thriving and ripening despite the effects of the outside conditions.  Just as we do, growing, thriving and ripening with the Living Water,  despite the wordly influences - struggling to survive and flourish regardless of what  others say or do! As Christians, we need to struggle forward, keeping the end victory in mind - eternal life with Jesus.

These tomatoes grew and ripened despite the odds

As I said before, it is sooooooooooooo hot in Texas------

Last week was Fred's 70th birthday, as well as our son-in-law's birthday, just a day apart. On Saturday, our daughters here in Arkansas planned a cook-out, which our excellent grilling/smoking son-in-law presided over. Actually he carefully guarded the cooking process, trying hard not to reveal his secrets of wonderful tasting food.  We were presented with venison burgers, regular hamburgers (seasoned in a special way by our daughter) and brats, cooked  Wisconsin style!!! All topped off with a delicious ice cream cake from DQ.

secret cooking going on

  

it looks absolutely mouth watering.


Notice the pan simmering in back - onions and mushrooms!!!!!

                                            

the final touch - ice cream cake

It was a very relaxing, peaceful day, despite the scorching heat. I had some old pictures that I have been scanning into my computer, so we spent time laughing over them, trying to figure out who some were, and when they were taken. There was one particular picture that I always thought was my sister-in-law with our oldest daughter who was only 2 at the time (she is 49 now!), and after all these years realized that it was me!!! Revelation!!!!! Things that we have always perceived as true sometimes surprisingly turn out to be entirely different. So a lesson was learned - keep an open mind. We left feeling very full indeed - full physically and emotionally - oh - yes - also with 3 pairs of jeans I have to shorten for my grand-daughter. 

Another page in the saga of the Catholic kid in Chicago: We walked 10 city blocks to and from school  every day, regardless of the weather.  Mother did not drive, so we just made the best of it.  After a warm breakfast (sometimes chocolate pudding - Mother thought that was the way to get us to drink milk), we were off. I loved it - to be able to tag along with the boys and listen to them talk and plan the week-end. Those 10 long blocks were an adventure to me. We would hear and see emergency equipment, sirens blaring, screaming past us, sometimes even see the actual accident, drunks and hobos out in the early morning, neighbors fretting and arguing.There were so many colors, languages, and names. Life was pretty simple and intriguing to us at that time. The biggest challenge of the day was to be dismissed from school and get home without committing some sort of sin - one we would have to confess on Friday to Father Dorney (my favorite priest) before we took communion. So many rules - walk in straight lines on the edge of the sidewalk for two blocks so as not to step on the neighbors grass, no talking, no skipping, no noises at all. I usually committed at least 3 sins in one short block. Another rule was no non-Catholic friends - oh how I envied the public school kids on our walk home. Luckily we were beyond the 2 block mark, so we could walk in groups and listen  to the kids from Ella Flagg Young Public School. They seemed so - worldly. They talked loud, laughed often, sometimes swore, ate bologna and mustard sandwiches on Friday and didn't have to confess their sins afterwards! How little did I know that God knew all of our sins, and our confession to Him is part of our obedience and faith.  

To Believe or Not to Believe

Genesis 1:3-5     And God said,"Let there be light", and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God seperated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day............

Genesis 1:5   God called the light Day and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Can you look at creation and not believe? Can you see the wonder of a new born baby and not believe? Can you pray for grace, forgiveness, and good test results, and not really believe when the truth is right there in front of you? I choose to believe. I have really wrestled with this for the past week as how to present Christian belief as so not to offend anyone, and then I thought, "Why should I be politically correct? It is what it is". A friend and I have a mutual friend who is a self proclaimed atheist. This person attends "church" on Sundays - not really a church but a meeting of the mindless minds, where everything is permissable, and you can be whatever you want to and it is OK. This person claims to have read the whole Bible and dismisses it as just a novel and not a very good one at that. But when asked, this person cannot prove Jesus is not God and Savior: that He indeed existed and still exists today. Whenever we are all together, I do not push my ideas and beliefs, but continue to pray before eating (which seems to be very offensive to this person)  praise God for answered prayers, and  thank God for the good things in my life. Just believing in God seems to set this persons nerves on edge. I just calmly go about the way I normally act. We were discussing a movie which featured someone as being demon-possessed  (The Rite). Of course this person would not even acknowledge the existence of the devil ( because that would also justify the existence of God). I pray daily that I can somehow persuade this person (or at least put a seed of Christian belief in their mind) to come to the knowledge that God was, is, and always will be . And that the Bible is the true Word of God. "All Scripture is God-breathed, and is useful for teaching, correcting, and training in righteousness".
2 Timothy 3:16

A few blogs ago I expounded on my early Catholic upbringing.  I certainly was not criticizing any other denomination, but just relating some silly things that happened in my life.  I learned before I was a teen that there were many discrepancies in my religious training, and chose to follow what I believed to be true - the Holy Scripture. Although I was an adult before I was truly saved by the cleansing blood of Jesus. And on that note, I shall continue the saga of the poor little Italian Catholic girl in Chicago.

One of my best friends at the time was an only child; shy and quiet child (imagine that for a friend of mine) who also attended Catholic school with me in the same grade. I clearly remember the first day of kindergarten ( I was only 4 at the time). She cried so very hard at being left at school that she actually threw up on the newly polished school room floor as we all sat Indian style in a circle.  I suppose I remember it so well as she sat right next to me. I can still hear the other uniform clad students (girls with navy blue pleated skirts with straps and white blouses, and boys with tan shirts and dress pants - also ties)  gagging, hollering  Yuk (yes, hollering in the classroom) !!!! while the whole time Sister was trying to instruct us not to DARE follow suit. So much for the first day of school!
I always wanted to 'share" things with the Sisters - like the time I told Sister that my Mommy was sitting on my Daddy's lap, kissing him. I got into trouble for that - Sister reported to my Mother who admonished (very severely as was her manner) me to never, I mean never, repeat what happened at home. Shortly after that, a Sister was sitting on Santa's lap one Christmas!!! I was horrified--- little did I know that Santa was another Sister. It seems strange to me that I remember all of those things, and hardly any of the daily Religious classes we had.

It is still very hot here in NW Arkansas, with very little rain. Most of the people have let their gardens go, not watering them as it seems to do no good. We always stop a a local produce farmette, where the produce is always so wonderful. Everything is very sparse and prices are higher than usual. So we thank God for what we do have, and pray for rain and cooling weather.

A Meadow Wedding

It was our privilege to attend a very moving meadow wedding this Saturday. The bride is the daughter of one of our life group Bible study (small group) and a very Christian young lady. The wedding was in a meadow (yes, a mowed meadow on a very hot July evening).

Direction signs - notice the groom sign!

The theme throughout was sunflowers. The family had planted sunflowers in the field, but because of the extreme heat, none grew, but the country effect was certainly still profound. Guests signed in by inking their finger on a green ink pad,, placing the mark on their wedding tree, and signing their name next to it.

guests sign in

The entire scene was focused on God's wonderful creation and how lucky we are to be a part of it. The guests found their own seating on benches cut from logs, and visited while waiting. We were all supplied with fans to keep cool - on one side was a picture of the couple with a verse from Mark10:8-9.  The other side featured cool redneck jokes to keep us entertained.


mingling guests, cooling fans, natural benches - notice the view in the distance

The bridal procession started in  the lower meadow and wound it's way up to the  natural alter to the sounds of contemporary Christian  music. It was a beautiful, almost mystical experience.

the groom and groomsmen coming up from the lower meadow

followed by the bride's attendants

a serene setting

the bride and her father



isn't she lovely - and look at the sunflowers

 The ceremony itself was very unpretentious as the couple quietly recited their vows to each other while music played.  As the service began, a soft, cool breeze swept through the area for the entire ceremony - perhaps the Holy Spirit giving His consent to this union? The service was God centered with verses from Ephesians.  The couple, Lindsey and David, then took private communion with each other  before being proclaimed husband and wife before the eyes of God and man. They are both very Christian people, raised in Christian homes, with their values focused on God's will for their lives. It was so inspiring to see where God is in their lives and marriage. 

their private communion together



Mr.  and Mrs. David Owen

The newly married couple and attendants then danced ( yes, danced ) for joy back down through the guests and headed to the reception area, which was also on the property - a private home of a family friend. It was an ultra-modern home, with great sweeping areas of stainless steel and aluminum, but still managed to keep the country scheme. The dessert table was covered with dessert provided by our life group, all in clear glass dishes and on pedestals of cut logs - the centerpieces carried out the sunflower theme.

 

view from the reception area

a portion of the reception area



the dessert table - sweet area



snack area -  for those who like salty

centerpieces - candle veggie cans, rye grass in smaller cans, and of course, sunflowers

The couple left almost immediately for a week cruise and then on to Guatemala where they both teach and minister the word of God. I hope I have not bored you with this wedding, but as you can probably tell, it has touched me so much. To see a Christian couple so involved with God's plan for them, incorporating it into their daily lives is so inspiring. God is alive.

After I got home, I was presented with this beautiful Arkansas sunset - God is alive indeed!

                              

Rain!!!!

It finally rained here today after many days of heat and no rain. A person could hear the grass drinking! The birds were taking baths in whatever small amount of water that they could find.
We are busy trying to find a Bible study for our winter Texas volunteer group, although we also want their input. We have such a great group in Pharr for the winter, and hope more decide to join us - great Bible study, fellowship, and food!  We have been praying about what to study - which direction to go, but so far nothing seems to jump out at us. Patience - not one of my best virtues.
Our daughter and her husband here in Arkansas feed the deer in their yard - she got some amazing pictures of recent visitors to their feed lot. And no, they are not going to shoot them!

Aren't they beautiful creatures?

There are so many different denominations in this world today with so many different beliefs and interpretations of the Bible. We all need to pray that we understand what God wants from us, and not rely on the beliefs and doctrines of others. Listen to what is being spoken, think about it, pray, and then go to the Bible to read what is written about it. We need to be strong in what we believe and stick to our convictions.
Growing up in Chicago and going to a Catholic school was a pretty big challenge for me. I loved the nuns, but still feared them. Every single one of them (short, tall, skinny, plump)  had a very skinny and sharp "pointing" finger. They all knew how to use it to poke you if you were misbehaving. My least favorite nun was sister Bernadine - tall, skinny, with a permanent sour expression on her face. It was my luck to have her for two years! My favorite was Sister Bernadette - short, plump, always smiling, never frowning, even acted like she loved children.We attended chapel every day, went to confession every week (which I will talk about in another post), attended church every Sunday, and generally were "good Catholic children". Perhaps I was the exception to the rule. There were rules in the classroom - even in kindergarten.A large slide was actually in our classroom and was part of the recess time for us. The unwritten rules were that when Sister blew the whistle, you were to return to the education area - recess was over. If you were at the top of the slide, you were to return down the ladder - under no circumstances were you to slide down. A lesson in obedience and discipline. (I guess you know where this is leading!) If you committed the sin of actually sliding down the slide after the whistle was blown, you had to walk back up the slide, holding onto the sides and hauling yourself back up. The first time I did not adhere to the rule was a challenge - to see if the nuns would actually make ME walk back up the slide. They did, and with angry instructions about disobeying Sister's and God's will. And of course, it must be confessed to the priest. After that, it was fun trying to outwit the whistle - one eye on the clock and one eye on Sister.
This is just a small sampling of how I was raised for a few years in Christianity - knowing about God but not actually knowing God. We need to be so careful with those who do not have a clue as to salvation - be gentle, not condemning, but just understanding and presenting God's will as it is outlined in the Bible.
I was in a local store the other day - sort of a speciality store. The owner, for some reason, began talking about his former life of marijuana smoking, two divorces, loosing homes, boats, etc. due to a worldly lifestyle. I had not mentioned that I was a chaplain, nor had I verbally told him I was a Christian. He related how he was saved through the grace of Jesus Christ and turned his life around, even falling to his knees and humbling himself before God. We talked about Jesus' saving grace and how thankful he is now where his in his walk. How amazing that we can have a discussion like this, without confronting, condemning, or being "pushy" in our faith.
Be sure to check back for more of my life growing up in  a Catholic Italian family in Chicago in the 40's, in a very diversified neighborhood.