So Proud!

I´m so proud of the men in my church! Really! We had a terrific service today! And, it was FUN! Three of them shared the sermon time....with short messages. They did such a good job. We were all blessed and there was meat in the messages, especially for the fathers. I am so excited when I see leaders emerging from the congregation. I know that if we have several strong leaders in the church, the future of the church is secure. We laughed a lot too and we need to do that in the church family just as we need to cry together. We had two first time visitors, two visitors returning for the second time and one man who used to come regularly but hasn't been in church now for years. I am thankful for every visitor we have....and super excited as they start coming back! Thank God for meeting with us one more time in a unique and blessed way!

...pretty stressed.......

Well, I am less than one week from leaving on a trip to Illinois/Wisconsin....and there is so much to do!! We are having a church fundraiser....gift baskets for Fathers´ Day. I am making chocolate peanut clusters today and we put the baskets together on Friday morning. We are planning a special Fathers' Day service including a dinner--I am baking cakes for that. And, of course, I have to plan for the service. Then, I still have a scrapbook to finish up for a door prize for our Roen family reunion...and the new address books to finish printing and stapling. I have to get all the food, etc ready for the cats and dogs, show the girls who are cat-sitting what they need to do, and get Chiquita to the kennel. Of course, I have to pack....and I always take lots and lots of stuff with me--don't know why. LOL! And, I have to work in the yard some more, clean the back porch, and clean the house. I have 5 1/2 days to get all that done. Yes, I am feeling pretty stressed right now! The one good thing is that I will get it done.....I always do!

A Great Sunday Service

This morning, we had a great service at Nueva Vida. Why? Well, first of all, the Presence of God was there to meet with us! Then, a family who had been missing services for a few Sundays walked in--all 6 of them. One of the little girls who came to Sunday School years back, came for a visit. A family who has been coming less than two months entered into our praise and worship with all their hearts. A darling visitor brought a plastic grocery bag with coins to add to our missions offering. ( We collect all our pocket change each Sunday and then use it for missions projects. No, we don't believe that missions are ONLY worth our pocket change!) Her generosity will not go unnoticed by God. A preK...now going to be a K student...whose family is so faithful, such good leaders, a blessing to the church.....brought her own offering envelope and wanted to be sure that she could place it in the offering plate herself. The brother who opened the service with scripture chose just the right verse--just one verse, but powerful! The praise and worship team were awesome, choosing just the right songs for today! They are always awesome...so can I say that they were awesome-r than usual? I guess more awesome is the correct way to say it! It was so easy to preach the sermon I had prepared to hearts that were hungry and receptive. And, last of all and most important of all, the Presence of God was there with us. Thank you, Jesus, for a great Sunday service!!!!

Good Quote

Be patient with yourself and others. There are no shortcuts to spirituality. Growing fruit takes time. --author unknown

Happy Birthday, Opie Morales!

Opie is celebrating his fourth birthday today! We had baked chicken breast and mashed potates with ice cream for dessert for a special meal. He was so willing to pose for pictures on the sofa.....in fact, he didn't want to stop posing!!!! We will be going to Reynosa next week so he can see his Dad, Carolino and his sister, Carola, our friends, Lupita, Mariela, Melissa and their lab, Galileo, and of course Opie's favorite vet!!!

Opie is such a joy to have around as company. He is so faithful and often very comical. He entertains me a lot! He has never chewed on shoes or been destructive in the house. ....well, he did get into toilet paper, tore it in little bits, rolled in it and looked like a backwards Dalmation....little with white spots on a black coat! And between Opie and his Mom Maxie (who we still miss a lot), they chewed up several quilts and pillows. Oh, yes, and once, after I had given him a bath, he got into the dirt around the rosebushes. I had just watered them. He came out of that experience with spiked hair! I was really disgusted with him....or it would have been hilarious.

So, happy birthday, Opie!!!!! I want to have you with me for a long, long time!!!!

More about the peach

My little peach is down on the ground! I so loved looking at it as it hung on the tree. In fact, there were even two more little peaches. As I looked for the missing peach.....I saw a bird come and tear the flesh of the peach and eat it. Then, I found the one I had been watching, a little bruised and hidden in the grass.

John 12:24 says "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." Hmm..... trees heavy with fruit are beautiful but the fruit must be picked and consumed for it to be profitable. The little peach must stop just looking pretty and be torn, bruised, hidden, consumed for it to be profitable and to bring forth more fruit. The seed has to be exposed--not the prettiest part of the peach, by the way--and then buried or hidden away to bring forth more peaches.

Do we want to just "look pretty", on display? Or are we willing to be hurt, bruised, torn, broken, consumed, hidden away in order to see more fruit come forth?

Thank you, little peach! And thank you, God! I think I got the lesson this week!! I want my life to have profitable, living-giving fruit!!!

A Storm and A Peach

Last night, we had a terrible storm.....thunder/lightning/WIND/rain/lots of rain and some hail. The wind made a big mess of our yard and the rain made it look like the aftermath of a hurricane. I had damage to the roof of my laundry room and the cover for the water heater vent flew off. That means that we had water in the laundry room and I had to turn the water heater off. The cats and Chiquita outside on the covered porch got wet.....water ran across the floor of the porch and some blew in through the screen windows. The street was flooded from curb to curb for a couple of hours.And we had no electricity for about 2 hours. Generally speaking, it was a mess.

About 3 a.m., I went out on the porch and could see a clear sky and lots of twinkling stars. How quickly the storm passes! How easily we can forget it fury!

And, this morning as I looked out at a messy yard, I saw a brave peach hanging on my little peach tree. A blessing of FRUIT after the STORM. May that be true of our spiritual lives as well. When the storms of life pass, may they leave behind precious fruit.