Walking at Sinnissippi Park

It is always special for me to walk with my brother David and sometimes Opie on a bike path at Sinnissippi Park. Especially in the fall, it is beautiful and we enjoy all the colors of the leaves. And, it is fun to walk when it is not so, so hot but yet is not cold either. Thanks to David for always encouraging me to walk and for taking time to go with me. We have a wonderful time together. It seems like I have special activities with members of my family......well, this belongs to David and me.

Sister Time

My sister Jan and I enjoyed one afternoon together. We went to the Apple Orchard and shopped for all kinds of little seasonal goodies as well as apples, pumpkins, and squash! Then we headed to Olive Garden for dinner. Of course, I had Zuppa Toscana!! Our waiter was really interesting. We discovered that he was in college, studying Spanish and planning to be a nurse. He is adopted.....and if I get the details correctly, his biological father is from Colombia and was involved in the drug cartels and his biological mother is from Central America. In the States, he was raised in a Christian home and appears to have a strong faith. That was a really cool experience!!!! And Jan knows the parents of his good friend! We had a great time!!!!

Visiting My Sister, Jan, and her family

Here are some family pictures from our family get-together at my sister's house while I was in Illinois in October.

Meditating

MEDITATING ON THE WORD! OPIE IS A REALLY SPIRITUAL POODLE!!!

Our Back 2 School Service

We had an awesome Back to School service this morning at Nueva Vida in Lasara. The praise and worship was awesome with a quiet but strong Presence of the Lord. We prayed for those with special needs. Then, I gave a message/object lesson for the kids.....some of them were on the edge of their seats, waiting for the "giveaways!" We prayed for all of our children and our teens. And, then we gave them little "goodie bags." Exciting to me was the instant formation of a 5th Sunday School class which will be for the young adults. Thank you, Sis. Susie, for being ready and willing to teach this special group. God is doing marvelous things in our church. Don't miss out on your blessings!!

An Awesome Sunday Service

We had a sweet Presence of the Lord in our service on Sunday morning. Bro David Salazar from the Brownsville UPC ministered. I know that God touched many of us during the altar service.

Blessings as Hurricane Alex approached

As I was preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Alex, I got the call that the license plates for my new Edge were ready to pick up. I decided to make a quick trip to get them before starting to get all my outside things in the storage shed. When the salesman gave me my packet of papers for the Edge, he also handed me a check for $35, an overpayment for title, taxes, license plates. That may not sound so special, but I really needed a little cash to fill up the gas tank and get a few groceries. So, this was a special blessing for me.

But that is not all! As I was getting in the Edge to leave, the salesman asked if I wanted to know what happened to my Freestar. Yes, I loved my Freestar and certainly wanted it to have another good home. He told me that a humble couple with five children came looking for a larger vehicle. They had a small car without enough seatbelts for all the children. My van was just about finished and ready for sale so the salesman showed it to them. They were thrilled at the condition of the van--the excellent condition of the carpet and the seats, the radio and both a/c units working, the electric windows and doors working, etc. They bought it. And, the special part is that they are a Christian family and the salesman was able to tell them a little bit about me! I pray that the Freestar will serve them well....and it is a blessing to know that the new owners do appreciate the van.

So, I had a smile on my face from knowing about my van's new home, gas in the Edge, the items I needed from the grocery store, and some cash in my pocket. God is so good!!!

And Alex brought us a lot of wind and rain, but no damage to my house or to our church or to the homes of our church members. The flooding continues and has been very serious in Monterrey, Mexico as well as Reynosa and along the US side of the border. We are praying for all those who are suffering.

Fathers' Day at Nueva Vida, June 20,2010

We had a terrific Fathers' Day celebration at Nueva Vida. Sis. Susie and Sis. Rosa read scriptures about fathers. After the praise and worship, the children gave their fathers (as well as all the other fathers in the church) gold trophies filled with candy! Then we had a time of sharing about our fathers, a short message, and then prayer for the fathers. Yes, there were also some special gifts as "door prizes". And, then we had a typical Nueva Vida style dinner and lots of fellowship. What a great day!!

A special "thank you" goes to Sis Tammy and Silvia who helped her for working so hard with the children. And to all the cooks: Sis Diana, Sis Delia, Sis Olga, Sis Alma, Sis Norma, Sis Susan--you really outdid yourselves. Thanks to all the others who helped with the meal: Sis Tammy, Sis Susie, Sis Aida, Sis Nicole! We could never do these events without your help. And during the week, the men worked at church too so thanks to Bro Ventura, Bro Balde, Bro Roman for working on the platform, doing painting, having the lawn looking great. You see, we really need all our fathers!!!

Learning New Things

These days my mind and my fingers are being challenged. I have a new laptop. The keyboard is in English, it has Windows 7, and a touch pad instead of a trusty mouse. That is a whole lot of change for my brain to accomodate. My PC has a Spanish keyboard, Windows Vista, and yes, a nice gray mouse! And if that is not enough, my new Edge has the shift on the floor between the driver and the passenger seats.....I have had the shift on the steering wheel for too many years to count. I am always reaching in the wrong place when I want to shift. And then there are the whistles and bells. Actually, the Edge has little beeps when I back it up and get close to something else. It also has little magnifying side mirrors that almost make me dizzy if I pay attention to them! Then I am also trying to perfect my texting skills.....another kind of keyboard and a different way of sending and seeing messages, not to mention some other beeps and rings to tell me what is happening. Please be a little patient with me.......I want to learn to use Skype too!!!!! Well, back to practicing....or am I playing with my new toys?

Happy Fifth Birthday to Opie!!!

Today Opie celebrates his 5th birthday!!! He has ordered CHICKEN and a VANILLA CUPCAKE for his birthday dinner. Opie is a really special friend! I told him that I bought him a new vehicle today.....but he wasn't nearly as impressed as he was when I started fixing his chicken and rice!! I hope Opie has a great year......and many more.

Welcome to my new Edge

Welcome to my 2010 White Ford Edge. I checked out a number of models and decided that this is the one I want to spend the next few years driving! It looks so pretty and smells so new! And, I am still kind of afraid to drive it!! It will take me a little time to get used to my Edge. I am so thankful to Jon and Dad for giving me some good advice and thankful to God for allowing me to make this purchase!! I am praying that God will protect me and use this vehicle in ways that will bless others. I think you will be hearing more about my Edge in the next few years!

Good-bye to my Freestar

Today, I tearfully said "good bye" to a faithful companion! I owned my 2004 Freestar mini-van for 6 years 4 months and 2 days! I drove it 113, 720 miles. We spent hours on the Pharr/Reynosa International bridge! We traveled to Illinois to visit the family. And, it served me so well as I moved all my belongings from Reynosa to Raymondville. Only once did it leave me stranded.....on the highway in Little Rock last fall when the transmission went out. We took people to church and on errands! Opie and Chiquita as well as the cats have traveled to the vet in the Freestar....in fact, Opie thought he was a permanent front-seat passenger. I really liked my Freestar and though I have moved on to a pretty, new vehicle, I will miss my van. Thank you, faithful Freestar for all your great service! Many memories remain with you!

Our Church Graduates

On Sunday, June 6th, we celebrated the graduation of 7 of our Nueva Vida family. Aliyah, Tony, Francisco Daniel, Karissa and Arturo Jr. graduated from kindergarten. And, Kayla and David graduated from 8th grade. We recognized them in our service. Our desire for these young people is that they live close to God, stay away from things that will hurt their lives, and that they may be richly blessed by God. Following church, we enjoyed a reception with cookies and punch! It was a sweet, special time!!

Things are even worse!

After posting all the problems with purchasing food, I heard on the news a new discovery! The wooden and plastic pallets used for shipping food also contain DANGEROUS stuff. Maybe I should just go on a forever fast!

Grocery shopping list.....

The end of the month is here.....and my cupboards and refrigerator are getting empty. It must be time to make a grocery list. I really would like to eat healthy so...

• meat is out because of the hormones used to raise it and the cholesteral
• canned goods can have contaminents due to the tin cans and preservatives
• processed foods have too much salt, sugar, and preservatives
• drinks have caffiene and even sugar substitutes are bad for me
• organic and natural may not really mean they are THAT organic and THAT natural
• fresh vegetables and fruits may have pesticides
• there are recalls on food with e-coli and other horrible stuff
• and what are those ingredients that have very long, unpronounceable names?...must be bad
• everything else has too many calories

Well, I guess I don't need any groceries after all.........

Tribute to Carolino

Remembering Carolino, Opie's Dad

Today, Opie and I are remembering his Dad, Carolino. Carolino was about 10 years old and he passed away last Saturday, May 15, 2010. Maxie, his wife and Opie's Mom, died in September of 2008. They had a real wedding with a wedding gown and tuxedo and a delicious wedding cake. For poodles, it was instant love. They really liked being together whenever I would bring Maxie over to visit Carolino. He was a loving father and Opie has many of his traits. Just like his Dad, Opie likes to lean his nose on most anything as in the first picture. He was a faithful pet for Rossy and Domi and a wonderful father to Carola, Opie's sister who lives with them. It is sad to think of not having Carolino around any more......we do get a little comfort thinking he is with Maxie (and Chula, Blackie, Lobo, and a few more of his friends) in the special pet cemetery behind the church in Reynosa. So today, we pay tribute to Carolino, Opie's Dad and my "son in law."

Chaser

Well, Opie had quite a day. In fact, we changed his name to CHASER. He started this morning by chasing the neighbors' cat, Jo-Jo, out of our yard and over the fence. Then, he went after two stray dogs.....Opie on our side of the fence and the dogs on the other side. He was BIG STUFF and they totally ignored him. Then, he tried to catch some big blackbirds. He charged across the porch and came to a screeching hault at the very edge. The birds had already flown away. But the best was kept for last. He spent the evening chasing lizards. There were several on our sidewalk and driveway. He would run really fast....and then look bewildered as he couldn't find lizards anywhere. So, now I have a black poodle named CHASER instead of Opie......or maybe he should be SNOOZER since he is now sound asleep. I guess he did too much chasing!!!

"Always Write Your Plans in Pencil"

I was so blessed and challenged by this devotional that I have included a few excerpts. It is written by Len Allen, an author, and I found it in Crosswalk Daily Updates.

" As we walk through our lives we should definitely make our plans, make our lists, but we should write those plans in pencil--so that as God leads us through the daily details and reveals His desires, we can easily make adjustments. Just erase that next item and pencil in a new plan based upon how the Lord is leading."

"Changing the plans of life when written in pencil is much less stressful than when we cling to our list of goals as if they were written in permanent marker."

Mothers´ Day, 2010

This morning, we celebrated Mothers' Day with a special service. After our praise and worship time, the musicians played and sang the traditional serenade, "Las Mañanitas". Then after a little message on Titus 2:3, 4, and 5, our children did a little skit showing the many roles a mother has to play. The kids were so cute. The last child represented mothers as prayer warriors and we presented the mothers with CDs with scriptures recorded on them. We prayed for our mothers.....and of course, had some special prizes to give them.

A special part of our service was having Bro. Alberto able to attend the service! Please continue to pray for him and for his family that their faith may remain strong as he battles cancer.

And during the past week, we have been in construction.....again.....! This time we are adding a porch for our fire exit, railings on two other porches and a closet off of my office. We are praying for angels to surround our church building and for God to protect it!