Mistakes

Early this morning Bob went off with two friends to play golf. We had special coupons featuring 18 holes, a cart, a bucket of range balls and a hamburger. The mistakes were playing the holes, and misleading himself by hitting the bucket of balls. He also made a mistake in eating all of the huge hamburger.
Evelyn was off to shop in McAllen where she sensibly did not play golf or eat her entire lunch. The afternoon was spent preparing things for tomorrow's Sun Bowl party. We also are in prayer for the victims of the tsunomi. There was also some time spent in practicing Sunday's sermon and selecting hymns for the next week. Fortunately, not all day was spent in mistakes. A smart individual would never play golf again, but no one has ever accused me of being smart.

Gorgeous day

We enjoyed temperature in the 70s with plenty of sunshine. After exercising, we had a leisurely day. Evelyn went to a local nursery and came home with six tomato plants and a free poinsettia. She wanted some advice on what to do with some of the plants damaged in the freezing rain over the Christmas weekend. We cut many plants back and planted the tomatoes in pots because cold weather may return next week. We can move the plants inside if so. In the evening we invited a widowed friend for turkey soup. I worked on the sermon for Sunday's marathon: three services before noon. Reruns on TV allowed me some time to catch up on my daily Bible reading. The holidays have me ten days behind.

Sunday

We had a glorious worship on the second day of Christmas. We enjoyed a beautiful day of sunshine. We decided to go ballroom dancing at another park nearby in the afternoon. After visiting some friends, we came home and watched TV while working on our indoor fence. Last year we attached six split cedar posts (about 4 inches in diameter) to our Texas room wall. Last night we used my new laser level to draw lines on the wall to represent a barbed wire fence. We then used washable markers to draw the wire and the barbs on them. We didn't finish but are sure it will look quite good for our Sun Bowl party next Friday. We also thank God that we had only periodic power outages last Friday night. We learned that some parks in our area were without power for 14 hours.

What are we dreaming of?

Whoever in the Valley was dreaming of a white Christmas can stop now. We had 2-3 inches of snow--the first since 1895. We had a lovely scene for several reasons, not the least of which was that it would all be gone by 3:00. We did have another night of freezing temperatures, ruining our poinsettas. The freezing rain was too heavy for them.
We had a delicious Christmas dinner in the hall with 150 other people. Tables are established of around 16 each. The turkey was some of the best I have ever had. Thanks, Evelyn. After dinner we took a walk to settle our food and then settled in for the night. After hearing the prediction, I called a friend in Kansas, and we decided it might be safer for him if I turned off the water supply to his mobile. I did this while Evelyn watched "Addicted to Love". We retired a bit early so we would be rested for worship Sunday. This day certainly felt like Sunday to me.

Who called for winter?

What a blessing that we went to Mexico yesterday! Today has been rainy, sleety, and snowy. Many roads were closed this evening. This morning we received the turkey we are preparing for tomorrow's dinner in the park. Sixteen or more people will eat at our table. We were in charge of cooking the turkey and gravy, but everyone else brings a dish for the table. We put the turkey in the oven for five hours. While preparing, a friend called with chest pains and wanted me to take him to the McAllen Heart Hospital. After going to his house we all agreed he should call EMS which took him to the local hospital. This afternoon we attended the vesper service at the park and then went to church in Mercedes where we sang with the choir and played some bells. It was great to come into our mobile where it is warm. We thank God for the gift He gave us so many centuries ago and reminds us of each year. If anyone reads this, have a blessed Christmas season.

Mexico

Wednesday was a normal day of expectation. I took Evelyn to Knapp for her volunteer stint and completed an application for me to volunteer too. I won't have an interview until the coordinator returns after the holidays. I returned to the park, exercised and cleaned up. I surprised Evelyn when I picked her up with a lobster stuffed crab cake from Long John Silvers for her lunch. I finished the delicious charro beans from Sunday night's choir dinner. We both loved our lunch. We took a nap and then took eight bags of gifts that a friend from church had brought to our house to the accumulation point for Friday's trip to a colonia in Mexico. The expectation part was for the trip and the predicted cold weather we would get that evening. When we awakened Thursday, we went into the frio outdoors to the exercise room. After I finished, I went to the hall for coffee but ran into the gift coordinator who had decided to take the gifts and food today because of the predicted rain and cold for tomorrow. So we rushed home to shower and dress warmer for the trip. The people from our park who were going met and loaded ten vehicles with clothes and toys. Three other vehicles carried food and fruit and off we went to Mexico. We drove through the border town, down a levee dirt road, and into an area of shacks where more than seventy families lived. We spread large sheets of plastic on the ground and emptied many boxes of clothes on to them. Grateful people came to select what would fit and took them home. They were very orderly and polite. One elderly man who spoke good English (he had been a migrant worker in many areas of the states when younger) gave us directions and translated for many people. The children flocked to the Santa car holding the candy and some toys. This colonia was surprisingly well organized. There was no grass, but each "yard" was clean of trash and many had flowers and trees that had been planted. Almost every property had a fence of either barbed wire or just fence posts prepared for some wire. Fences are very important to the people of Mexico. We tried to assure each one that "Cristo te Ama" (Jesus loves you). After many hugs and smiles, we returned to Weslaco praying prayers of thanks to Christ for allowing us to be the givers, not the receivers. We shopped a bit and then invited a widowed friend from Manitoba for chili soup. It is now quite cold and will stay that way until after Christmas. We will be cold outside but warm inside as we remember the miracle of the season: God came to earth just to die so we could be forgiven. What a blessed truth to warm the soul! God bless each of you who reads this with the depth of this truth.

Dias Bonita!

What a gorgeous day! It is in the 80s with a light breeze. A friend and I played golf at a local "demanding" (their word) golf course. We had a coupon for a bucket of balls for practice, 18 holes, a cart, and a hamburger for $35. I don't usually spend that much for self inflicted frustration, but this was a "deal" and it was a georgeous day. (Did I say that?) I shot 56 on both the front and back nines, but I am actually playing much better than last year. Evelyn went off shopping in McAllen and had lunch with my friend's wife. We will likely relax the rest of the afternoon. We are expecting frigid weather on Thursday. Most of you are having more devastating weather than that right now.

fun in Advent

It is still a joy to preach at Trail's End. There have been over twenty for the past two Sundays and many haven't even arrived yet. We had a very full day yesterday. After my service, we went to Mercedes to sing at the worship service and have Communion. We then took some cookies to a shut in, returned to Mercedes for dinner with some friends. We waited until 1:30 waiting for a couple that must have forgotten the invitation and never showed. We came home for a nap, changed clothes and returned to the church to join the choir for caroling other shut ins. After that we returned to church for another dinner of tamales and other goodies. At last we got home for some sleep.
Today we exercised and went to our park meeting, after which Evelyn met with other women to plan our Christmas dinner. We came home for lunch, and then off to the grocery to get supplies for making bread in our bread machine. After a short ride around the park, we returned home for dinner and some football.

Back in the classroom

This past Thursday Bob completed his training for teaching the Driving Safety class for AARP. He is strictly a volunteer but hopes this will help some older people review the rules of the road and save money on their car insurance. He might also improve his driving skills.
The week began with flu and pneumonia shots at the park hall. With illness behind us, we went off to McAllen to get Bob a passport for use during our planned trip to Australia next spring. We went to the wrong location and then discovered that we had left his birth certificate at home. Oh, well. We got some fabric and a nice lunch out of the trip. We couldn't leave early because Bob is in charge of parking for events at the park and Tuesday hosted the monthly craft sale. We also sold our microwave oven (we owned five) at our flea market.
Wednesday is Evelyn's day to volunteer at the local hospital, but she had to leave early for the Christian Women's Club luncheon. After that she went to the doctor and had her BP medicine adjusted. Friday was a day to relax although Bob had to work on "tweaking" his sermon for Sunday. In the evening we hosted some friends from NC who had just returned that morning. We thought we could save them cooking time by having them come for Tortilla soup. Saturday was more of the same with NFL football. We must meet the Texas Waters for dinner this evening.

Many activities prior to 12/13

We had our second service at Trail's End RV Park last Sunday and 16 attended. We had a busy week before that. I had changed oil in the Jeep and began my AARP training. Tuesday we had another prep meeting and a Chinese buffet. Evelyn volunteers at Knapp Medical Center on Wednesdays so I cleaned out our shed (full or mouse/lizard turds). I always wait until we remove the Christmas boxes to do that. We furnished dessert at the soup supper at church before the Advent service. The choir practices between supper and the worship service. We went to Mexico for some dental work and a lunch at Marisco restaurant. Most of the evening was spent in writing and sending Christmas e-cards. Friday evening we met my "cousin" Don and Janice Waters at Wild Bill's for some Texas barbecue. They returned here with us for some blackberry cobbler and ice cream. Saturday morning we went to Siesta Village RV Park for their garage sale. We found blankets very cheap so we bought four to send to a colonia in Mexico. Evelyn wasn't feeling well Sunday so we stayed in most of the day. It has been wonderfully temperate here in the Valley so far this winter.

Christmas holidays

We have been having a great Advent season. I began services at Trail's End. The day before we went to a Living Christmas tree at the Baptist church in McAllen. It was very inspiring. I am amazed at how those things are never the same even though they tell the same basic story. Sunday evening we went to Harlingen to hear a brass ensemble that included two people from our congregation in Mercedes. It too was a great program. On Monday I wrote many Christmas cards while watching one of the greatest football games ever on MNF. I had a belt changed on the Jeep Monday, but when I started toward the Voter's meeting, there was such a terrible grind that I was reluctant to drive further. As a blessing, it turned out that the belt was just loose. I am also becoming trained to teach a safe driving class for AARP. We will have our final training meeting next Thursday. It is all volunteer but may be fun.

December 3

Winter continues here. The temperature has been stuck in the 50s and 60s for three days. It has also been drizzely, causing even more "frio". So far my call to work with the church in Mercedes, although I do plan to lead worship in Trail's End RV park. I begin Sunday at 8:30. We pray that the Lord will bless us with more people wishing to know the love of Christ.