Bringing God’s love to others.

Friday was a bit different.  Evelyn decided to stay home from the hospital because her department was shut down.  While she was at home baking cookies, I went to work as usual.  I really enjoy working with the crew on Friday afternoon.  We have a great deal of fun just talking and joking.  I invited them to our New Year’s Day football party, but only 1 could make it.  We didn’t go out for dinner tonight because we had invited Armand, Rose and Judy for chili.  We want to involve Judy as much as possible because she is not only a widow but had her right leg amputated last spring.  She is quite tough but needs companionship.  Most of the park is very helpful to her, but we want to be better because she is a close neighbor.  The meal was delicious and we had a good time.

Saturday was a cooking day.  I had bought several round steaks a few days ago, and we needed to cook them.  Since that cut of meat is usually tough.  I had to employ one of the skills I remembered from my childhood.  I had to pound the steaks with the edge of a saucer like my mother used to do.  I sprinkled the meat with flour and pounded away.  It was easier than I had expected.  Evelyn topped it with vegetables and made it into Swiss steak.  Since we had 6 pieces, I was sent to find someone to invite for lunch.  The Lord had a plan for us.  I encountered a woman with whom we used to be close friends, so I invited her and her husband for lunch.  They don’t like us (probably me) and I don’t especially like them.  We did, however, have a nice visit; not like we used to have but nice.  They left in a couple of hours, and we rested.  In the evening we walked around the park and stopped to play 1 game of pool.  The evenings here have been fabulous.  There is a gentle breeze and warm temperatures.  They are one of the major reasons that people come here from Canada and much of the midwest to enjoy the winter.  We hear of a pretty devastating snowstorm hitting much of the area in which we used to live.  We might leave here if our place sells but will definitely find a place similar in temperature.

Sunday began with a terrible situation.  I have never done such a terrible job in leading worship.  I began by forgetting to wear my Jerusalem Cross.  The speaker system didn’t work right, and I didn’t put the sermon together well and couldn’t seem to find a way to correct things.  I couldn’t find the right place in the scripture, skipped the Gospel section by accident.  I thank God for making this a Communion Sunday.  At least the congregation was blessed in that way.  We came home and prepared for the evening of caroling.  Evelyn had not slept well last night, so she napped for a while.  We got to church in time for me to practice our song for Christmas Eve and then left to go caroling some shut ins from our church.  We have never had so many carolers in all the years we have been in the Valley.  We had 29.  We were able to go to 2 nursing homes where we were able to serenade the entire population in the homes that were eating.  We visited 4 other sites as well.  We then went to one of the wealthiest parishioners’ home for a party.  It was a good time and a good feeling bringing the love of the season to His children.