IMMIGRANT DAUGHTER 65

I have witnessed more snow this past week in Arkansas than I ever saw before. It made me think I was back in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. I had 8 inches on the porch. Growing up I would have loved it. I remember my dad throwing snowballs at us while we were playing out back of the restaurant. those were fun days.

Carl told me they use to play ice hockey on Lake Michigan every chance they could sneak away from school. Of course they always got caught and hauled back to school. We never sneaked out because our fathers punishment was worse than the schools.

C’s dog Chili was fun to watch in the snow. He would put his head down in the snow and push until he had snow on his snout and then shake his head trying to get it off. Animals are great entertainment. The other day I tried to go to bible study and couldn’t get off my porch. It was so slippery I couldn’t get any traction on the bottom of my shoes to make the steps down. I do have a ramp but that was also icy.

When we had our Chris craft boat on Lake Texoma it got so cold one night that no matter what we did we couldn’t get warm enough so the next day when we got in port we made arrangements for winter storage. It is really something to watch how they hoist the large boats out of the water for winter storage. Most boats need to be cleaned and the bottoms painted with anti fowling paint. I was told this past week that they have discovered a coating that will keep the barnacles off the bottom of the boat. I bet a lot of boat owners are happy about that. Boating was a new experience for me but to Carl it was old hat.

The news of the day with violence in Egypt and other parts od the Middle East sure makes me thankful I live in America brought to mind how nothing changed much since my father’ mother hid him so the Turks would take him from her to fight. They still are fighting. There is no place like America.

I had to stop because my computer was acting up to renew  things I didn’t want to renew, and it was showing the bar with  things that were not familiar to me. C told me every time the machine updates familiar things change and I have to get accustomed with the new bar all over again. I do not like the changes and I wish they wouldn’t do it. It takes me for ever to complete a new post as it is. I see I just wiped out a whole paragraph I had just written so here I go again as I am learning to be patient with myself,

I went to the medical doctor yesterday and found out I am healthy because the blood work reveals that I am. It is very satisfying that they agree with me. I do have to admit I hate growing older. I am hearing so much how to stay healthy that I could have told them, everything in moderation and you don’t need to deny yourself anything. It worked for me.

Carl loved to eat and I loved to cook and we both like to enjoy food. He also like to make gumbo (without Okra). and Last week I was invited out and enjoyed some of the best gumbo with okra and it made me remember my honey. I am so happy that he is not living to hear of all the evil that is going on in the world today. 

The weather these past days have been pleasant. It is nice not having to wear a heavy coat. I let chili inside and he doesn’t last long because he get too warm. I can take the warm weather better than the cold.

There appeared on my email inbox with the name of a close friend, but the email was gobbled goop That didn’t make sense and come to find out they didn’t send it so I deleted it. Boy you can’t be to careful.

One day while living in Muncie Carl and I supported a political  candidate who was running for congress and I hope he makes a run for the white house. He is young, honest and conservative that is making his mark for the betterment of our nation. I hope all of you out there are keeping up with the world situation. Our men need to stand up and be counted. We are getting too many females in our leadership position and I am sorry ladies, I don’t like it. My church denomination went down the tubes when the women got in the priesthood. They weren’t satisfied just to be a part of the body they just plain took over and many people left.  I was  one who left. The denomination is still floundering.

I am happy to say I walk with God daily. He supplies my need and helps me through my sorrows and I can’t ask for more than that.

Until next time, I am Immigrant Daughter

IMMIGRANT DAUGHTER 59

 

It seems like ages ago since I have been in my blog Immigrant Daughter.When you let your brain get out of gear it is hard to get back. I will try to pick up  our life in Muncie, Indiana. We did so many things that I may extend some of the stories I already mentioned.

We attended several churches there, But when we first arrived in 1990 we were still members of the Episcopal Church and we tried to attend there first. They had a man there that didn’t know his Lord personally and was leading his group down the path of destruction so we didn’t stay there long. We then tried a Nazarene  Church close to where we lived and that didn’t fill our need. In the evenings we went to a Fellowship and Praise group  and found out there was an independent Evangelical church out in the country in our end of town. We attended on Sunday and knew we found our new church home. The Pastor preached the Gospel without giving his opinion about what it said. We sang praise and worship songs that gave glory to the Lord.  The group was a good mixture of young and older people. They did not have “Church Membership” so to speak. If you came you were on the roll as being there.

The Pastor surrounded himself with men to be accountable to. It was a great body of worshippers praising the Lord Jesus Christ every Sunday. We felt very much at home and became involved in the activities in the church and out of church.

Carl was always wanting to give food to those in need and he found out about “Christian Ministries” doing just that,  so we volunteered two days a week down town working in their food pantry doing anything we could. We  collected food and held various food drives. We went and picked up donated food from churches in Muncie because we had a large van.

We became so capable they offered Carl the job to overseer the the task of running the Pantry. This was right up our alley and we had the time for it because we were “retired” and worked for free. They insisted on giving us $200 dollars a month which we donated back to the ministry. We had lots of fun while working very hard keeping the place clean. We were never to busy to talk to people. Lots of time people just needed someone to listen to them.

We expanded the food items to include frozen foods because there was a commercial frozen food locker that kept wanting to give  their extras to the pantry to pass on to those in need. Most of the “needy” had refrigerators with freezers across the top and at times we would try to get one donated to the family  if they needed one. I am so glad I don’t have to mess with the plastic bags that are in use now the brown bags held more neatly.

I really do miss not being involved in giving help. But we live in a time when there are more give away programs than those in need. The standby is the Salvation Army for collecting items for give away programs that they have become very selective at what they will and will not take. We truly are a land of plenty.

I miss my independence of being being able to do for others. This getting old has its’ drawbacks.

When the pastor “retired” we lost something that was never recovered in that fellowship. They spent a lot of money on the Childrens church building, and as time past the young pastor was too dictatorial and forgot the adults and preached like we were children and neglected worship so people stopped coming. So we looked for another place to worship. And the place turned out to be a place that had a very large sign on the highway coming in to Muncie. We were able to see the sign but not the church building. So were searched and found it.  One Sunday Carl and I attended and were very blessed. It was a large congregation that made you feel “at home”  the very first visit. It was a joy and also the name fit, it was called “Glad Tidings” and had a pastor that could preach that was a blessing to us. Again we found we were home.

One of the things the churches did in the Muncie area was have funeral dinners for the family members whose love one passed on. I was involved in handling the dinners.  Instead of donations I just cooked the whole dinner and had workers to help serve. I realized with Thanksgiving Day this month I remember cooking  the Turkey at the church and having dinner for anyone to eat whether members or not. That was so gratifying and as I think back Carl and I did so many different things together that we never had time to get bored with each other.

One of the Fun things we did was meet once a month with other Christians couples to eat a meal and sing songs. It was at least thirty people to set a table for and that meant the ones with the large houses hosted. This was a bring  a dish of your choice and the hostess provided the meat. I understand they are still meeting and eating together. I sure tasted dishes that were new to me. There was one couple who always brought beans and franks and ended up taking them home.

Isn’t it amazing just what we will remember. When Carl was in the working world at Christmas time we received many Christmas cards. I also like to send cards, so as we got the cards I hung them up on red ribbon that was attached to the curtain rod so that we were able to see the beauty of the cards. I did that for many years and then people just stopped sending cards or even writing notes. I use to write a note in every card I sent giving an update of our family. We really lost the personal touch. The next time you see a Hallmark card shop stop in and buy a card to remember someone that you haven’t seen. The computer just can’t give that personal touch.

Until next time, I am Immigrant Daughter