Less than two months till Christmas!

Oak Hills Church does a shoebox ministry that is different from "Operation Christmas Child", but it was really neat. Each of the Sunday School classes meet outside the sanctuary at the beginning of the service. They show a short video about the ministry, and then the children file in holding their gifts and hand them to pastors in the front of the church. Then they sing a song in Spanish that we have been practicing in Sunday School for the last month. Max comes up and prays for the children who will receive the gifts and then we file out as the congregation sings. It was a really special time and you could see the joy and compassion on each child's face as brought their gifts in.





When we returned to the classrooms, we made cards for the families. The gifts will be taken down to Mexico by our Children's Ministries staff and given to needy children in the area where we have missionaries serving.

Reagan Football Game

Tonight Larry and I went out to get something to eat and he mentioned a local football game that was going on tonight. I said "Oh, that's the one everybody at school was talking about". So on the spur of the moment we decided to go and see what all the excitement was about. Wow...were we impressed! First when we got there and found out it was $7.50 a person to get in, I was about to go back home, but then I found out I got in for free because I teach in this district. That was kinda cool, but then we went in and realized it was more like a college game than what we were expecting. My favorite part of course was half time...the band was amazing! I couldn't believe the number of people involved...they looked professional!











As we were leaving, I couldn't resist taking a picture of the band's transport vehicle...kind of different from what we were used to in Rockton/Roscoe! The one thing that was the same were the kids...we sat in the band parent's section right next to the band and I watched the kids. Teenagers are the same wherever they live!

Cute Picture

We saw this when we were driving up in the Hill Country and I just had to take a picture. This couple was driving down the road with a little boxer in their cart. He had a little vest on that matched theirs, and he looked so content in his little seat, watching the world go by!

Another Adventure

Today was our last day with Aunt Edna and Uncle Dave, but it was a day of wonderful memories. Since I had to teach Sunday School this morning, they went out to breakfast and we met for the second service. After church, we went up to Gruene (pronounced "Green"), where they were having a Fall Festival. We went out to a late lunch at the "Gristmill", where we enjoyed both the food and the time together.

After we returned this evening from Gruene, we went down to the Riverwalk, where we met Kristi Meck, who was down here visiting her brother. It was an unexpected surprise, but a good one as it's always good to see our friends from up north!

Revisiting the Past

Yesterday day we decided to drive up to Austin and explore that area. We started at Lyndon B. Johnson's presidential library and ended up spending the day revisiting his life. The entire area is devoted to him, since he grew up there in the Hill Country. We went to lunch at a little place out in the country called "The Nutty Brown Cafe", which was neat because it was very "Texas", complete with guitars used by the people who had performed there and a parrot that wasn't very friendly!

Aunt Edna and Uncle Dave

Well, we've had a busy week! Aunt Edna and Uncle Dave arrived REALLY late on Monday night, after a long delay in Houston, but we are glad to have them here. Although Larry and I have not been able to take time off from our jobs, we have been able to spend time together in the evenings. We went to church on Wednesday, and have been playing an ongoing game of train dominoes. Yesterday was Larry's 51st birthday, and it was so special to have his aunt and uncle here for that. Now that Saturday is here, we hope to do some more exploring of our Texas home!

29th Anniversary

Today was our 29th anniversary and we spent most of the weekend celebrating. It began on Friday evening when Larry called to say he wanted to take me out to a restaurant he had discovered. When he hadn't arrived home by 7pm, I started to get worried. He did finally call to tell me his car had been hit by a pick-up truck while he was sitting in traffic. Although he wasn't hurt, his car was pretty banged up...great start to the weekend! Anyway, he made a few phone calls (insurance, etc.) and then we did go out for dinner at La Hacienda. It turned out to be a wonderful restaurant...we sat out on their huge patio listening to guitar music and eating a wonderful sampler platter...the Mexican food was fabulous! A great way to wind down after a stressfull day.


The next morning we drove up to the Hill Country to explore, but not before Larry gave me a gift I absolutely love. It's from the James Avery studio...a sterling silver bracelet with a Bible verse on it..."I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."

Tonight we had dinner with friends from Life
Group at their house. It was a weekend to remember!

Baptism in the River

This has been a very busy weekend, which is an answer to prayer, because earlier I was struggling with my decision to postpone my trip to Illinois. Yesterday was our Women's Conference at Oak Hills, and I'm really glad I didn't miss it. We had a fabulous speaker who also happens to be a member of our church. She has an incredible story where she was kidnapped by a mass murderer and lived to tell about it. In fact, he ended up praying with her and giving himself up. He was put to death later, but not before his decision to follow Christ impacted thousands of people. What a miracle...God's leading was so very evident as she told this incredible story!

Just a couple of hours ago, Larry and I were "re" baptised together in the Guadalupe River here in San Antonio. Although we had been baptized years ago, we decided that this symbolized a new start for us in our walk with Christ. It was an incredible experience that we were able to share together.

Dealing with change...

There have been so many changes in my life since we left Illinois just four months ago...I am thankful for all God has done in my life in that time...but tonight I'm feeling kind of sad, because tomorrow was the day I had planned to fly to Illinois to visit family and friends. When I made the flight arrangements I wasn't working so the timing didn't really matter, but when I took the job at Encino Park everything changed. There's no way I could miss seven days of school without losing all that I've done so far. I love my job and all the kids, but I'm struggling with not seeing my own girls and Lydia until Christmas (Actually, Stacey is coming for Thanksgiving so I have that to look forward to). Lydia is changing so much at this stage, and I feel like I'm missing it. I think of how much worse it would have been in the "Little House in the Prairie" days, when leaving meant never seeing your family again. Today, thanks to the computer age we live in, I at least get to keep up with changes on a daily basis. You can see my precious Lydia on Shannon's blog at www.thenordgrens.blogspot.com

Busy Week

This is a picture of the inner courtyard at Oak Hills, where I went on Wednesday evening to pick up a copy of Max's new book. Then I headed over to Community Bible Church where they had a "Revival" going on. My neighbor invited us since it's a really big event in San Antonio. Our next door neighbor was the evangelist who was preaching, and although I had met his wife, I had not yet met him. It was a wonderful message and a LOT of people went forward to pray! Before I left that night, I was able to talk to him for a few minutes and he gave me his book which I already read and it was wonderful...very similiar to Larry's testimony!

We've been so busy every weekend, that we haven't even begun to explore all San Antonio has to offer. We did go down to the Riverwalk once when Joan was visiting, but we haven't had time to go back there and see it or the Alamo yet. I've made a list of all the things I want to do, but the weekends go so fast we just don't have time! One place we did go was to the little town of Boerne, which is where this picture was taken. The day we visited there was a festival going on, but the town has a lot to offer on it's own, too. It's full of antique shops and cute resaurants, and it's definately a place we'll want to visit again.

Ahhh...Sunday!

The best part of my week is always Sunday! Last Wednesday Evening, Max announced his plans to release his newest book, "3:16". It was awesome to hear how God is working to bring a book like this into the world. By the world, I mean that even stores like Walmart and Hallmark are some of his biggest backers. Anyway, tonight we had Joni Eareckson Tada for a special program she is kicking off in San Antonio. I read her book way back in 1976, when I was a brand new Christian and it impacted me so much because of her committment after all she had been through. Getting to meet her tonight was a real blessing...she's a special lady!

Then later we went out for dinner with friends from our Life Group. We went to an Indian Restaurant, where I found out that Indian food is not my favorite! Oh well, the fellowship was wonderful and the time we spend with people is more important than the food!

Finished!

Well, it seems like forever since we started our remodeling projects, but we are finally finished! I posted pictures of the kitchen and downstairs a couple of weeks ago, but now I also have pictures of our "new" Master Bedroom and Bath! I included the first picture of the "tear down" to show the contrast of before and after. It finally feels like HOME!