Uneventful makes me happy!

Last Friday Alan, Beth, Cameron, Dayton and I left San Juan del Rio to start our two-month sojourn in the States! We were hoping and praying for UNEVENTFUL, and I'm very happy to report it's been just that! If you'd like to read a much more interesting tale about our journey north, check out Alan and Beth's blog: http://abcdmcmanus.blogspot.com/

The trip trough northern Mexico was as boring as possible - of course we had a good story going on Bethie's Kindle - or ipod - or whatever it is - so we weren't in the least bored! The trip through Texas was equally uneventful and equally boring, although there are a FEW more highway signs and towns to see. In Dallas we enjoyed a visit with Jim and Inez Ferguson, as well as shopping and of course PANERA - we love that place!

Dallas was a bit eventful though. I was supposed to visit El Redentor church Sunday morning and never did find it - even with written directions and a GPS! The GPS didn't even recognize the address, so that was NOT a good thing! After some wandering in the general area - I KNOW I was close to the church! - I returned to the CAM mission home! Maybe next trip I'll try again!

ANd the best uneventful occasion was today: Jeff Arnold took me to get my car registered - it wouldn't let me do it online, since it was expired. Happily, we got through the line and everything taken care of in record time! AND THEN....

Inspection! This had me a bit concerned (not worried, you'll note, just concerned!) because my 2002 Sable has not seen the U.S. soil since 2006, and who knows if it's still in operating order! Well, it is! No problem, everything is A-OK! All I could say as I left the inspection station was, "Thank you, Lord!"

So, now I'm ready to head north to Chicago. Around 5:30 this afternoon my friends Jim and Inez will come by for me, take me to their house for the night and tomorrow run me to the airport. Aren't friends GREAT?? We've been friends since the Nicaragua earthquake (1972) and they're the best!

THE PRECIOUS BIBLE

I'm trying something new and different this trip - I brought along an ENGLISH Bible rather than my trusty SPANISH one! And wow! It's weird to read those even weirder Bible names in ENGLISH rather than SPANISH! I'm reading in 1 Chronicles (or is it Crónicas) right now, so there are LOTS of names! I even found mine there in one of the lists!

This brought to mind a poem I found some time ago and I thought you might enjoy it as much as I did:

THE PRECIOUS BIBLE

Though the cover is worn

And the pages are torn,

And though places bear traces of tears;

Yet more precious than gold

Is the book worn and old,

That can shatter and scatter my fears.

When I prayerfully look

In the precious old book,

Many pleasures and treasures I see;

Many tokens of love

From the Father above,

Who is nearest and dearest to me.

The old book is my guide,

'Tis a Friend by my side,

It will lighten and brighten my way;

And each promise I find

Soothes and gladdens my mind,

As I read it and heed it each day.

from "The Poetry of Preaching" compiled by Dr. Clyde Box; Sword of the Lord publisher's

HIGH FLIGHT

This may be a very familiar poem to most of you. I had to seen it before my brother Lee passed away last May. Familiar or not, it´s well worth repeating!

HIGH FLIGHT

By Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee – No. 412 Squadron, RCAF

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

Of sun-split clouds – and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed on – wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there

I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung

My eager craft through footless halls of air.

Up, up the long delicious, burning blue,

I’ve topped the windswept heights with easy grace

Where never lark, or even eagle flew

And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

Verse on Funeral Folder for Lee A. Phillips

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV)

Silenced

I've been reading - er, listening - to Silenced by Jerry Jenkins. On my way to and from church, on the way to prayer meeting, on the way ANYWHERE, I'd listen to a little more of the story. It was hard to "put down"! Since we're leaving for the States on Friday, I decided to listen to the last two CDs here in my own living room - beats TV all hollow, beats reading, and sure kept my attention!

Here's the description: "In the name of peace, the world is forced to take sides. National Peace Organization operative Paul Stepola walks a dangerous tightrope as a double agent - a new believer assigned to enforce the ban on religion. Three major cities have been attacked by terrorists and thousands have died, all in the name of God. Paul must find a way to expose the source of the terrorism without endangering fellow believers. And with his unbelieving wife's powerful connections, Paul faces danger on every front."

And it gets more exciting from there! Check it out! I highly recommend it!

It's time to get more CDs - and maybe a Kindle!!

¡¡VIVA MEXICO!! ¡¡VIVA!!

That is what is shouted (very literally!) at 11 PM or so on September 15th. The official Viva Mexico is shouted from the palace in downtown Mexico City, but it was heard at every party across Mexico celebrating our country's independence last night. Including our party at Abundant Life Bible Church! And what a fun party it was! Just a few pictures to let you in on the fun:

After a short service with praise songs and an excellent message given by Rene (see picture below of him with his wife Isa), we had: Crazy and fun games! The winner of the chile-eating contest downed 12! And there wasn't even a prize! Bummer!

The food! Wow! It was great! Here I caught Rene and Isa totally enjoying it!

The pambasos in front of Paul and Nacho were YUMMY! They are a bolillo (small loaf of bread) that has been dipped in a special sauce, then "fried", then filled with a potato/meat mixture, lettuce and sour cream! Delicious!! Very messy! Finger lickin' good!

The costumes were very creative! Here is Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon, Junior and Senior! Junior won a prize for his creative costume!

Four prizes for the most creative costumes were given to the children! My first choice was Angel, third from right, who came as Speedy Gonzalez! Other prizes went to Vania (see below!), Adaia on the left who came as a campesina and Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon who is in the middle!

I didn't stay for the women's costume judging because the guests I brought were getting extremely tired, so I took them home! I took Rosa and her twin granddaughters, age 6, to the party. They are not used to being in church, so were quite restless, but enjoyed the party - until 11 PM or so! Then they were DONE! I'm sure I would have won a prize! My costume was the same one I've worn the past two years - since it's the only one I own!! I came as a Yucateca - a gal from Yucatan! My friend Mundi Cab from Merida, Yucatan, sent me a lovely huipil from there, so I put it to use once a year at the "Quince!" Here's a snapshot of me with Ivonne taken a couple years ago!

Reading, not TV watching!

I just finished up the Baxter Series by Kathy Herman, all five of them. They were all page turners, lots of good mystery going on! I enjoy a good mystery - not TOO scary (I've read some of those too!), but enough to keep me going!

Our cable company just changed all our TV stations and what's available and my favs are gone - specifically The Wheel and Jeopardy (especially Jeopardy! I love to see if I can answer the questions BEFORE the contestants - once in a great while I actually do! Especially when they're Bible subjects - that helps! Ha). There's still Hawaii 5-O though, although it took me awhile to find it! So, now I don't watch much TV (not that I did before!!), but hey! There's a whole library downstairs waiting to be explored! And I manage to explore it at least once a week, sometimes more.

The other day while heading down to this basement library, I stubbed my big toe on the last step. Why, I don't know. I wasn't even in a hurry! The steps ARE a little uneven, each step being just a tad different than the rest. So, this past week I had a very swollen, red, purple and now greenish gray toe. Ouch! But I still walked a lot this week. I have a pair of very ugly, BIG tennis shoes that don't cramp my toes at all, and for walking, they're great! So, guess I better be more careful heading down to that fantastic library!

My International shelf

Just showing off my "international shelf!" Actually I have beautiful things from many countries (Spain, Scotland, Honduras, Guatemala, to name a few!), but here is where my latest gift is! The beautiful scarf is from Turkey, given to me by "my" missionaries from Turkey, Alejandro and Liz Pantoja, just this morning. Alejandro was at our church this morning and gave a beautiful presentation of his newly adopted country of Turkey. And of course it never occurred to me to get a picture of him! Liz and their three little ones weren't able to come and we were disappointed of course. They have two girls Bethany 5 and Damaris 2, and a brand new baby boy - he has a beautiful Bible name, but it's a bit unusual! Sorry, I don't remember it! They will return to Turkey on September 18th. Our ladies put together a gift of two outfits and The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes (in Spanish of course!) for the new baby. And I sneaked in some little gifts for the girls (books, puppets and two fun pens)!

The plate on the left is from Spain and the picture doesn't do it justice - it's beautful! The rest of the items are Mexican.


And don't forget the beautiful clock that is hanging above my "international shelf." When we visited Yellowstone quite a number of years ago, I told Ken I wanted just a "small" remembrance of our trip. This is what he came up with! He never did things in a "small" way! But I've dragged it everywhere and still enjoy it. Good memories!!