Lettuce Anyone?

 

 

In case you've ever wanted to know, this is what 280 cases of lettuce looks like!  We have a trucking company that gives us their excess whenever they can't deliver it here in Cheyenne.  Right now it is lettuce season and this is the third truck of lettuce we have received in 6 weeks.  What do you do with 280 cases of lettuce?  First we called all the other agencies in Cheyenne that give out food to the homeless and needy.  We then gave almost a hundred cases away during our monthly Foodbank which we did yesterday, and then we posted on Facebook asking everyone to please come get lettuce!!! 

 

 

One of the agencies here in town traded us cases of bread for cases of lettuce.  This was wonderful and was a great addition to our Foodbank!

 

As of this morning we have gotten rid of 240 cases and only have 20 left!  Getting large shipments like this and then giving it away to the community is a great way to talk to people, have them come and see where the church is and see that our church loves helping the people in the community. 

We are praying that through this we will see visitors!

 

 What a blessing for God to give us this lettuce but I think everyone here is sick of lettuce and we are praying that next time the truck needs to get rid of it's excess it will be bananas or some other kind of fruit or vegetable!

 

 

 



Blessings of Bricks

 

One of  the next steps in our landscaping is to build a short fence

 of brick to divide the landscaping from the lawn.  Of course the large quantity of brick we need is so expensive so we were not sure when we would be able to buy the bricked we needed.  Today one of the men in our church called to say his boss wanted all the outdated brick in his brickyard given away as they are getting ready for new spring inventory.  What a huge blessing to get several pallets of bricks and pavers for free!

 

 

When we got the trailer to the church we spent the afternoon restacking the bricks onto pallets in the yard.  Little man was so excited to help and carried as many little bricks as he could and told us, "Look, I strong!".  

 

 

He watched his Uncle Mason stack the bricks perfectly

and worked hard to do the same thing too!

 

Monday my husband will go back and get a few more pallets

and we should have all the bricks we need to finish the wall we are planning.  I had also been planning to do a path around the parsonage and we received a whole pallet of pavers that are exactly like I wanted!

 

So thankful for God blessing us with these bricks and pavers and so excited to start placing them and getting a step closer to finishing the landscaping!

 

A Relaxing Walk

After a long week of ministry and feeling like I have been on the run all week I was so excited to take a afternoon walk with my two favorite people!  Of course on our walk we collected feathers, sticks, pinecones and other fun stuff that needed to go in a little boys pockets!

 

I loved how Little man used his stick to poke things in the water, chase a spider, dig in the dirt and just run it along the fence as he walked.

 

We walked all the way to the pond at the college where they both

promptly sat down to look at the water. 

 

 

On the way home I let Little lady ride on my shoulders and she instantly fell asleep!  I guess when you're tired you can sleep anywhere!

 

I am just so blessed to have these little ones so close sand it definitely helps me to relax after a long week of ministering and helping others!

 

Showing Gratitude

 

Today I spent time baking a batch of coconut bread.  I wanted to give a loaf to Moe to thank him for coming and helping us move dirt with his tractor.   My husband wanted to give a loaf to the man who helped our Daughter-In-Love when she got her van slid off the road into a snowdrift during last weeks snowstorm.  We are just so thankful for both of these men for stopping and taking the time to help!  I also made a loaf for Ruth, the lady down the street and also a loaf for the family my husband was visiting on visitation.

 

Actually I had to make a couple of batches as I burnt the first batch! 

I was outside watching them deliver another couple of trucks

of dirt in the next section we are landscaping.

 

Because the section of lawn to the north of the driveway

is so much longer we were able to have the truck slowly let the dirt out as they drove the length we are redoing.  This should be much easier than moving the dirt from the pile to the place we need the dirt. 

 

After the dirt was all delivered and placed, I remembered the bread

 and was disheartened to smell smoke when I entered the house. 

I quickly cleaned up my mess and made another batch for my husband to deliver.  We also had a sick mom among our church ladies today so I made Pizza soup, garlic bread and Lime Jello poke cake for her family as she rested and recovered from her illness.

 

Mason came into the kitchen smelling all the good smells

 this afternoon and excitedly asked what was for dinner.  He then looked at me crestfallen and said, "Oh, you're cooking for everyone else today aren't you."  Yes, it has happened before, I often forget to cook for my family when I cook for others!  I threw some pork steaks and garlic bread into the oven and had dinner on the table in minutes.  Both Chep and Mason were disappointed the cake and bread weren't for them so I guess I need

to make them a special treat tomorrow! 

Cactus

 

After a week of cold temperatures it was warm and sunny today and the perfect to keep working on the front landscaping.  Walking across the yard I felt a sudden pinch like I had been bitten by a bug but it turned out that a cactus had jumped and stuck on me!  Nasty little things!!!

 

 

Mason and I worked on spreading a second layer of dirt over the area and making sure no grass, weeds or cactus were growing through.  As we worked, we had a man pull into the parking lot and handed us this piece of paper with Psalm 89:32 highlighted.  He spend twenty minutes trying to convince us that the Old Testament should not be read, because if we read it, it puts us back under bondage after Jesus has set us free.  He quoted verse after verse as he talked to with us, but although he seemed to know his Bible and knew what he was talking about, he twisted each verse slightly to fit what he was trying to put across.  Every time Mason or I tried to speak or explain what we believed or Biblically contradict what he said, he would interrupt us and not let us finish.  He was upset when we said we couldn't talk anymore but we knew he was just trying to pound us with his beliefs and ideas without letting us have a word in edgewise and I really didn't want to stand there for even a minute longer listening to him.  That experience though, made me look at myself and how I witness and share my faith with others.  I need to make sure I am open and listen to others and not make them feel like I am being like that cactus this morning, that jumps and sticks on a person

and all the person wants to do is get it off them!

 

As Mason and I continued moving dirt from one side of the yard to the other, our neighbor Moe came driving up with a tractor and asked if he could help us!  What a blessing when Moe moved all the dirt in 15 minutes that would have taken us the rest of the afternoon to complete!  Moe's parents were actually charter members at our church when it first started and Moe came to every service with them.  After his parents died something happened at church and he has never attended again.  He is really a wonderful man and is open to my husband talking to him but whatever happened has set his heart against church.  Please pray for Moe as we continue to witness to him!