Neighborhood July 4th Gathering

Our sweet neighbor Stephanie, a former Las Angeles police officer-turned sweet grandma, hosted a July 4th "Neighbors Around the Circle" gathering.  Everyone who lived on our circle received an invitation weeks ago, and we were even allowed to bring our company, which at least three families did--everyone contributing several dishes of food. One man brought a whole cooler full!

 We had a lot of company to bring (pre-approved by Stephanie)--ours plus 13 cousins who traveled in to go camping this week with our children--and was I ever glad for an outdoor activity to take them all to, because our house was kind of feeling like a zoo full of monkeys--or an aquarium full of fish, or a rabbit hutch full of rabbits, whichever you prefer. 

I did not know what to do with 33 people at my house that afternoon, and this was such a wholesome activity for a bunch of young people chomping at the bit to go camping. 

Stephanie's son-in-law brought over his red, white, and blue very old dump truck, and the boys helped put up a canopy under which....

...Jonathan grilled lots of burgers and brats.

 

These are patriotic fruit pizzas we took, along with watermelon, deviled eggs, etc.

I loved the way Stephanie's daughter had decorated the lemonade or punch with festive straw hats!

Sam was happy to ride back home to snag a few more plastic deck chairs, though most of our crew sat on the grass.

As I was walking over, a young boy on a four-wheeler came up to me.

"Want a ride?" he asked politely. 

Now me, maybe you don't  know it, but I am more of an introvert than people know, and I'd rather have hunkered back in my own home and never had to say hi to a strange person, but the reason I was going to this shindig was to be a good neighbor and to reach out, 

 and being a good neighbor means going ahead and being willing to get together with those new neighbors that just moved in, one of whom just finished building a barndominium, and the other one who is still in the process of building his house (seen in the background down the circle).

 So when this boy, whom I did not recognize from Adam or Abel, said, "Would you like a ride?" I thought I would take him up on it, and save my feet from hurting with walking in sandals, since my only comfortable shoes are so worn out that I have taped the sole together, and it is still not together. 

The little boy stood up so I could get on behind, and away we went!

Not the usual way for Anna Lucas to go places!

But when you want to be a good neighbor, you go ahead and ride behind the neighbor kid's friend, whom you find out is named Aiden, and say thank you very, very much!

Another way to do it is to ride your horse there like Rose did later on! (The barndominium, i.e. garage for RV plus home inside) is in the background down the other end of the circle.

And my, oh my! What a spread! You can't see much of it, but they also have a sort of shelf set up there with several shelves of more food, and then we pulled a table out of the van for even more food!

It started to rain, and two or more youngsters rode home to grab jackets. Meanwhile, I went to the van and found a blanket for Rosalie, Jed's wife, and her two littles.

 

Meanwhile, Stephanie produced a bunch of bubbles in a big glass jar with a flag, and the little kids had a great time!

They blew bubbles, chased bubbles, and otherwise enjoyed themselves--until the squirt guns came out.

And then they had even more of a blast, except that the older youngsters got to enjoy those, too!

You should have seen Jed chasing Bethany or Carrie with a squirt gun, and one of several neighbor boys constantly trying to squirt Crystal, who is hugely delightful to chase because she laughs and squeals and chases you back!

The Morley cousins definitely took the show with the squirt guns. 

Alongside all that water stuff came water balloons, too.

(Crystal is wearing Sam's jacket because of the bit of rain.)

Carrie and Samuel Morley and Pearl and others sat there at the outdoor spigot filling water balloons.  

And while they were doing that,  Stephanie drove out her little riding mower and there was a game of riding the mower (without the mower blades on, of course) blindfolded while your spouse or friend or grandma walked alongside, telling you where to go.

"Turn right!" David is telling Sam. "Turn left. Now go straight. No, no, turn right!"

Anytime Sam heard the audience scream, he knew he better put on the brake. 

Here David is trying to figure out how to get him out of where he ran over a brick and almost went into a tree! 

Several people took turns, even Jonathan and me! I had almost never ridden a riding lawn mower in my life, so it was decided that certainly I would be the driver, and Jonathan would give the directions. 

It was so funny to get around all the obstructions in the yard and come safely back to the starting point, and take off the blindfold, only to discover a whole gang of nieces and nephews clapping and cheering!

Well, then it was time for the water balloon throw game.  The side of the dump truck nearest Stephanie's house porch had been hung with pictures of certain political figures placed inside plastic sleeves. 

I will let you guess which political figures are on there, but I will tell you that this is a very Republican circle around here.

Each player was allowed three balloons and three chances to try to hit a picture smack dab in the face. 

I missed all three times, and Jonathan got only one. 

Sam got at least two. That is he up there.  

Gabey is trying.  

 David was a good shot, as was another neighbor's friend who used to be a pitcher.

The four who hit two or more had to do a tie-breaker. Rose won a pair of blue socks with white stars, and David won a hummingbird feeder!

I absolutely LOVED this fun, wholesome get-together, with games that gave me lots of ideas for the VBS I've been asked to do up in Alaska next week or the next family reunion.

I thought I'd change the picture idea to pictures of bad people in the Bible, like Goliath, Herod, and Pharaoh, or pictures of sins like stealing, and then have the VBS kids try to hit those bad things with their water balloon.

Stephanie had asked the children to bring any instruments, and our next door neighbor girl brought her violin, too. She plays in the Colorado Springs Symphony. Here the cousins and Kate are tuning up for an evening of patriotic songs.  

The folk who were there really enjoyed listening to "This Land is Your Land," "The Star-Spangled Banner," "My Country Tis of Thee," "America the Beautiful," and "Yankee Doodle."

Little Kari, Elon's granddaughter, played her "instrument." She pulled her bubble wand up and down in the bubble container, "Playing" music along with the others!

 

Then the folk wanted encores! 

 So our children played, "Amazing Grace," "There is Power in the Blood," and another one they've played recently. 

Thus we got to share the gospel in music, while simply being neighbors.

Soon people were wanting to leave to go watch fireworks, so we helped clean up and take down tables and get our grill back, pick up water balloon trash, etc. 

And then there was a beautiful sunset.

That picture doesn't do it justice! 

Walking home, I discovered Rose riding her horse behind us, and paused for this picture. 

Just the perfect ending to the evening---

except for singing one song after another around the piano after we arrived home. Some of the girls were putting potato salad and other things together for the camping trip this week, since they wanted to leave out very early in the morning, but several of us serenaded them with beautiful singing.

David and Ezra were singing a duet which sounded good enough to be recorded! 

Then I joined them on one song that I didn't know existed in our hymn book. I just love my nieces and nephews and their love for good hymns and good, God-glorifying music.

Scorpions, Drunks, and 67 Children for VBS!

 Here's the VBS ministry team that was in Mexico this last week with a couple of the children who wanted a picture with them all.

There were 67 children one night, the most there have ever been at a VBS. 

The VBS was held at the local community building, and chairs had to be hauled in with the truck. On one load, some of the team was in the back on the chairs, and when they went over a big bump, two things happened. The team members screamed, who were bumping up and down in the back of the truck, and at the side of the road, cartel members laughed.

Here is a scorpion they discovered. Rose also said that they saw a live tarantula--and a dead one, but both those were in Arizona. 

 The team did a lot of skits. VBS went from nine in the morning till noon, and the children were rowdy! So that team had its job cut out for them.

 Excited children.

Aaron translated for the team. One day they taught about the dangers and evils of drink. Rose said they all "got to be drunk" in the skits, except for Ezra, who was the guy trying to make up his mind whether to take a drink or not. Rose and Carrie pretended to be drunk, fighting each other. They were slapping, pulling hair, and otherwise being pretty good drunk women when David came into the fray to break it up! The team had a blast!

Other times, they acted out Bible stories. Aaron told them not to worry if they made mistakes. He said what he wanted to say in Spanish anyway!! :)

While they were all down there, I was feeling convicted about my selfish prayers for my girls down there. 

"Oh, Lord, keep them safe!" was my biggest prayer.

Ever since I learned they would be going, I worried about cartels, etc. And I just kept praying for their safety. Recently I began thinking, "How much have I been praying for the children and parents in Mexico? How much am I praying that my girls will make a difference in someone's life--because of Jesus in theirs? What about children who need to give their hearts to Jesus and be challenged to make right decisions in their lives?"

Sometimes you have to just jump into a ministry situation like that before you are challenged to pray more unselfishly.

We see in the pictures the fun they are having. What if we looked at the pictures through Jesus' eyes, and saw each child as a precious soul?

Here is a photo of the cousins last night at the border of Mexico and Arizona, by the wall.

Robbers, Spiders, and Mexico-size Watermelons!

We are always excited to receive news from the group of cousins, friends, and Spanish-speaking friends getting ready for the VBS in Mexico.

Above, balloons help with teaching a Bible verse.

Rose (now signing her name as "Rosa" in her text home!) is one of the robbers and cousin David is the other in the skit of the Good Samaritan. I laugh and laugh at her costume--just a baseball cap turned backwards, a bandana, and sun glasses. And the neat thing is that the ooor journeyman is cousin Ezra, who loses his crocs to this out-for-blood bandit!

I really don't know if having a stubborn donkey is reading too much into the story of the Good Samaritan, but knowing donkeys, it is probably very true!

The kids loved the skit!

One of the games played with a little girl dashing around one way and a boy the other.

"Rosa" and Pearl eating "grande" (i.e. Mexico-size) watermelon slices!

A horrifying spider was found on one of the girls' beds, and here it is about to be dispatched!

They said it had baby spiders and egg sacs all over it!

Well, other than spiders, the cousins and friends are having an absolute blast. 

God sent a downpour yesterday to freshen the air and send water in the middle of the worst drought in 100 years, Rose texted. 

Yesterday afternoon or evening, the group walked over to the community hall to decorate it for VBS and to practice skits. Before going inside, they washed their hands and feet in water that was coming off the roof. There is a VERY short supply of water, so they are having to rough it.

 

"The Best Revenge"--To Live a Joyful, Godly, Productive Life

The best revenge, I read one time, is to live well. 

I think this or a similar quote was in one of Dr. Laura Schlessinger's books, and I thought about it again this morning when I was overwhelmed, as I am every once in a while, with memories and thoughts about a situation that still causes me pain every time I think about it. 

(which is why generally it is a good idea to just stop thinking about it). 

It was so full of pain that we had to leave it far behind--and we had to learn to stop carrying the pain of it with us.

Even when others choose to continue acting in ways that cause pain to us, we have a choice,

like the hands above.

Do we hang onto our toads of pain, bondage, unforgiveness, resentment, and revenge,

or do we seek to overcome by letting go of our toads and keeping our hands open to the opportunities, joys, and fullness of life that God intended for us to have?  

I reminded myself that I have found ways to overcome, and one of those ways is to lay aside those hurts and memories and go on living joyfully, godly, and productively.

When Hannah's young friend was here for a day, I enjoyed watching them having fun together and helping together with pulling mint and rhubarb, and then washing and cutting and freezing that rhubarb that is still bearing.

When Crystal passed her tests after her week of ACE supervisor training last week and texted me this picture, I was filled with joy.

Despite problems we have faced, God hasn't allowed our lives to be fruitless and barren. He is helping our children (my most important priority) to make right choices and to live in joy and peace. This week Sam was the only one on call sometimes at the fire station since the chief and assistant chief were both gone. He was the one on duty when different medical calls came in. He was the one checking blood sugar of someone basically unconscious, administering the first aid glucose (whatever you call it, he says it is like toothpaste, really yucky!) and calling in AMT backup. This morning while the rest of us were gone to church, he was on another call, with similar responsibilities, arriving to church quite late, but having helped to save a life in simple ways.

Last week, cousins arrived from Missouri on Thursday, in time for supper. They rotated the tires on our van in preparation for them and Carrie and Rose driving it down to Mexico (right through Albuquerque where Crystal was busy on her last day of training) to help out on a mission with a Vacation Bible School. 

I watched as they had a little time that evening to ride the horse while switching belongings from their minivan to our larger van.

 

 The best revenge is to live joyfully. 

The best revenge is to have none.

To let God retain the right to vengeance and to justice.

To remember that apart from His grace, all I myself would deserve would be eternal vengeance.

And that if I would desire to obtain mercy in the last day,

I must also show mercy to others.

  Rather than plot my vengeance and live with bitterness oozing from my life,

I choose to live with gratitude, forgiveness, joy, and love.

And then God Himself fills up my life with a fullness I could only imagine!