Where did the year go?

 I cannot believe the end of November is here already and Thanksgiving is next week!     I am doing some cleaning this weekend to prepare for next week's holiday.   I enjoy turkey all year-round but especially on Thanksgiving Day so I can eat all the traditional things that go with it for this special holiday.   Perhaps, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year.    

I told one lady at church that anyone without family or would be lonely on Thanksgiving could come to our house.   An older man who lost his wife two years ago, came up to us last Sunday and said he would like to come.    We did not recall even meeting him but its still possible we have met.   Learning names and keeping people straight at a new church is like making a new friend every week at our age!

Ron has been going swimming every morning while the pool is empty so he can get in 30+ minutes of exercise.   The pool is heated but if there's a breeze, it is cool when getting out of the water.   I don't usually go in so I have his towel ready to drape around him when he gets out.   The sun will quickly warm him up.

Not so the last two days as a cold front reached us in Florida.    It was 58 this morning!    We have had a strong breeze for two days and our high of the day has only been in the 60's.    Ron is missing his swimming but we can start back on Monday as it will be in the 70's again.    The exercise seems to be helping him move around more, along with the medicine that has made a big difference in his life.

The morning goes fast with this activity in the mid-morning.   I don't get much computer work completed until after lunch each day.    The day goes very fast and its time to fix us a night time snack and watch news before our Bible lesson every evening.     Ron goes to bed early but I usually read for an hour or so at night to wind down from the day's activities.

As far as the work goes, we have had a number of girls being baptized.   

Most of them are in Nepal but one of the girls in Udon Thani, Thailand was baptized last Sunday.   

 

They are beginning the sewing school in Nepal again.    For several years, we had a number of girls learning to be tailors and as they completed their course, we gave them a sewing machine and supplies to start their own little business in the market of their hometown.  Since then, girls added to our safe houses have wanted to go to school to complete a high school education.   Many of them have been successful and found jobs.   Now, a few older girls want to learn tailoring so a new sewing school is being set up to start this vocational program again.   

Ronald and Gigi have been in the U.S. since October 10th.  They have reported to churches all across the south, having a combined power point presentation about Save Asian Souls' work and their work in the Philippines.  Some of our supporters have told me what a good job they are doing and how wonderful his presentations are to inform them about the work we are both doing.   

We have had a number of new sponsors to sign up and many others want more news about our work.  Ronald and Gigi will finish in Texas this weekend but they have a few more appointments in Alabama before they return home to the Philippines.

When they first arrived in the U.S. they successfully found and purchased a condo in Cartersville, GA. 

They sold the house that Ronald owned (we lived in it before moving to FL) while they were in the U.S. last spring.   They need their own place in the U.S. for Gigi's renewal of her VISA green card.  It is necessary for them to have a place when they arrive to rest a few days before their journey begins to travel and give reports.  Sometimes, they have time to come back through there to rest a few days before they head west   They need to leave things there that they only need while in the U.S.  They will move their things now in storage to the new condo on Friday, November 29th.   The lady who owned the condo left a bed in the guest room so they will sleep there on Thursday night to be available when their furniture arrives.    We are sorry they cannot come be with us for Thanksgiving but surely understand how important this move is for them.  Ronald says they will eat Thanksgiving at Cracker Barrel this year.

We look forward to ending 2024 and starting a new year.   God continues to bless us as we age and struggle with illnesses but we are able to do far more than we expected at this age.   We are so thankful for many things.  Our family is doing well and very blessed.   Our country has new hope, but we know that God is in charge and His will is what is most important.    We pray for peace and not war in the days ahead.   

May God bless you this Thanksgiving!   May you reflect on your many blessings and think less of the difficulties of life.   If we kept a journal of our blessings, we would have no time to do anything else but write down the things that make our lives so wonderful because of God's love and blessings for us.

Happy Thanksgiving Day!