December 13, 2025
Susan Hoover
Dear family and friends,
Greetings in the most precious Name of Jesus, the Son of God who is the Saviour of the world! To as many as received Him, to them He gave power to become the sons of God. But sadly, His own, the ones He came for, did not receive Him. Are we receiving Him today? Do we have room for Him in our hearts? Sometimes in the midst of all our busyness, we may forget what is really most important. Let us allow Him to have free course in our lives.
So soon, the year of 2025 is drawing to a close. Where has the time gone? Into eternity, is what my mother used to say. Yes, and what have we accomplished that really counts for eternity! Have we worked toward the love and unity that God desires for His children to achieve? This is not only a nice suggestion. Repeatedly throughout the New Testament, God commands us to live in peace with each other, to find unity, and to love one another. This does not mean that we will always agree 100% with everything that everybody else is doing, but it is also very clearly commanded that we are not to judge one another. Keeping our own lives in order and in His line of blessing is enough, without looking on others' lives and judging them without knowing all the facts.
These last few weeks I have had a lot of time to reflect, pray, meditate, and read. I am still recovering from my knee surgery which took place on November 25. It makes me feel bad at times, that I sit here not able to lend much of a hand right now, when there is much to do. But it has also been a blessing to be able to slow down for a time, and focus on heart issues and draw closer to God. All things work together for good!
Peter has been such a blessing, a good caregiver, and taking over a lot of the work that I usually do. He has been doing the laundry on days when Tina Hildebrand is not here, besides the care of the elderly men which is really what he loves to do. He has such a heart for them. The love of God that is in his heart, pours forth to the old and helpless. And they all just love him in return!
He has also been doing our own laundry. I hope I can soon be back on my feet more, but at the time I still need to baby that knee quite a bit. I had an appointment on Thursday (11th) with the surgeon again. Everything looks good, healing has gone well. He took the stitches out but bandaged it up again, as he said the skin still is not quite healed and needs just a bit more time. The nurse encouraged me to continue with the exercises that she showed me -- stretching, bending, raising, etc. It's important that the knee will be functional and flexible! They also gave me permission to start walking, with the aid of a walker, just a little bit each day. Starting in slowly, and not putting a whole lot of weight on that leg yet. It is important to let the inside heal as well! If we are in too much of a hurry, we may do damage to the inside of the knee. And we wouldn't want that to happen. So I am starting to walk a bit, not too much yet. I find that it aches afterwards, if I do it too long. So sometimes it's hard to judge just how much is enough, and how much is too much! But the nurse said, if what you are doing hurts, then just stop doing it for the time being, and wait a bit longer. So, I'm trying to be good, and patient! In the meantime, I marvel at what a miracle healing really is.
Today there were a few crates of tomatoes to work up. Peter started on them before lunch, then after lunch the kitchen girls took over.
In the last couple of weeks, two of our elderly men have passed away. Both of them were blind. And both of them spent the last weeks of their lives, being very ill. We are reminded, time and time again, that our lives are short, and time is fleeting. May we be prepared when our time comes!
We have rented an apartment just down the street from this Home, and will probably be moving this coming week or the next week. It will be nice to have a bit more space, and privacy. It is small, but big enough for the two of us. Two bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen/living room open area. It is a new building, three apartments, and no one is living there at the time! It's really nice, painted white inside, and a white tile floor. We will clean it before we move in, and it's not even really very dirty. But I'm off my feet right now --- but we have loving friends with caring hearts that are glad to help us! Mrs Henry Friesen and her daughters offered to come clean it before we move in, and are planning to do so on Monday afternoon. I appreciate it so much. There is nothing in there yet, so it should not take long to clean. We have bought some furniture and appliances but haven't put them in yet. So, things are moving along! We told the Home board that we are willing to help here at the Home yet for two more years. That should be easy to do with the apartment as close as it is. Easy walking distance.
Another Mennonite couple has come to help for a few months here. Ben and Justina Knelsen, from Rio Verde colony which is about 3 hours from here. They have been here to visit a few times since we came, and now they came to stay for at least 3 months or longer. We have quickly come to appreciate them and wonder how we ever died without them! They are such a help, and it is also so very good for us to have another Christian couple living right here on the place, providing daily fellowship for us! God is good. The Knelsens only have one room here too, and today I heard that they may indeed be moving into another of those apartments, where we are going! That would be wonderful!
On Wednesday Justina and I went to an auction sale on Bergthal colony. An elderly widow passed away there, and the family made an auction sale of her household effects. Most things went pretty expensive, but I did manage to snag a very good deal on a washing machine! In very good condition, it is what they call a spinner washer. Double tub. The washer on one side and the spinner on the other. Exactly what I wanted! I had one like that in Costa Rica and I really liked it. You can do more than one load in the same water, so it is efficient that way too.
There were also stainless steel kettles that I would have liked to buy, but they went way too high. Justina wanted some of them too, but we both agreed we can buy new ones for that price or less. I think the family of the widow got a lot of the stuff for sentimental value, so they chased the prices up. Well, at least Justina and I had an enjoyable outing! We stopped at our usual grocery store on the way home, and had another pleasant surprise -- we met Bennie and Eva Bergen and had a nice chat. Bennie is the elder at our church.
I've also been blessed with some visitors since my surgery. Bennie and Eva Bergen came last Saturday evening, and one day three ladies from church came and spent an enjoyable hour or two. Sylvia Peters, Elma Heinrichs, and Christina Buhler. They brought fresh cucumbers, canned peaches, and Christmas cake! The Bergens also brought food -- a jar of soup, more cucumbers, frozen meat, and another Christmas cake.
Tomorrow afternoon there is a singing/trumpet-playing group coming here to the Home. Refreshments served after the program.
And, we look forward to the worship meeting in the morning! Peter has had to miss the last two Sundays because of various reasons. Last Sunday the worker who was on duty needed to take his child to the doctor, so Peter needed to stay home with the old folks. And the Sunday before that, was the first Sunday after my surgery and I needed to keep my leg straight out the front of me yet, so neither of us went. So it will be nice to be able to go together again, tomorrow if the Lord wills!
May we be faithful in watching and praying as we wait for Jesus to come again!
Because He lives,
Susan for the Hoovers