June 5-11
Susan Hoover
Dear family and friends,
Greetings once again in the dear and worthy Name of Jesus, in whom we place our trust and confidence. As He has promised, He will never leave us nor forsake us. He never has, and He never will.
Once again, the week is slipping by! Sunday morning Lamar had the message, I'm not sure if he had a title as such or not, but the main idea was Confidence, (in God) and the Vanity of Riches. There are many things that money can buy, but it cannot buy satisfaction and happiness. It cannot buy a good life, or peace with God. Are we laying up treasures in Heaven, where moth and rust cannot corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal? Our confidence needs to be in God, not in earthly riches or treasure.
Our family (which still included Julian) was invited to Lamar and Lori's for lunch. Came home afterwards and had naps. There was a service again in the evening -- singing and spontaneous sharing. An inspiring evening, as always.
Monday was a rather
sad day, as Julian left. We (Lamar, Peter, Angel, and I) left
here at about 6:30 a.m. to take him to the Dulles
International airport near Washington. His flight was to leave
at 10:00. He flew on COPA Airlines, which is a Panamanian
airline. It was hard to let him go ... we enjoyed his time
here with us so much! But life moves on and brings changes. He
had several hours layover in Panama City, then flew on to
Bogota, Colombia in the evening and stayed there overnight and
for the whole next day. He did some exploring, took a tour of
the city, etc. and late that evening he flew to Asuncion,
Paraguay, getting there about 4:30 a.m. Stanley, Sara and
their children had come to the city the day before and stayed
overnight in a motel, so Stanley was at the airport to pick
him up. So now he is safely there, having arrived at Campo 9,
where they live, just a short while ago.
Now we look forward to having Stefania come yet, but we have not heard yet exactly when that will be.
I mentioned last week that my mom had gone to Manitoba for the weekend, with my brother Peter and his wife Dorothy. Well, they and I together, managed to arrange for my mom and Peters to meet Stefania and her traveling companion, (Sarah Anne Trevor from Tasmania) at a coffee shop in Carman, Manitoba, on Sunday afternoon!! So they did, and it sounds like they had a marvellous time! I am so tickled that it worked out! They spent a couple of very enjoyable hours together. My mother appreciated so much being able to meet her grand-daughter whom she doesn't get to see very often!
Monday after we got
back from the airport I still got some baking done. Tuesday
was laundry day and I also cleaned some windows. Some of my
windows were pretty finger printed already! We are having
lovely warm summer days -- just right for laundry and window
cleaning. Yesterday morning I went early to do some grocery
shopping at Walmart -- needed to stock up on some baking
supplies. And since Angel has a job now, if I need the car I
need to use it earlier than what she goes to work! I used to
always just be able to walk down to school and get the car
when I needed it, but not anymore. Anyway after I had done my
shopping I decided to stop in at Lowe's and surprise Peter!
And surprise him I did! He was busily watering plants
--hundreds and probably thousands of flower plants in the
garden center there at Lowe's. It was fun stopping in to say
hi.
Today being
Wednesday, I did laundry for Joe and also did a whole bunch of
baking for the store. Am making some chicken broth and working
on a sheet pan meal to take to church for supper tonight ...
so there is always plenty to do around here.
Saturday afternoon. A gentle rain has been falling for much of the day today -- gentle showers of blessing to water the thirsty earth! Gardens and lawns are happy. It has not been overly dry so far, but not really wet either. Rain is welcome.
The rest of our week has gone pretty normally, except we did have some very welcome guests yesterday! On Monday we had received a message from David and Starla Goodwin, who are here in PA for a few weeks to visit family. (They live in Chile, South America). They wanted to come visit us too, so we arranged for Friday afternoon. And so yesterday they came -- just the two of them. We had an excellent visit. We could hardly get done talking -- they stayed for nearly five hours till they pulled themselves away! There was much to catch up on, much to discuss. We found it a real blessing and are so glad they wanted to come see us. As some of you readers might remember, we moved to Chile with the Goodwin family in 1999. We had six children, and they had six as well, then there were three single youth from Shippensburg who moved along with us. Between our two families, we had three babies -- the Goodwins had twin boys who were 9 months old, and our Julian was not quite a year old. And with various other toddlers and small children, this was no small undertaking! We all lived together in one large old German house near Puerto Octay in Chile -- all 19 of us. (And the house had only one bathroom ...😉). Many challenges, but nothing that could not be overcome!
So that was like 22 years ago. The children grew up. All the Goodwin children are in Chile at present, although a number of them have served in various other places, such as Bolivia and Paraguay, and one has taken some nurses' training in Virginia, USA. And the Hoover children are scattered from Manitoba to Minnesota to Pennsylvania to Paraguay! We had a snack, or a mini-meal, together. After not seeing each other for 20 years, there was much to talk about and ask about!
Angel left yesterday after school, for Rockingham Virginia, to spend the weekend with the Martin family who are there to attend Shenandoah Music Camp, which is a yearly thing and lasts for a week. They have been there all week already and tomorrow is the program which they give at the end of the week each year. A bunch of our City Light people are going.
Today Peter worked at Lowe's from 5:30 till 11:00. When he got home and cleaned up a bit, we went out to eat lunch at China King, here in Waynesboro. Incredibly good food, and cheap. It's a buffet, all-you-can-eat type of deal. The lunch buffet is $8.75 per person and there is a large variety, food of all kinds and very delicious!
I got a few groceries
at Martins supermarket then since we were right there anyway,
then we came home and Peter went for a nap. When he gets up,
he and I want to go to Greencastle to clean at Plastec
Profiles.
Yesterday morning while Peter was at work he called me and said that there are several racks of plants at Lowe's, on clearance. He said they look a bit sad and droopy but he thought some TLC and water could revive them. So I decided to go take a look. I ended up buying about half a dozen rather sad-looking plants at half price. Good deal! I brought them home and planted them. Some of them look very nice by now. There are a few begonias, pink and red. And a vivid pink-and-white wave petunia, and a few others. I love my flowers -- their bright blooms are always cheering!
"Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake His way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." Isaiah 55:7.
With that I will close, wishing you all a blessed weekend! Serve the Lord with gladness!
Love,
Susan for the Hoovers