Tomorrow's the Big Day!

Camp 2010 is officially underway. Of course the devil is doing his best to hamper all efforts. As I write, my printers are giving me fits.
We are looking forward to a great year.

On a side note, we had 161 people in Church yesterday. That's a new record. It was a special occasion, we had a baptism. We had many visitors come see their friends and loved ones get baptized. One visitor, a pentecostal, told me that she didn't like our church at all! She said that the preaching was OK, but that the music was sorely lacking. Oh well, you can't please everyone!

Among those baptized was an 85 year-old man. It took forever to get him up the stairs to the baptistry, down the ladder into the baptistry and the up the ladder again, and down the stairs.
It took more time to baptize him than the other 12 all together! Well, its never to late to get baptized.

We hope all who have been working hard to bring visitors continue, and that people will continue to be saved and grow in the Lord.

Camp!

Only 11 more days!

Its going to start getting wild around here. Neil is writing the devotional booklets, which I will type and print. Mom is doing all the decorating and another gazillion things that need to be done. We shop for the food next week. Our special speaker arrives from Cal. next Friday.

I am looking for a theme song for the family camp. We are doing "The Fruit of the Spirit" Each family will be a different fruit. Mom made me a fruit hat á la Carmen Miranda. Its a good thing I am not afraid to look silly! Two years ago, she put Neil in a black vest and hat, a sherriff's star and a fake mustache. It was a hoot.

Youth camp will be the following week. The theme is "A Special Treasure" I already have a theme song for that. Mom is going to do a treasure hunt.

I've got a bunch of stuff to print up.



If I don't post soon, you'll know why!

"Attempt great things for God,

Expect great things from God!" I hope I got that quite right, I might have gotten it backwards. It is from William Carey, missionary to India.

The Lord has blessed our church greatly, but in the past two years, we fell into a rut, attendance -wise. We hovered around 100. We won new people, but lost others. Six weeks ago, the Preacher got all the SS teachers and leaders together and made a challenge. We wanted to get to 150 by September, 2010. He laid out a visitation schedule and we got to work. Almost immediately we began to see progress. We averaged 120 for about 4 weeks.

Yesterday was the best so far. Nothing special, no give-aways. (we never do that) Just hard work. God sent 148 people to our Church yesterday. Yea!!!!!

Now, we no longer are expceting 150 from God. We're kicking it up to 170!

New Year's Eve menu

I am the world's greatest NYE party pooper. I hate staying up late! Here, NYE is a biggie. Big cookout, mostly lamb or mutton, which I dislike. But everyone has an Asado.

One year, when we were living up on the hill, overlooking Loncoche, I had the brilliant idea of making Pastel de Choclo, corn pie, instead of a cookout. Neil agreed and Mom and I undertook the work of Pastel de Choclo. As we sat out on the porch eating our delicious Pastel, something incredible happened. We could smell the meat of all the people cooking in the town below us! All of a sudden, our pastel didn't have that smell! We are quite the carnivores, so our corn-laden goodness came up short!

Lesson learned, this year like all the rest, we are having an Asado!

Merry Christmas!

An Arias Christmas, part 1

For my birthday in October, I wanted to order the movie "The shop around the corner" What I found at Amazon was this. I ordered it in November. It arrived on Dec 23. Can you believe it? Just in time!
We've had a great Christmas season. My bigger kids are at the time when they realize that Christmas is not just the day, but the planning, buying, baking, wrapping, all through the month.
To top it off, we watched "Christmas in Connecticut" yesterday afternoon. We had never seen it. I don't think Ronnie enjoyed it too much, but the girls did! What a fun way to kick off the celebration!

An Arias Christmas, part 2

We had our Chrsitmas Eve service at 7. The choir sang four songs. Every seemed to enjoy it. We even had a special guest. The mayor of Lanco came to our service last night! But even better than that, we had 3 people who trusted Christ for salvation. Our table, ready to go. We had crock-pot BBQ ribs, baked potatoes and 7 layer salad. I was going to make several desserts, but ended making only peanut butter squares. Yummy! And quite extravagant for these parts. No one uses up their peanut butter so rashly unless it is Christmas! Of course we each had our very own can of Dr. Pepper. No sharing tonight!

Imp!

My boy!

An Arias Christmas, part 3

Here's my big girl, who is now 14. We hardly get any shots of her because she is the family photgrapher!

A lovely gift for Daddy

Inside this big box are several other packages, one inside the other. The ring my husband had made for me was in the middle. Eileen loves wrapping packages that way! Its a hoot, unless you're the one opening the gift.

Vanessa was entralled, even if the gifts weren't for her!

A glass of Christmas cheer!

Oh yes! A whole case of Dr.Pepper! Originally priced at a dollar fifty a can, we found it on sale for 50 cents! Hip, hip, Hurrah!

A Christmas letter

My Grandma sent me this lovely graphic, and this letter was sent to me by dear friend, Wanda.

Letter from Jesus about Christmas --

It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season.
How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Now, having said that let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn. If all My followers did that there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.

Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish; I actually spoke of that one in a teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15: 1 - 8.

If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:

1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.

2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.

3. Instead of writing the President complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up... It will be nice hearing from you again.

4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.

5 Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.

6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.

7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn't make so much money on that day they'd close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families

8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary-- especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.

9. Here's a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Salvation Army or some other charity which believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you.

10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine. Don't forget; I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I'll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love and remember :
I LOVE YOU,
JESUS

Just a thought........

My Christmas table

Seeing that Christmas is essentially an eating holiday, its a blessing to have Christmas dishes.
Years ago, I bought a cheap(read-ugly) set from Kmart. Of all of the things that were lost in the house fire, those were the least-missed. Two years ago I had the opportunity to buy these and I am so happy!


We eat off Christmas china everyday in December. So far, we've only brocken one salad plate!
I know that dishes get broken, but my family is special, and I 'd rather have a few broken dishes, than a cupboard full of unused dishes waiting for something "special".

Please indulge this mama!

My sweet baby loves to look out the window!
Her Daddy gives her Oreos!
Looks like her sister is training her to be a model. Hmmmm. we'll have to have a Talk about that!

I wish I had more time

I love Christmas time! I love any excuse to give gifts and bake. I love the festive decorations. I am big on nostalgia. Ronnie said the other day that he wished the Christmas would come sooner, but I need the whole month! In fact, next year, we are going to start the day after thanksgiving!

I have done better this year. I got several cards off to my nearest and dearest. Well, most of them!

I have a feeling that Christmas in heaven will be even better. We'll get to celebrate Jesus' birthday, and He'll actually be there for the celebration!

My Christmas house!

We absolutely love our tree. Both of my older children tell me that they could stare at it for hours and not get tired of it! Me too. Vanessa is learning the meaning of "Don't touch!" It hasn't been entirely pleasant for her.

Thanksgiving

It was great!
The final menu was,
Rhonda:
Turkey
dressing
mashed potatoes
pumpkin pie
watergate salad
multigrain rolls
chocolate mousse

Brenda:
corn pudding
seven layer salad
cranberry jello salad
green beans


I think that was it. There was food everywhere. We had a wonderful time of food and fellowship. Bro. Phil is encouraging my fed-up-with-his-PC husband to get Macs. Fine by me. We have been plagued with computer viruses.
Brenda showed me some really cool websites with crafts for Sunday School.
We also Wii'd a while. I am beginning to enjoy Thanksgiving more and more as I grow older.

We are gearing up for Christmas. Tree and decorations go up on Monday. Yeah!! I am thinking about how I will paint my windows this year.

Blessings!

The last ladies meeting of the year!

We had a soup and salad dinner. We had a salad competition. Above you can see some of the better entries. The salad "clock" won!. I taught about the power of praising God in all situations of our life. It was a great night, but I am glad the weekly meetings are over for a while. I'll be readly to start again, come Fall. South American Fall, that is, maybe Arpil, 2010. Do your faithfully attend your church's ladies Bible study? If not, you might be missing out on a huge blessing!

Do you at

Here it is!!!!

Dear Ms. Arias,



Thank you for providing evidence of physical presence in the United States for the periods of August 1994 to December 1995 (16.5 months), December 2000 to June 2001 (6.5 months), July 2004 to Jan 2005 (5.5 months), and August 2007 to Jan 2008 (5 months), for a total of approximately 33.5 months.



This, in addition to the evidence you submitted previously, is sufficient to proceed with the application for the Consular Report of Birth Abroad for your daughter, Vanessa Elena Arias. We will proceed with the application today


Yahoo and Praise the Lord!!!!!
Now, there is a good reason to give thanks

Vanessa's paperwork

We finally compiled several years worth of documentation to send to the US Embassy. It should have arrived there last Tuesday. We sent it by courier, so I know that it is not lost in the mail. The thing is that I have not heard from the charming vice-consul. I don't know if that is good or bad. I figure that if it were bad, he would have contacted me. By the same token, I expected to be contacted if the documentation was adequate. At any rate, we still don't know, so please pray. If this doesn't work, we'll have to go another red-tape route that will cost several hundred dollars more. Yuck!

What happens when your husband is tone deaf

My Dear Preacher husband used to be entirely tone deaf. Sitting next to him in Church during the song service was torture. When he was in Bible School, he tried to sing in the choir. The director finally broke down and told him just to lip-sync.

Anyway, he doesn't know if someone is singing good or badly. Now, I sing. Not great, mind you, but I love to sing. I started our ladies choir a while back. They are OK, not great.

So, Neil is at the conference in Argentina this past week, and they were planning one for next year here in Chile. He proudly offers my choir and ME to provide special music. Yikes! Oh, yeah, and they want me to be the pianist. Huh? My piano playing is "iffy" at best. I mean, its good for our Church where there's nobody better. Oh boy, we had all better get to practicing!

Dressing, a Thankgiving recipe

Julie Mom, this one's for you. I do warn you, however, that my recipes are not exact. I bake with exact measure, but the rest of my cooking is more "iffy". As one lady put it, I never get tired of my own cooking because nothing ever comes out the same way twice!

Dressing (or Stuffing) whatever you like to call it!
5 cups stale bread cubes
5 cups cornbread, roughly cubed
1/4 cup butter
1 onion, chopped
2 cups chopped celery
chicken or turkey broth, about 2 cups
1 egg
salt
pepper
sage


mix the bread cubes together
Saute the onion and celery in butter until crisp-tender
Add to bread
Add the egg, slighlty whisked, to broth
Pour the broth-egg mixture over the bread and stir until wet but no dripping.
Add salt, pepper and sage to taste

Pour into a buttered casserole dish, cover with foil and bake at medium for about an hour.

We love this stuff!