Random Musings and Thoughts

One day recently when Patty was helping out at Kids Club at Canoas Elementary School, a girl she didn't know came up and asked Patty if she knew Cosmo (our Golden Retriever)! Our dog is more known around the neighborhood than we are. We can be walking Cosmo down the street and the kids will yell his name out and not say anything to us! We recognize he opens doors for us. He is a lovable, very gentle dog and the kids love him. Below is a picture of our neighbor Mario enjoying Cosmo. This little boy used to be afraid of Cosmo but not anymore.

One of the things that Patty does is sell soda and chips from our apartment. We found this to be a great way to keep the kids in contact with us. Some are no longer involved with the Center but they still come by to buy chips or soda and say hello. (Hot Cheetos is our biggest seller by the way!) I also found out today that there is another lady in the neighborhood who also sells sodas but she is more expensive. So does that make us the Walmart of the community?

For Patty's birthday I bought her a Wii game console. We thought that it would be fun for us older people to be able to enjoy some gaming that is at our level. Over the almost 2 months we have had it, Patty and I seldom have played it! Not much time but as you can see below the kids love it and are over often to play. (there is actually a kid here now playing while I am writing this! He doesn't want me to play with him since I am so bad.)

To help raise some money to go on various trips, we have been invited to help at the snack shop at the Saratoga Little League. It is run by a local Kiwanis Club and when the kids work there, the Center gets a portion of the profits. Its a lot of fun and and exciting to watch the kids learn how to sell. (I am writing this portion on another day and just got interupted to do some first aid on a cut! never boring around here!) Below are a few of the kids at the snack shack with Gary.

To get to the Saratoga park where the games are played you have to drive through some of the really nice neigborhoods of Saratoga. Patty was commenting to the kids how nice the houses were. One kid responded that he wouldn't want to live there. There was nobody outside. It would be boring compared to Farm Drive where there are always lots of people out and about!

One of the exciting things/changes we have seen happen recently is in a teenage girl. She would have been described as a person you don't really want to have around. She was very disrespectful, used bad langauge, was loud, was always getting in trouble and helped incite others to get into trouble... just not a very pleasant person.
She has dramatically changed recently. She says she wants to change and no longer live the way she has. She now is a very pleasant person to have around. It is like night and day. God got ahold of her heart and is forming her into a new image! Wow, God is performing a miracle right before our eyes!

One of the things that Patty and I are learning to do is use every moment and opportunity that comes by. How can each encounter with another person be used to show the love of Jesus?