Like a tree by the water… Jeremiah 17:8

"They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it shall not be anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit."

This afternoon it is 89 degrees and sunny in Nuevo Laredo, according to the Weather Channel....and according to those of us here:) Hot and dry! So where do you see water on a day like today? Each day, at Casa Hogar we are reflecting on water; the water we see, drink, wash with, and carry around with us in bottles...etc. We need water to live. We can't live without it!

So where do you see water? 

I love the cacti. These succulent plants are brilliant at holding water in dry and hot places! 

And you know what? 

So was Jesus...He shared Living Water of God's love 

in some very spiritually dry places 

So,...where do you see Living Water today?

Where today can you invite someone to taste a spirtual drink of cool water?

God is wireless all the time

God is wireless all the time :) 

OMG!..that's all I can say! Sunday morning was an OMG moment,...was a "higher than a kite" morning! I was flying in the "we"-Cloud mountain top experience! (vs. my "i"Cloud)

Something we've been dreaming about happened. Many have been talking about  somehow chatting live, -a Skype or video chat with All Saints Church while we are at Casa Hogar Elim...and it happened:) With the Sunday school children from Minnetonka and the children in Nuevo Laredo it was "a live" moment ...all together!

Here we could see eachother, talk, introduce one another, sing, laugh, pray as one large group...and we even played the colored children's bells "Joy to the World"! It was absolute Joy !!! It was marvelous!

 It was a total team endeavor of North and South, English and Spanish, from digital natives (technology wise teens and young adults) to digital immigrants (we middle agers)...blending cameras and laptops, mixing Macs and PC's ...all teaching eachother while crossing our fingers through unreliable network coverages and over stretched extension cords ...all for a common goal just to be "live" together :) WOW! And we did it!

And right after the event... So excited!!! Wanting to post and blog about this fabulous moment,... We lost signal again...and again...and most of the day...we never could post a blog. In fact, reflecting, we had great trouble getting Wi-Fi signal right before this OMG "live" moment...

Not having Wi-Fi afterwards didn't inhibit us, for as the day continued, we had even more Joy and "slices of heaven" with our friends at Casa Hogar:) 

Yet how odd, that we had solid Wi-Fi and phone service only during Sunday School time? ...Which led to our "Ah-haa" moment:)

As we began to talk about it, we knew what the blog was to be, the story we were supposed to tell:) 

God is always wireless ...

and invites us to answer when He calls us:) 

He has the best "Friends and Family" plan ever....and that's His Plan:)

Post means after

Live means present:)

Thanks be to God:)

Out of the believer's heart...shall flow living water...

John 7:37

Saturday, on our way to CHE, (Casa Hogar Elim), we stopped to pick up some water....something we knew we couldn't do without. As we arrived at CHE, we were greeted by many friends! How wonderful to be invited to stay and be in our dear friends' home this week :) As we hugged each other, unpacked, talked, played, sang, painted, cooked, cleaned, shared pictures, ate together, and then at the close of the day, sang and prayed together...we thought about water...It's our theme of the week, and it's where our VBS's are flowing this summer :) 

Here we are,... in a generally dry hot place, ...So, where did we see water today? And where did we feel so alive, that it made our hearts feel forever quenched beyond our imaginations?

Buenos dias amigos!

We are blessed to be here! ...here in Laredo, Texas at LALM:) We arrived very late ...or shall I say very early this morning. We needed to take a detour to Corpus Christi ...going around a very large cloud last evening. A beautiful cloud ...whose nimbus was a little too cumulo! It was a "we" cloud...vs. an iCloud ...it was a cloud for everybody to see and enjoy...from a far:)

Blessings and enjoy the day! Watch for Mexico posts later today! Thanks for traveling with us!

Prayers as we cross the border:)

Penny:)

This is the day...let us rejoice!

This is the day...this is the day...that the Lord has made...let us rejoice... and be glad in it:)

This is the day... I get to join a team of 34 people at the airport today and begin on a journey to Laredo, Texas and then to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. This week we get to be guests in the homes of some very special people. First, we will stay with our friends at LALM, Latin American Lutheran Missions, who will accompany us across the border to Mexico. Then tomorrow we will be guests in the home of our special friends at Casa Hogar Elim, the orphanage we help support through All Saints Lutheran Church.

I feel so privileged to travel with such a beautiful group of people!...and that includes you!
I invite you to travel along with us this week through these blogs; through stories, pictures and prayers:) 

And I rejoice in knowing our friend Jesus is always with us...and I love how he continually asks me to carry my baggage...how sweet is that?! :) So that we can travel "light"  Thank you:)

Here is the direct link to the Mexico blog

http://casahogar2014.blogspot.com/ 

Blessings and Joy to you ... for this is the day:)

Penny

"Tell the kids I love them"  -God

The past 2 weeks, some of the Mexico Team came to Sunday School to meet the children and share about their upcoming journey.

Lenten Schedule

Sundays:

9:30 and 11:00 am Sunday School

Head into church, and after the Children's Moment, the kids are "Missed" for Sunday school.

Wednesdays during the Lenten Season:

(March 12 - April 9)

5:30 pm      Lenten Soup Supper family time (ends April 2)

6:00 pm      Hosanna Choir (preschool to 2nd grade) in the Noah Room

(down one floor, near the library)

Alleluia Choir (3rd -6th grade) in the Choir Room

(all the way downstairs, in the undercroft area)

6:0

7:00 pm      Worship in the Sanctuary -  Holden Prayer Service

(about 45 minutes)

Special Events:

Sunday the 16th

9:30 &11 am Sunday School meets the Mexico Team

We LOVE to see you there!

Blessings,

Penny

pmeschke@allsaintsmtka.org

A lesson in Temptation

Family Guide for Lent

Questions to ask your children about Lent

What does Lent mean in Latin?  (Old English language)

What is the color of the Lenten season?  (purple)

How long does Lent last?  (40 days)

Did you know...we don’t count the Sundays in Lent in the 40 days

(Sundays are little Easters in Lent)

When does Lent begin and end?  (Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday)

Where do we find Lent in the Bible?

(We don’t…it was developed by the church long ago)

What do we do during the season of Lent?

(Think & pray to help us get our hearts ready for Easter)

This year the children on Wed and in Sunday School made ashes that we put on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday. We burned the palms that we saved from last year’s Palm Sunday with a couple twigs from the Christmas tree that was from the Sanctuary. Through this, we remember Jesus from his birth to riding a donkey on Palm Sunday to giving of his life. We made the mark of the cross as a sign of devotion to Christ and the invitation to live fully with him. We remember we are dust and to dust we will return, and also, as Christ was raised we too shall rise.

Each Wednesday, we invite you to pause as a family and community, have soup together, talk about family faith questions on the dinner tables, and participate in the Holden Evening Prayer with families and friends. It’s a comfortable and sing-able worship service for children. Also, watch for the Lenten Family Guide.

March 12-April 9th: 5:30 pm Soup suppers

                                6:00 pm: Children and Youth Choirs

                                7:00 pm: Holden Evening Prayer Worship Service

 

 

Blessings and warm wishes,

Penny

 

pmeschke@allsaintsmtka.org

952-934-3550 ex.18

 

Placing the ashes on our foreheads in the sign of the cross has two meanings: first, a sign of humility (originally dust on the forehead was an indicator that one had bowed her or his head all the way to the ground in repentance and prayer before God) and second, a reminder that it is in Christ’s cross that we have access to unending life. - See more here.

This is a "we cloud" !