This week I took more time to relax, enjoy the gorgeous weather, and get ready for Easter.
Monday I tried out a new life group and had a blast hanging out with everyone. It is the first group that, instead of following after Pastor David’s sermon, started our own discusssion. It was interesting to see why everyone believed what they do about Christianity.
Tuesday I worked at OTWH again. It was busier than it had been last week. But with 4 people, we were able to have two walk people through and two restock the shelves. We had received 6 boxes from Market Street and Emma and I were able to get the boxes emptied and get the shelves restocked from the storeroom. At the end of the day, we had a lady stop by and ask for help for a guy in Abilene. He was young about 19 or 20 and when he had graduated high school and turned 18, his parents had left him behind when they moved and he has been struggling ever since. She said that he is struggling socially and survives off a can or two of vegetables a day. Everything he does is within walking distance from where is he staying, which makes doing everyday things (like going to the laundromat and getting groceries) difficult. Diane and I went through the pantry and pulled everything he would need for the week. In total I believe it was a little over 3 boxes worth of items we sent; including toilet paper, detergent, cereal, noodles, mac and cheese, all sorts of canned everything, and on and on. The lady also told us about a sale that would be happening the next day at HEB where everything was $1. She told us that HEB frequently did these sales to get rid of any overstock and it would be great way for us to stock up on some much needed items.
Which brings us to Wednesday. I got up early and headed out to HEB. I arrived at 8am and joined the queue. By the time it opened at 9 there was over 30 people in line with their baskets ready to go. Once the manager said ‘Go’ all 30 shot into the sale area and pandemonium began. Think Black Friday, but instead of TVs and video games it was giant folgers containers and shampoo for $1. Most were filling up their carts with with as much as they could hold. At check out time, everything was cash and all barcodes had to be marked through (to keep people from returning the items for more cash). I wound up getting three boxes full of our most needed items for $100, easily 5x less than what it would have been normally. I was able to get a before picture and one with the end of the queue, but no pictures of the chaos.
Wednesday was also the Passover meal at Beltway. I have been to the Passover before and I always enjoy going. For those that have never been I’ll give a brief description. The celebration is done at Beltway Church and everything is already laid out on the table. It’s a Jewish tradition to celebrate when they were liberated from slavery from the Egyptians. At Beltway, we also tie it to when Jesus celebrated the Passover with his desciples. We have a Jewish rabbi perform the Passover for us and much of it is in Hebrew. They do serve a supper and everything is explained as we go through the ceremony.
Thursday I finished handing out brochures about our STC cleanup Sunday April 23rd to those houses that were missed on Wednesday night. I finished the day off by working at OTWH that evening and packed and headed to Lake Brownwood to be with my family for Easter. We had a total of 24 at the lake even though we were missing 7.
I’ve spent the rest of the week and Easter at the lake. It’s been great to be able to relax and spend time with family. Hope everyone had a great Easter and is enjoying the rain and sunshine!
