Did I Do That?

Yes, I did.  Here I am in my pajamas, with a towel over my wet hair (this is true glamour my friends), holding the ticket I was issued because I set off the alarm at Hope Lutheran Church.  We have been parked in their lot this past week freely using the church facility for showering, washing dishes, heating up food in the microwave, and recording.  One little code and apparently you definitely have to press ALL the right numbers.  Imagine my embarrassment upon leaving the building after my shower to be met by my new friend Sheriff Hahn.  I guess I can be thankful no one stormed the building while I was in the shower... okay, that would have been much worse.  Officer Hahn was very kind, my ticket was a warning and he assured me it happens all the time.

I hereby declare it will not happen to me again. We leave this spot on Tuesday, and I ought to be able to keep clear of alarms until then.

Campgrounds

Some campgrounds offer a wonderful array of services and amenities.  We recently were camped in a spot in which we did not have room on the right to open our awning lest you take out your neighbor's eye, we kept our shades pulled because the view was our neighbors RV on the left.

The campground boasted a hot tub - that we could not find and a heated pool that was empty.  The gate was closed and locked at 6:00 PM, but we noticed that another guest thought as we did, "What in the world is here that needs locking up?" - the lock cable had been cut, and we merrily drove to our spot at 10:00 PM.

If we did not have the occasional awful camping experiences, we would not fully appreciate the gems--

--like this one.  We have been enjoying our stay at Hope Lutheran Church Campground in Jacksonville. Just look at the size of our campsite!  This picture does not show the awning, but it is now fully extended with tons of space to spare.  Thank you Hope Lutheran for your hospitality.

Breakfast for the Homeless

 Immanuel Lutheran in Pensacola, Florida serves breakfast to the homeless every Saturday morning at 8:00 am.  The line starts forming outside at 7:30.  Dave and I were here two years ago and helped serve breakfast. Since that time they have served nearly 100 people every Saturday morning. Immanuel Lutheran has hosted the breakfast for the last 10 years or so - that was as close a guess as anyone had.

Barb is checking on one of four kettles of oatmeal.  On this particular Saturday there were about 55 in for breakfast, but when the weather is a bit colder, say in the lower twenties, there will be about 100 people to feed.  Barb takes charge on the third Saturday of the month. 

All of the bread served at the breakfast is donated by Panera Bread. I am sure I have blogged about them before, but I will say again, if you're going out for a meal, support Panera Bread.

The following paragraph is taken from the Panera website.

"Day-End Dough-Nation

Through the Day-End Dough-Nation program, unsold bakery products are packaged at the end of each day and donated to local food banks and charities. In 2008, Panera Bread bakery-cafes collectively donated a retail value of more than 50 million dollars worth of bread and baked goods to charitable organizations helping to address the need for food distribution in our local communities. Many of these organizations are served by Feeding America, formerly America's Second Harvest, the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief organization."

Pictured is our friend, Bob who often leads the breakfast devotion and prayer prior to the meal and pictured above is his lovely wife Cyndi.

Some churches have schools, some make quilts for world relief, some support missionaries in other countries, some make diapers for aids babies, some make ground blankets for soldiers far away, some crochet prayer shawls, some do home repair for the elderly, some prepare food for the homeless, and all of these dear people love the Lord and serve him with their gifts.

Aunt Carol

 Aunt Carol lives in Green Bay, Wisconsin and here is a photo taken on our way to visit with her ------ except that she is in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida!  This photo shows the beautiful white sand drifting across the road with the Gulf of Mexico just off camera to the right.  To all of my Midwest friends: imagine the ocean is just beyond all of that blowing snow.

It was so much fun to visit with Carol in her Florida diggs with the ocean and a heated pool.  Please note how none of us are looking like we might swim anytime soon. 

Epiphany Lutheran in Tallahassee

Out my window.
It has been so long since we have parked near a school.  We just had to smile when we heard the happy laughter of preschoolers outside in the playground.

 Dave and Pastor Mark enjoyed a jam session while we were parked in the back lot.

Some people get a "Reserved," spot to park, we were given a whole back lot about ten parking spaces.  In order to get to the nice parking spot, Dave had to back haRVey down a skinny driveway, the length of about one football field, at night, while it was raining.  My help was invaluable - I stood in the rain with a flashlight.