Are we ready? The noble opportunity of praising the Lord is upon us! Pastor Joane and I have been preaching through the Bible and have finally arrived in the Psalms. The last Psalm 150 has truly touched a chord with me. Having to fight a rather nasty cold this week with typical congestion, the last sentence of this psalm speaks to me (Let everything that have breath praise the Lord.) With a full lung or partial lung, I am honored to praise the Lord!

We celebrated with the whole community at First Baptist at the annual Community Thanksgiving Service. We were singing, praying, giving, and listening to a great message of faith; then going to the fellowship hall and enjoying each other’s company. We commend the church for its great friendship and expertise making all this happen. Thanks seems like a simple expression but it is the best we have.

We will be purchasing all the items for the Thanksgiving baskets and many willing workers will be filling them and distributing them to needy families in our community. The most frustrating thing about setting up this project is not in the wondering that there be sufficient funds. It is not in the hopes that people will show up to help (some will take a day of vacation to help). The most frustrating thing is that I am certain that the most needy among us will not receive our help. Please, when finding a needy family get them to make contact so that they can receive a basket.

December 10th is the deadline to register for a Christmas basket. They will be distributed on December 19th. We have a longer Christmas break for Calhoun schools this year and we want to add extra for it. Remember, our goal is to feed the needy and not the greedy.

A few years ago, I asked a grade school aged child the meaning of Christmas. The quick response was “presents.” How so insightful! Christmas has been advertised as many different things. The true meaning of Christmas is found in John 3:16, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son.” The greatest gift came wrapped in a blanket. Once we have passed through “Thanksgiving,” we will readily embrace the Christ child.

The Chapel has many special things happening this holiday season and every person is welcomed to be a part. We are an interdenominational congregation who seeks to be a loving fellowship of followers of Jesus. We meet on each Sunday at 10:00 a.m. for Bible Study, 11:00 a,m, for morning service, and 6:00 p.m. for evening service. Each Wednesday, we have a fellowship meal at 7:00 p.m. followed by a time of breaking the Bread of Life. Everyone is urged to be apart of the Chapel’s activities and all are urged to “come and grow with us.

There is a lot going on at the Community Garden! Fall planting has begun and most of the 24 beds have started broccoli, lettuce, arugula, Brussels sprouts, Swiss chard, spinach, carrots and cabbage to name a few of the anticipated vegetables.  Our new sign has been put up and is in the process of being finished – thanks to Thomas Williams. We are also in the process of spreading crushed granite in the walkways thanks to the support from the county, James Lucas and Wild Bill Caldwell.
 
Our October program hosted Lauren Martin from Richmond, Tx. Lauren, a Master Gardener in Fort Bend County since 2006 as well as a columnist for the Fort Bend Herald Newspaper, presented Composting 101.  She did a great job giving us the “real dirt” and knowledge on how to set up composting for your home or the garden. There are so many advantages of composting- from saving room in the landfill to saving money on purchasing compost. The presentation spurred a conversation among the gardeners on the best composting system for the community gardeners. We hope to have composting bins “heating up” soon!

The Port O’Connor Community Garden Club will participate in #GivingTuesday on November 28th.  Our community is so very generous and giving to great causes that make our place better, so we are asking that you consider giving to the Community Garden.  We need a gazebo structure so we can hold our monthly meetings in the garden, and it will provide a respite from the scorching hot summer days for the gardeners. We would love to see this as a meeting place for others as well.  Also needed is mulch for the fruit tree orchard. Phase 2 is also on the wish list as we now have willing gardeners waiting for a plot. Folks in Port O’Connor believe gardening can’t be “beet.”  Please consider helping us make this a reality and send your donations to POC Community Garden, PO Box 1400,  POC, TX. 77982.We are a 501C3 nonprofit organization so your donations are tax deductible. Please contact Cindy Hanson at 361-676-3093 with any questions.


Happy Harvest Hour

SAVE THE DATE: #GivingTuesday is November 28th! We’re (the Port O’Connor Community Garden) proud to be a part of this global celebration of giving.

It is truly amazing what the people in a small community can accomplish when they come together to support a cause. I am often overwhelmed by the generosity of the people of Port O’Connor and marvel at all the accomplishments of this little community. The examples are endless- the volunteer hours and financial support offered to the Port O’Connor Elementary PTO and school, the POC Volunteer Fire Department, the POC Library, the POC Service Club, the Port O’Connor Chamber of Commerce as well as the POC Community Garden. All these organizations are dependent upon and greatly appreciate all the support the community has offered. Seeing the residents of Port O’Connor in action makes me think of Margaret Mead’s statement, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world. It’s the only thing that ever has.” Small groups of individuals have definitely brought positive changes to the little community of Port O’Connor.

One such group is the Port O’Connor Community Garden Club. A small group of individuals came together with a vision to provide area residents not only with a space to grow their own fruits and vegetables but also educational programs that advance the knowledge, science and practice of gardening. Currently, twenty-four gardeners have planted their fall seeds/plants and are beginning to enjoy the “fruits of their labor.” But twenty-four gardeners is just the beginning. Our vision includes building Phase II in order to provide gardeners on the waiting list with a bed to plant as well as a shade structure for gardeners to meet under for the educational meetings.

Come see us on #GivingTuesday, November 28th! We will host a “Happy Harvest Hour” fundraiser in the garden. We will provide wine and tasty morsels to snack on while you tour the garden and see our recent work as well as hear about our future plans. Our “Harvest Pot” will accept your #GivingTuesday donation. Our goal is to raise $5000 and put it towards building more beds and a shade structure. Then stay for our monthly educational meeting when Hailey Hayes, from the Calhoun County Extension office, will be discussing how to winterize your yard and beds.

You’re Invited!
#GivingTuesday in the Garden
November 28th

Corner of 16th St and Harrison (behind the water tower)

2:00 p.m. -3:00 p.m. “Happy Harvest Hour”
3:00 p,m, -4:00 p.m. “How to winterize your yard and beds”

Want to support us but can’t make it on the 28th? No problem #GivingTuesday donations can be mailed to POCCGC, PO Box 1400, Port O’Connor, TX. 77982. We are a 501(C)3 nonprofit organization so your donations are tax deductible. Please contact Cindy Hanson at 361-676-3093 with any questions.

Sat., Nov. 18, 6:00-9:00 p.m. Seadrift First Baptist

Everyone invited!

Bring your family for an evening of fun and camaraderie. Enjoy an evening of fellowship with the community and Masonic members.

BBQ Funds Donation for dinner accepted.

For info: Mr. Scott Rice 361-655-7128
Mr. Joe Beaver 361-935-2220

Count your blessings. Some people never need to be told to do that because gratitude is ingrained in the DNA of their character, while others have to be encouraged constantly because complaint is a part of theirs. Which are you?
Wait, wait, come back! Don’t give up on this article because I called you out – consider what I am asking.

Do we not have much to be thankful for?

Take a minute to think about that question and then write down everything which comes to mind about which you are thankful. I’ll go first.

I’m thankful for what I have seen: The majesty of the Rockies. The power of Niagara Falls. The smile on my wife’s face. The colors of a rainbow. The soaring of an Eagle and the glory of the rising and setting sun.

I’m thankful for what I have heard: The words of the preacher who told me that Jesus loves Me. The song of the Cardinal. The roar of the surf. The crunch of fresh fallen snow under my boots. The laughter of my wife. The playful antics of my children and grandchildren. The silence of a calm morning, and the noise of a windy one, and the clang of a rope gently beating against the flagpole to which an American flag is tethered.

I’m thankful for the fragrance of Honeysuckle and Wisteria. Rain. Hot apple pies and a good steak.

I’m thankful that I woke up to see another day. That I have a home to live in. A car to get me places and the freedom to go wherever I want.

I’m thankful for my health.

That’s a short list of the things I am thankful for.

But what if I had cancer?

What if I was blind, or deaf?

What if I was imprisoned in a hospital room too weak to go anywhere?

What if everyone I have ever loved was gone and I was all alone?

Could I be thankful in circumstances like those? Could you?

Should we let our grief cancel our gratitude?

The fact is, that we have innumerable reasons for which to be thankful and one God worthy of our gratitude. Some of you are hurting this season. You hurt because something or someone you had is missing from your life this year. To be thankful right now, you may need to see the world and your life through a different lens. Consider George Matheson, Scottish minister and hymnwriter of the late 19th century known as “the blind preacher” who had all but completely lost his eyesight by age 18. Once he prayed:’ My God, I have never thanked you for my “thorn.” I have thanked you a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my “thorn”.

This I know, each of us will eventually know the grief of loss. My mother left this earth about a month before the towers fell in NYC on 9/11. I miss her voice. Her laugh. The way she made a bad day perfect and the way she always brought the family together at this time of year. I grieve, but I’m also grateful.

After all, she could have been someone else’s mother instead of mine – God gave her to me and me to her.
My friends, because of His goodness there is a harvest of praise awaiting the Lord.

He has provided seed to the sower. He has provided work and varying degrees of wealth to all who do it. But He has also provided priceless things like His patience, His mercy, His grace, His forgiveness, His salvation, His acceptance, His guidance, His purpose for our lives, His presence in good times and bad, and His promises both for today and tomorrow. For these things, a great harvest of praise is in store for the Lord, and His people will praise Him in days to come, when we will see Him as He is – face to face. Until then, He is still worthy of praise and gives us much to be thankful for every second of our lives.

May your season of Thanks and Giving – be full of reflection on the goodness of God and His many blessings in your life.

Talk again soon!

Brother Rich