Our New "Old" Car

Breaking News from the Alkula Front: We just added a "new-to-us" car! We now have a 1995 TEXAS LEXUS. (How fun is that to say?!) Yee-haw!

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(It seems like it was meant to be. The license plate starts with "CJ," which stands for "Charles James.")

Mid-week report

Some weeks it seems that we get distracted to the point of not posting to our blog. This is one of those weeks!

Today, Belinda went to San Angelo to see her mother and run a couple of errands. Charles tended to church business including a working lunch with the Ministerial Alliance here in McCamey. This evening, Charles walked to the ball fields about a mile south of the parsonage to watch some of the McCamey High School baseball and softball teams in action. Lots of fun!

Happy St. Piran's Day

Today is St. Piran's Day! St. Piran is the patron saint of the County of Cornwall (at the southwestern tip of Great Britain). We enjoyed our three years in Newquay, Cornwall, during Charles final assignment with the U.S. Navy. While living in Cornwall, we learned a lot about this iconic figure. More about St. Piran may be found at this link.

Spring is coming!

Spring is coming to west Texas. The buds outside of Charles' office in McCamey are a welcome sight for us. What we really need now is some rain, then we'll be doing a dance in the street!

Back home in McCamey

Photo above is the flour tortilla machine at the Mamacita's Restaurant in Kerrville. (Double-click over photo, and it will get bigger!)

We've made it back from our get-a-way to Kerrville and the 2011 Bishop's Convocation at the Mt. Wesley Retreat Center. We had a nice morning there today and then drove back to McCamey this afternoon.

We stopped downtown to our favorite antique "mall" and did some browsing before going to lunch at Mamacita's, the iconic Mexican restaurant. What delicious food and the atmosphere was really fun! It was cool watching the tortillas coming off the production line, one after another.

We got back to McCamey in time to have a cup of tea before going next door to the church for choir and bell choir practice tonight. It was nice to visit Kerrville, but it was also nice to return home!

Great Trip to Kerrville, Texas!

We've had a great get-a-way to Kerrville, where Charles has been attending the Southwest Texas Conference's annual Bishop's Convocation. We had a nice lovely drive to Kerrville. The scenery is so beautiful along the way into the Texas hill country.

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When we got to Kerrville, we stopped at the Cracker Barrel for supper and spotted a tree which had already begun to bud. It looks like spring is coming soon after all!

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This afternoon when the clergy gathering was over, Charles joined some other clergy at the "Pastors' Masters." It was a fun afternoon with great weather and great fellowship.

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This evening, we went to supper at a well-known Kerrville eatery, Billy Gene's Restaurant. The setting, along the Guadalupe River, is really pretty, and the food was super good!

Clearing out the clutter in our lives!

GREAT BOOK: "Clutter's Last Stand," by Don Aslett.

This is a great book! Every once in awhile, we need to re-read it! (Excuse us now. We probably should tackle a closet or something...)

Here is an excerpt from an interview with this book's author. To read the entire interview, click here.

What advice can you give to those who feel completely overwhelmed by their junk and clutter? They don’t even know what color their carpet is anymore. They don’t know where to begin. Where should they start?

Go for your own stuff first. We have a tendency to worry about our neighbor’s junk or our spouses and children’s junk before our own. We always see people who are worse than we are. Get your own wallet, your own purse, your own bulletin board, your own tools, your own photo album, your own notebook, your own closets. It’s amazing how when you go after your own junk the world changes. It brightens up and there’s not nearly as many bad junkers as you thought after you get rid of your stuff. Dejunk alone. Do it in the morning. Do your own stuff first.

I got a call from a lady who was 65 years old. She said I’m sixty-five, I’ve had a lot of stuff, wealth and everything. I read Clutter’s Last Stand and dejunked my life. For the first time in my life I understood what living was like. Life for her before was tending her junk. We tend our jewelry, or our car, or our house. Tend all the excess we have. She got rid of all of that stuff, and finally she was able to tend to people instead.

It can change lives spiritually, physically, and emotionally. Get rid of evil thoughts, things, covetousness, disrespect, get the junk and excesses out of your life. Even doctors tell us to do it. When you think about it, It’s a truly exciting message…an overall cure for life. Throwing out everything on you, in you and around you…It’s a transformation.