Friday, December 27, 2013

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!


                                                                  
                                                                              
                                                                                                     December 27, 2013
Greetings Friends and Family!
It has been years since we sat down and tried to compose a letter of Hidalgo happenings. This year had joys and sorrows with it, and important decisions to be made as any year has. Some were life changing, and others, just simple pleasures that bring heaven to earth each day. Our prayer is that this letter finds you also reflecting and remembering the good things the Lord has brought you through this year, and that the obstacles faced have shaped you into HIS image just a little bit more.
So what are we up to these days? We are very busy and it seems like everyone in our home is going many different directions, but it is really something to see how God is putting all the pieces of the puzzle together one by one. Rick and I are rarely at home at the same time, and the moments that we are, we have learned to savor each moment.
Our days go something like this: The kids that go to school get up and get ready on their own for school. If the weather is bad, one of them will wake up Rick and he will drive the kids up to the school in the morning. I am not involved in this morning routine because I am asleep still. I am going to college and have a 4.0, on the President’s list and a member of Alpha Chi. I am usually in bed by 2am and up by 8 am. Rick is the one who is the hub of our home. I mean the hub of the wheel, not the hub as in the hubby. Rick home schools Luis, who is five, with the help of Anthony, who is also home schooling. We now consider Anthony a “senior” and at the end of this school year, we will celebrate his entrance into adulthood! I am in and out of the house all day with various errands and clients for my job with homecare services. Anthony also enables Rick to get in valuable study time when their school day is completed. Rick is very thankful for Anthony’s help.
Rick is very busy, and I am going to let him describe his life to you here because I really do not know very much about it, all I know is his focus is now ministry and teaching others truth. I am usually half way paying attention, but to be honest half of the time I am not paying close attention like I should, because I have so many things to do.
Rick: Greetings to all and a happy New Year to you! These days find me on a quest of sorts trying to unravel the web of life and all its elements. I use my nightly broadcast on Blog Talk Radio (www.blogtalkradio.com/southdakotadp) to teach all that I am learning through my many studies. I have come to recognize and see the Bible as God’s Constitution. Every word within it is critical and important to understanding the intent for man and his relationship with the land. As far as work, I am still looking for the right opportunity that I can do from home in a small town with little resources…tough but all things are possible with God! I also balance the daily upkeep of our home and schooling of our seed. Anthony and Luis are home with me learning all the important things of life through daily lessons disseminated from the river of God. I have also started a borderless church chartered upon a covenant called Sovereign Love Free Church. Our services are on blog talk radio every Sunday morning at 9:00 AM CST. Finally, I want let everyone know I am working one on one with a high profile gentlemen who was up for the Noble Peace Prize in 2013. We will soon be announcing our intentions and they are very exciting me.  Keep up with the latest on Facebook. I am known as Eugene Richard House-ofhidalgo.
We are proud of each of our children, and we are going to take a moment to highlight a little of the reasons that we are proud of each of them:
Anthony: Has a wonderful sense of humor and a quiet manner suited to the introverted lifestyle of consuming books and obtaining knowledge in this fashion. He had his first job this year, and did very well at it. It has given him some ideas for what he would like to do in the future.
Joshua: Is a responsible young man who has just decided to live life like there is no tomorrow this year! He was an alternate for ALL State choir; he was in the High School play Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and he was in the Jazz/show choir this year.  He is friends with just about everyone in his class, and he is respected by peers and teachers. He applied for his first job and has had to deal with the disappointment of waiting and waiting. He goes to youth group at Sun Prairie Baptist Church, and went to an AXIS conference this year. He is hungry to learn all that he can and live his life to the full. He also is staying on the honor roll, for those of you who do not know him, he started out as a special education student in elementary school and now, he does not get any services and has just become quite the impressive young freshman in high school.
Samantha: is just as equally impressive though her list of accolades may not be as long, we are proud of her too! Samantha has been learning a lot about how to be a peace maker with her friends, and she is such a shining light to them, she invites friends to come to youth group with her every Wednesday night. She stays on the honor roll and is in chorus at school she had a main role in the church Christmas play this year, and had speaking and singing parts in it. She was also responsible for set up and tear down of the microphones. (She learned to whom much is given, much is required). Recently, she also sang a duet with me, this was an awesome opportunity, we have dreamed about for years. She loves to perform and she loves taking piano lessons as well. She is about to move into a new book. Since she started last year, this is her third level.
David: Is such a social boy, he can always being seen with a group of friends. In the spring of this year, he won a writing contest that was about what America means. His teacher said he could be a politician because all the kids listen to him and follow what he does. He is very smart, but has to be encouraged to take school seriously. He gets to school early just to hang out with his friends. He plays basketball with the 6th Grade McCook and Montrose boys. He is looking forward to next year when he can engage in more sports than just basketball, in 7th grade is when school ball begins, and he can be bussed to all the towns the kids compete in. This year, we get rides a lot and we appreciate the parents that volunteer to take David along. David was also in the church Christmas play, and he learned that sometimes it is difficult to juggle so many responsibilities.
Chenaniah is such a sweet girl, in the 3rd grade; she is quiet and sometimes absent minded. She is learning that she is responsible for her things, and that people cannot always rescue her when she forgets something. It is good for her; she is learning lessons in responsibility. Chenaniah nursed a very sick kitten back to health using natural remedies only. WE have a budding naturopathic veterinarian in our midst. Chenaniah is at a fun age, but sometimes the mischief she gets in to remind us that she is still a child in need of guidance. We discovered this year, that she can imitate singing alto with her Mother quite well. I especially look forward to helping her develop this skill in ear training.
Luis is very active (that is not the right word) think of a ninja, and then think small. That is Luis. His name means warrior, and I pray every day that he will be a mighty warrior-not just in the physical sense but in the spiritual sense as well. Luis is very sensitive, and is learning how to have self-control. He has a special diet that helps him in many ways. (I will not elaborate on that here, as it could take up several pages)  I am very proud of the way he pretends and plays with all his toys. Play is a dying craft for kids these days; they spend so much time on technology, that imaginations are becoming a thing of the past-but not for Luis. He has a very active imagination and a whole team of people in his family to help him learn life lessons and skills.
I (Ruth) am serving on the praise team at Sun Prairie Baptist Church, this is a highlight of my weeks, I love ministering in song! For those of you who do not know, that the thing that first attracted me to Rick. He has such a beautiful voice, and a passion for ministry. My prayer is that we will once sing again as we did for the first 10 years of our marriage and the 5 years before that in College. So you already got a few bits about me. I went back to school. I am getting a degree in Applied Management; I can use this in a variety of ways. One, I can get a better job to help us pay the bills, two, I am becoming one in yet another way with my husband, who has business plans and big ideas brewing all the time and thirdly, I can use this knowledge to start my own family business and do it with professionalism. I am not teaching preschool, I am not working with children at all. (Although I still recognize this as a gift, it is not my main focus right now). The direction God led me with school really shocked me, “he uses the foolish things to confound the wise” – I do not see myself as a business woman, but when I took the personality/ carrier assessment test, it came back shockingly accurate, my number one job was to be a manager, number two, was caregiver (that is what I do now) and number three job was teacher (that is what I did at a preschool for years). Wow I never thought my number one job would be manager, and here I am getting a degree in applied management. Who’d a thunk it? Not me!
Rick has been referred to as Pastor as of late, some of you may see that on Facebook, that is because he is Pastor of Sovereign Love Free Church online, it is a secret group on Facebook and he uses this forum to teach and pour into people’s lives that are willing to hear. “As Iron sharpens Iron, so one man sharpens another”. He also is a blog talk radio host, with over 17,000 listeners this year alone. He has a ministry unlike anything I have ever seen, and although sometimes I do not understand all his ideas, I am proud of all his biblical studies he engaged in this year to learn the truth about very important things.
Ideas are not meant to be a point of contention, but sometimes, they do become just that. Our hearts are heavy as we let go of loved ones that have decided to shun our family based on the opposing of some ideas that Rick holds. We have all felt the pain of this in very real ways. I am being transparent when I share this with you, because there is a price to pay for sharing ideas, and sometimes it is a costly price. We value relationships so much; especially family, yet only God can heal this wound. Please pray for us as God will have to do the restoring that only He can do.
We are not rich in money but we are rich in faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love. We love every one of you and pray that you find the joy that only comes when heaven comes down to earth and glory fills your soul. The cross is where our Lord makes us whole again. We can be proud of the life we live or we can be proud of the Lord we serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
We pray for each of you that surely goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life and that you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever


Serving HIM with joy,

The House of Hidalgo

Rick, Ruth, Anthony, Joshua, Samantha, David, Chenaniah, and Luis
With Mittens “the cat”
           



        

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