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