Prayers are answered

Yes, even though we wake to pouring rain and fog, our prayers are answered because the temperatures are back to what we consider 'normal'. Right this minute, it is about 60 above zero and it has been a long time since that happened at this time of the day. I am supposed to be going to Linda O's condo today and am vacillating about going to St. Augustine in the rain. While I would most assuredly enjoy my time there with friends, playing games, driving in the rain and feeling the effects of a head cold.....I just don't know what to do!?!

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Some other prayers have been answered but perhaps not the answer being looked for. My friends at Hang Ups have been asking for prayer for their cousin/nephew who was reported missing in OH. He is in his young twenties, in the National Guard, and had not been heard from for several days. The police were searching for him and yesterday, it came to light that the young man had purchased a bus ticket and took a bus out of their jurisdiction. No longer considered a missing person, because of buying the ticket and boarding the bus, the prayers are now to have this young man contact his family and let them know what is going on with him. A sigh of relief that he is apparently 'alright' but still great concern for him.

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Such a terrible situation in Haiti, the horror of it all is more than I can fathom. Help from my area of the world is being sent via the Navy bases including medical supplies, helicopters, and ships to transport sick and injured. The Art Guild is helping by collecting supplies at the area farmer markets but it is my understanding that the relief organizations would prefer money instead of the supplies so they can buy and supply exactly what is needed. On F&F this a.m. they reported that $8 million has been basically pledged via the cell phone fund raisers but the money won't be released until the cell phone bills are paid in a month or two. So it is earned but not yet paid to the Red Cross or what have you. More direct methods of submitting would have immediate results, while the money from the cell phone companies will come later as this is no quick fix situation.

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This morning I will be heading to church to prepare for the Lord's Supper for Sunday. While there I must also pick up a sheet of poster board from the fellowship hall to use for tracking fund raising efforts for our new lawn mower. The yard sale last fall netted about the half the money needed for the mower so we need the balance donated. Our new maintenance guy has gotten a great price for a machine which will fit through the gate to the playground and have a zero turn radius (??). None of our mowers are operational right now so those who have been cutting, during the growing season, bring their own on trailers or in the back of the car. My creativity hat is crushed and wrinkled these days but I will come up with something to put on the poster!

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The news is sort of done, so I changed over to watch "The Soloist" on HBO. Joanne and I saw this the first time in the theater not that long ago so I was surprised to see it was on TV already. The story, a true one, is how a newspaper reporter discovers a schizophrenic man who has an incredible talent for music. The reporter, played by Robert Downey, Jr., writes about this street musician, played by Jamie Foxx, and mentors him without putting constraints on him. He prefers to live in the street but Lopez gets him a cheap apartment, under the guise of it being his rehearsal hall. There is a cot where Nathaniel can take a nap if he gets tired rehearsing....Gotta love these true stories. Later in the movie, Lopez gets him a private 'audience' to see/hear an orchestra rehearse, where Nathaniel listens with his eyes closed. Because of his mental illness, the "music" is shown on the inside of his lids in psychedelic colors. Lopez sort of whispers, "I wish I could see the music you hear...". I love that line, see the music you hear. They cannot force this man into taking medication for his illness, even though he had been a student at Julliard at one time. It is a sad, exposing view of what a psychotic life is like, but it is also joyful because of the music allows the sick man some solace, as well as solace for those who hear him play.

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Last night Twila, Elaine, and I had dinner together at my house where I served brats, sauerkraut, and baked beans. Both Elaine and Twila enjoyed two brats, which is good since they were Elaine's first brats! We played two games of Scrabble after dinner and they were nice enough to let me win. Twila had said Elaine would mop the floor with me, and she let me off with a warning! Whew! Twila had made a spice cake with a burnt sugar frosting, really quite sweet, even for me. We picked the icing off, for the most part, and enjoyed the cake portion.

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My inclination is to lie in bed most of the day and watch TV but the better thing would be to get up and dressed. Go do my prep for Holy Communion and grab the poster board to exercise my efforts at making this 'encouragement' to donate! I was thinking maybe a party store would have something to incorporate onto the 'blank canvas'.....HELP!!!! Here go the blankets and the feet hit the floor, running......