Praise and Prayers

A blessed Easter to you all - Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Prayers of Thanksgiving

1. My grandmother is back at my mom's house, and resting comfortably. She's under hospice care now and that has been a real blessing, albiet a difficult transition, for mother. Since we sold the small commercial property grandmother owned, we now have enough cash on hand to meet any immediate needs she may have. I hope if I live to be 97, that my years can be as productive and fruitful as hers have been.

2. Along the same lines, we are preparing the family home for sale. It's listed with a real estate agency (you can see it here, if you're interested) and getting a number of showings a week. It's in a poor town, so that's not helping... but we're hopeful! The more pressing concern is the 120 years of stuff our family's six generations have accumulated - currently tucked into every nook and cranny of the house and the four outbuildings. We were planning a yard sale. A big yard sale. A REALLY REALLY BIG yard sale. Unfortunately, the burden of that fell mostly on me, a physical and emotional burden that I was dreading with every fiber of my being. So I convinced the rest of the family that we should hire an estate sale company. Praise God!

Prayers for Peace and Comfort

1. My cousin, who had been helping with the house prep, has been diagnosed with a heart problem. She's going to have a heart catheterization next week, which will hopefully ward off a possible future stroke. She lost her mom (my mother's sister) when she was about the same age as her son, so you can imagine the fear and concern she's having right now. So please pray for peace and a successful procedure.

2. A longtime family acquaintance lost her home to fire yesterday. The family is all fine - they weren't home when it happened - but it appears they lost nearly everything, including their precious dogs. (We are hoping that their oldest daughter's wedding dress - she's getting married in three weeks - was not in the house!) I pray for peace and comfort; may they rest in God's gentle embrace during this traumatic time.

Keep watch, dear Lord,
with those who work, or watch, or weep this night,
and give your angels charge over those who sleep.
Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary,
bless the dying, soothe the suffering,
pity the afflicted, shield the joyous;
and all for your love's sake. Amen.