Rough Week, And Then Some

I've had a really rough week this last seven or eight days. 

My dad died last Thursday. He left behind two dogs that really need a home, someone to take care of them. They are being fed and looked after but they need more human interactions while we wait for the estate to settle and figure out what's going to happen to the house.

If Dad had left the house to me I would keep the dogs. But I don't think he did. I really don't want the house. It needs a lot of work, but I would do what I had to do if I had inherited it. I figure it's probably a blessing that I didn't. And I can't take on another responsibility at this point.

My aunt is not discussing the will until it is able to be read with both me and my brother present. So it's life as normal for me. I am praying that I did not inherit anymore responsibilities.

I have been too busy to really sit down and think long enough to mourn my Dad's passing. But I don't think he'd want me to cry anyway. He was always very impatient with any show of feeling on my part. My mother is too. So, I'm just barreling through trying to do everything I normally do every day.

I stayed with my Aunt Charlene until the funeral home came to pick daddy up from the hospital. I am behind on my rent, so I had no choice but to go to work and not think about it. You don't realize how strong you are until something like this happens.

I went to my dad's visitation, and his funeral the next day.

On Wednesday, my friend Gary also passed away. I had helped him and my friend Fred to get off the streets about 5 years before. I tried to look after them to make sure that they had everything they needed. Their health had declined so much that staying on the streets was not survivable for them anymore.

I contacted his sister to let him know when he went to the hospital so that she was able to contact the hospital just before he passed away.

A friend made me some bags of food to go pick up, and I did that. I also bagged up a lot of stuff that I had too much of, and I sent a care package to someone else in need.

I am still praying that God gets me out of this debt bondage. I would like to be able to take a break and think about all these things and get it out of my system. But I can't right now. I'm too busy fighting for my own survival.

I know there is a purpose to this. God is looking out for me. And God will get me through all of it.

A Picture of Redemption

Today, me and my friend Dallas got a sweet surprise when Betty and Buren Jones and Rosa came to visit us at 1st Bikers Church. They came to honor their son, Johnny, who died, ironically, on the anniversary of Brother Danny's accident that took his life.

Today, we used the service to Remember Brother Danny, and reflect upon his life, before and after Christ in it. We rejoiced with his family that we will see him again one day.

It was a perfect day for the Joneses to visit us and gain confidence that they, too, will see their son again, and to rejoice with us. Danny's absence hasn't deterred him from continuing to bless others.

I love my church family, and I love showing them off to my friends who haven't experienced our worship environment. I was so proud that they were welcomed in the way that my church is famous for doing. I am proud to be a member of such a loving church family.

I am looking forward to prayer and church services tonight. I hope your day is as blessed as mine has been today already.

Dallas, Rosa and Me at 1st Bikers Church this morning. I love my friends!

As I look at this picture and think of what my friend Rosa said about it, "A picture of Redemption", I can't help but think about this fully.

We were all raised in a little Hick Town of Hooks, Texas. Rosa's family was one of the first families there that reached out to me. They taught me the importance of inviting people to church. More importantly, they taught me the importance of what Christ is supposed to mean in your life ... that He is so much more than a Church Icon, a figure of speech, or a story you tell your children on Christmas.

We grew up. We went our separate ways. We left home, backslid, fell down, got dirty and grasped at straws.

Then, we got up, turned around, dusted ourselves off and figured out that the home we left, the Jesus that had let us go, was still the same Jesus that watched us leave, and was still there to welcome us back.

Today, we Praised Him together for the first time in nearly 30 years. I can't help but think that with today being so joyful as we realized the people that He had made us into when we, as "prodigal daughters" returned "home", how much MORE joyful we are going to feel when we meet in heaven to Praise Him together THERE!

The feeling we felt today will be so amplified...and it doesn't seem possible, yet we KNOW it to be true!

A picture of Redemption below. So much truth in that.

This song is dedicated to our loved ones we celebrated today as they have gone home to the Maker: