My morning prayers are getting longer and longer these days. So many people are dealing with so many things, and my heart aches for them.
Please keep in mind, as you go about your day, that behind those eyes that you pass on the street, or see in the store, or meet with at work, there is often untold pain.
I know people right now who are dealing with a heavy load –
• A middle-aged man needs surgery which prevents him from working, and he’s facing eviction and homelessness again.
• A woman is coming up on a year anniversary of the loss of their loved one, and her heart is still trying to heal. And she’s dealing with a sick furry friend, who in a short period of time has become so important to her family.
• Another woman just celebrated 27 years of marriage, then a few days later her husband died in his sleep, and now she faces a new reality without him. She’s already lost a sister, and recently her mother passed away.
• Someone who has already been through heart surgeries has just come through breast cancer surgery.
• Someone’s nephew recently died by suicide.
• A man my age is dealing with a life-threatening heart condition, which has completely changed the way he lives, and thinks, and feels, and he’s learning how to ask for help.
• Several friends struggle daily with the chronic aftermath of a major illness.
• A single dad juggles his job and child care, still missing his wife who died several years ago.
• Someone is struggling with a tragic accident that happened just yesterday, that her young son witnessed, and they both held onto each other and cried.
• Someone else is dealing with the loss of two siblings in less than six months.
• Someone’s heart was recently shattered by a betrayal, and they’re trying to learn how to live each new day, not sure any more of what’s true and what isn’t.
• A young man and his family is dealing with their dad’s mental decline, and they’re learning how best to help him live with dementia.
• A young couple is trying to do the right thing with the right meds for their special needs child.
• A divorced dad just got to spend a few days with his daughter in another state, but then had to leave her again to go back home, and deal with the painful divorce that took her away.
• A woman is dealing with all the emotions that go with selling a house she’s lived in for decades, to start a new life in a new house.
• A young man who deals daily with diabetes is in charge of his mother’s nursing home care, and he deals with the constant load of paperwork and bureaucracy.
• And a young woman continues to deal with PTSD, from a shooting in broad daylight last year.
• Several caregivers are dealing with changes in their loved ones, which signal that major decisions need to be made to change their living situation, or that the end may be closer than they think…
Many people face some sort of discrimination every day. And so many people that I know struggle to pay the bills every single month.
I pray for these people every day, and people like them who are hurting, under the weight of a heavy burden, and I carry them in my heart.
People from all walks of life, from cities and small towns from coast to coast, are hurting. Let’s remember to have a little compassion for everyone we meet. We never know what’s going on with them, and we all deserve a little kindness…
To quote Miller Williams –
“Have compassion for everyone you meet, even if they don’t want it.
What seems conceit, bad manners, or cynicism is always a sign of things no ears have heard, no eyes have seen.
You do not know what wars are going on down there where the spirit meets the bone.”
We got our funnel cakes, then found a bench to sit on, so we could watch the people passing by. You can probably imagine what happened, with Grandmother in her navy blue overcoat…
I’d never heard of the book “A Wrinkle in Time,” so I had no preconceived notions about the characters, or the story line. And as the story unfolded, playing out in vivid colors across the screen, I was transported across the universe.
I’ve been a fan of the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series for many years, and it was a pleasant surprise to see these books in the top of the first box that I opened.
I responded with “Please ask her what’s being done to alleviate the already existing traffic congestion in Green Hills, and what the plan is to handle the influx of a minimum of 300 additional cars when the new apartments at Hillsboro and Richard Jones opens in December. If two people live in each apartment, that’s 600 more cars trying to navigate an already gridlocked Hillsboro Pike. I live on Hillsboro, a few blocks from that new building, and lately it takes ten minutes to go 1 mile to the post office – even if I cut through the back neighborhoods. I can’t imagine what it will be like with all those new people, AND all the cars full of people who will come to shop and eat at the new restaurants on that same corner. What a nightmare!!”
It was interesting to hear Melanie say that “Metro Public Works tells Channel 4 that it’s often a misconception that mixed use developments bring in more traffic. They say that Hillsboro Road has the capability to handle the extra traffic that will be thrown at it, and then some.”
solitarylogic 