Lots of stuff on my mind this early Sunday morning...

A teenager kills his parents and then has a party with their corpses in the other room. Is it possible that raising a generation with no regard for human life has contributed to this? I think so.

I think Casey Anthony is guilty but I don't understand the venomous public sentiment toward her. If she had done the same thing 3 1/2 years earlier it would have been considered her "choice".

I'm grieving for Amy Winehouse. Not because I was a fan. Not because I found her behavior anything other than disgusting. I'm grieving the fact that someone with so much could still feel so empty as to need to fill it with drugs and alcohol.

I felt the same way about Anna Nicole Smith. She was so broken and misguided and had nothing to turn to.

The killings in Norway. NORWAY... how in the world could a terrorist - supposedly a right wing Christian conservative - kill so many people.

I believe that I have eternal life. I don't see "the end" so much as the end of me but the beginning of who I was destined to be for eternity. I know a lot of you think that's crazy but I'm ok with that. If I get to the end and it really is "the end" ... I'll be dead so I won't know.

One of my friends from school posted a verse yesterday that gave me chills...

¹³ Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”

“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

It gave me chills because her husband passed away from cancer several years ago when their daughter was a toddler. I think if you really love someone... and lose them... to have the belief that there is a great reward, an afterlife... it's an amazing comfort.

I've told you before about another friend from high school whose 19 year old daughter was found murdered at the exact time that my friend was undergoing heart surgery. Her faith is so strong! I've watched her (via facebook) time and time again go to others who are hurting to comfort and encourage them. Even me... after the fire...

What you believe dictates how you treat others. I believe that there are no accidents or coincidental meetings. I believe we have divine appointments to keep... and there are people who come into our life for a season... but always for a reason.

Last week I was so humbled at the kindness of the two ladies who brought meals for us. I want to be able to do those kind of things. I want to write checks for people in need. I want to fix dinner for people who are struggling or sick or whatever. I want to sit at the bedside of those who are dying and hug those who are grieving. I want to encourage the discouraged. I want to visit prisons and give them hope for a better future. I want to make sure that everyone who crosses my path feels valued. I want to be so much more than my circumstances allow me to be right now.

There is a dirty, scruffy, often smelly little man who comes into my office once a month to pay for his insurance. He doesn't have much in this world. He doesn't make a lot of sense and you can tell that "the elevator doesn't reach the top floor". I haven't always rushed to be first in line to greet him or help him... he's the kind of person that you would turn away from if you passed him on the street. Then I met his niece who absolutely adores him. He has been a consistent part of her life and has loved her as if she was his own child. She said, "I know he looks weird and smells bad sometimes... but he's my uncle and I love him". To see the love in her eyes when she talked about him made me care more about him as a human. She thanked me for being kind to him but I knew I could have been kinder. I have been since then.

A friend from church has an aunt who disappeared a few days ago. The family - and our church family - is frantically searching for her. It made me think about the people in our community who don't have someone watching out for them... who are lonely... and isolated... people who could disappear without anyone noticing they are missing.

None of us can make a difference to everyone but all of us can make a difference to someone. Everyone has value, even if you can't see it. Maybe their value is simply in helping you learn to do a better job of loving others.

We have a community picnic this afternoon and I am dreading it... it's going to be hot and miserable outside and I am battling dizziness and nausea in addition to my other usual aches and discomforts. It took me two hours to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich yesterday. I can only stand a bite here and there. It's important that we go to meet our neighbors so I'm praying that God will give me the strength to do this. I never met the lady next door to me in the duplex until we were both standing there with the fire chief asking if we needed the Red Cross to come out to assist us. I didn't, by the grace of God. She did. I wish I had known her better and could have offered her more.

People are valuable. Don't miss your opportunity to make a difference.

That's all.

Love and hugs.