Worried Wednesday...

The setting: a small town church on Easter morning. The choir is singing and the church is packed. I'm squeezed into a pew with my children, Purple Michael's mom and other family members. Michael's mother, a little southern lady from Tennessee, leans across a few people and says to me in a loud whispered southern drawl,
"I want you to have Michael's children"... and I answer... whispering...
"I can't have any more children, I'm fixed."... so she says, confidently
"we can reverse that." Perplexed, I answer:
"but you know he's gay, right? He doesn't want to make babies with me"
We're in church, remember. A Methodist church but a sanctuary nonetheless.
She ponders that roadblock for a minute and then leans over and whispers a little louder,
"It's ok. We'll get him drunk."

That's Barbara. As we say here in the South, "Bahhhhbra". And she is sick in the hospital. Her family has asked for prayer and since I know there are a lot of you here who believe, like me, in the power of prayer, I thought I'd ask that you lift my Purple Mother-in-law up in prayer. She is precious in His sight and she is likewise precious in mine. I pray that she is returned to full health and that her sweet family will have full peace about her well-being.

I've become addicted to The Big Bang Theory because I have a fruit fly* crush on Jim Parsons, who plays Sheldon. Sheldon carries himself much in the same way as my Purple Michael. Every time Sheldon purses his lips and tilts his head before making a haughty declaration - I flash back to Michael's lectures on topics such as flip flops and pink nail polish ("You are not six years old and your name is not Barbie!").

I so strongly believe that God brings people to our minds in the time when they are standing in the need of prayer. Mama Vaughn has been sick for a little while. Michael, like me, says the least when his heart is burdened the most. Even before I knew that he was worried about his mama, I had already been thinking and praying for my dear friend thanks to Sheldon. Michael and I have never needed words to connect us. I love him so.

And while you're on your knees, even if, like me, you don't actually bend a knee (as I tend to pray most earnestly while driving to work), please remember my young friend Liz. Liz is the daughter of a friend that I met through AOL Journals back in the day. When we traveled to Boston for my birthday - six and a half years ago - I met Liz and her mama and have been bonded to both ever since. Liz's boyfriend has gone missing and she is worried sick. Pray with us that he is safe and is found soon.

Austin is still out of the Jobs Program and still, therefore, out of work. I want to solve all of his problems for him... bring him here with us or somehow, be able to help him from long distance. It's not like a kid who has gone off to college. He is so very unprepared for the big bad world out there and I worry about him daily. He has stepped away from the safety nets that would have protected him - church and the job program. I just worry. There's nothing I can do for him other than make sure his phone stays turned on so he has a lifeline. And pray, of course. I have to believe that God watches over him because otherwise, I would not be able to stand this situation that he's in.

I didn't sleep well last night... working the early schedule today... feeling drawn to watch the debate tonight but so very frustrated with this whole electoral process that I can't imagine it being anything except an aggravation. I worry about the State of our Nation. I worry about the future. I worry about worrying too much... the new *magic pills* that the doctor prescribed for me are $219 a month so I sadly had to leave them at the pharmacy. I'm going to have to call the doctor back and ask for something that does the same thing for much less money.

And so, if you, like me, are having a Worried Wednesday, I hope you find solace and peace through prayer, or whatever makes you able to keep moving forward. Love and hugs, y'all!

*fruit fly = girl who hangs around gay men