Whai a Difference

Well, I was spared.

My home was 4 and 1/2 feet above water level. Neighbors 5 houses away were not so lucky. The church & school down the road was hit twice, first by the actual flash flood, and the 2nd, and more devastating event, when the water was diverted from the city of Millington.

The worst thing that happened at my house was when the city cut off the electricity and that caused the sup pump to stop working. Water filled the crawl space for about 48 hours. It makes the whole house smell like a lake. My sister suggested sprinkling Lyme in the crawl space. It would kill the odor and prevent mold or other bacteria from growing. It sounded like a good deal to me. My brother-in-law also suggested spreading laundry detergent. I thought I would pass that along because, with all the flooding in Tennessee, I am sure there are many others in my predicament--and many many who are in far worse shape.

By the way, I was glad to hear the country music and contemporary gospel music community hasn't forgotten those who are trying to put their lives back together. They are all ready planning fund raisers.

You heard all the people in Hollywood gathering to help during many of the previous natural disasters, but I haven't heard much from the west coast in support for these people who lost their homes, jobs, and sense of security when flood waters woke them. These floods didn't happen in a single city, but throughout the state. People will get back on their feet, because they are hard working individuals--but it will take a long, long time.

People could use your prayers and support.

What Would You Take?

I have just been through a very new experience. Tornadoes have ripped through the Memphis area for 2 nights. Exhausted, I slept through my alarm. I wanted to go to church to see how I could volunteer in my community. I knew there were many who had lost their homes in the flooding. The spirit was willing but the body was weak. I slept.

I was awaken by a neighbor telling me that our neighborhood would soon be evacuated. Water had been diverted from our city, to a nearby river. That river was near our subdivision. The water was rapidly rising. The water was less than one block away.

My decision, what do I take? What do I leave? What is most important?

Tonight, I don't know what bed I will sleep in. I don't know if I still have a home. I pray for God's mercy and grace.

If you had been me, what would you have taken?

Moving Slowly Forward

Things are moving slowly, much more slowly than I would like. I have never felt that I had time for patients.

Today I will see if I have a tax refund. Tomorrow I will see a doctor that might be able to make sense of some symptoms that seem a bit bothersome.

I hope to soon know if this little job will get off the ground.

I have a lot going on.

I have to wait to see how it all works out.

Obstacles

It never fails that when you get a plan, a vision, obstacles come about to prevent you from reaching your goal.

I made 2 resolutions this year. One was about a business, of sorts, that I wanted to start. I needed, very much, to supplement my income. The first thing that happened was that my computer--that I need to start this business--lost its ability to connect with the Internet. I also lost my part-time job that might have given me the income to have my computer fixed.

I still intend to pursue this plan.

My second resolution had to do with trying to get myself in better health. Several things have happened on a positive note. I found that I do have some health issues that had gone untreated.

For those of you who are reading this and live outside the U. S. our health care is good, but it is sometimes tricky to get the treatment you need. I was unemployed for almost a year, then underemployed. I lost the health care that I once had. Now I am playing catch-up.

1. I now have the arthritis medication that enables me to move about with far less pain.
2. I found out that mysterious breathing problems that I thought were signs that I was out of shape, actually had a medical cause and am now taking medicine that allows me to actually exercise again!
3. I found out that I don't have any kind of skin cancer.
4. I am about to see a specialists that may be able to change my life--for the better.

On a random odd little note. My general doctor is no longer on my health plan, so I have to find a new doctor.

I guess you can't have everything.

Is This Legal?

That's what I'm trying to find out. It is a long story, but the short version is this. I had some financial problems and fell behind in cell phone payments. While I attempted to get back on my feet, the payment went to collections. I tried to make arrangements to take care of that bill with EOS CCA collection agency. I gave them my debit card #so I could make monthly payments. I wanted to make payment of 50.00, but they insisted on they would take two payments of 140.00. When I said, "No." they said there was nothing I could do about it because they had my debit card number.

I called my bank and was assured that I had taken the right steps to keep my account safe. You can imagine how surprised I was this morning to learn that EOS CCA had, in fact, removed the 140.00 from my account and First Tennessee Bank allowed them to do it. When I called my bank and asked why they had allowed this when I made 2 phone calls to prevent it, I was told that I had talked to a new girl and had been misinformed about the steps I needed to take to protect myself. Isn't that just like a bank. They make the mistake and the common people pay for it.

Now I am wondering, how am I going to get an extra 140.00 to pay my mortgage this week?

It sure seems like something illegal happened to me.

Disaster Again

Another earthquake and our hearts go out to those in Chili. I haven't heard from Hollywood like we did a few weeks ago after the disaster in Haiti. I think that is the point I was trying to make with the last blog on this topic. Hollywood people are unpredictable. One week's cause is to adopt children from undeveloped nations and the next week it is to sing to raise money for a disaster-ridden country. The Hollywood elite will hop on a private plane to fly to Brazil to tell us that we must carpool to fight global warming, er-uhm-sorry, the new phrase is climate change--not global warming. How foolish of me to forget.

The point is that we need to make our own decisions about the causes that need our help. Then we don't have to wait for Hollywood to decide for us. Yes, I will give to a charity that will helps both the people in Haiti and Chili. I didn't need anyone from Hollywood to pick the charity for me. I did my own checking and found it to be on many lists of effective charities, too.

Enough of this rant. Be safe my dear readers. Share your love today.

Procrastination

I was watching TV while getting ready for church. Professionals were talking about why some people procrastinate I didn't really have to hear why--I procrastinate about most things. It is about fear for me. I am afraid of failure, of the unknown, or of being in uncomfortable situations.

Now that I have begun the process, I am not as fearful about this job venture. The problem I am finding now is that it will be difficult to find my clients. These are people who are scattered about. All the addresses and phone numbers that I found on the Internet were old and outdated. It will take much research to find anything new.

In the meantime I am asking people who might know people and hope that word of mouth might give me enough people to start this venture. I have a couple of leads and hope that they might lead to a couple of more. So on and so on.


* * * *

God is Good!

For the past 2 weeks I have received less than what I expected salary-wise. I won't go into great detail about the matter, just that it had something to do with snow. Anyway it put me under a good deal of hardship at a time when my son was also unable to make up for the difference.

Both weeks I prayed that God would give me the grace to deal with this hardship and prayed that I would trust Him to help me make ends meet. On the 1st occasion someone walked up to me and told me not to worry about my medical insurance bill, that it had been taken care of. I was both stunned and grateful.

The second week someone from church came to my door and gave me a months worth of groceries. He just said that God had put us on his heart. Again I was stunned and grateful.

On both occasions, the amount that was given was about the same amount as I lost from my paycheck. I am in awe. God is good and I have surrounded myself with many good people.