PRAYERFUL COZINESS

NO DOUBT ABOUT IT, our setbacks this year have brought forth more prayers in our behalf than we've experienced in the rest of our long lives added together. There have been prayer circles here at the Manor and in the churches of friends and we've hardly ever stopped to chat with anyone without the talk ending with "I'll keep you in my prayers."

All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena is well known for its outreach programs and when a friend and former fellow merchant called and asked me if I'd like a prayer shawl I answered in the affirmative. 

I found myself too overwhelmed when Gerry delivered it, to remember to retrieve my camera. Luckily, she snapped a photo of me with her iPhone, but even then I didn't think to get a picture of her. She had a most wonderful children/ladies store right next to ours and we used to daydream about opening the wall between our stores, but the idea never came to fruition. Now she's moved and doing a lot of business online and if you like the Flax line of women's clothing, I urge you to take a peek. Other things to look at, too, but that link will get you started.

Before things became medically complicated we used to go out for Mexican food with friends Susie and Bill twice a month. Susie's the one who brought me beautiful bouquets from her lavishly blooming garden. Once in a while she'd bring me something that she had purchased at our estate sale, knowing I really didn't want to get rid of it. Last time we ate Chinese food for a change and she brought me a quilt, boomeranging it back in my direction. I loved what she wrote on the card that she enclosed under the ribbon.

Jane dear,
    When you moved from Buena Vista to the
Manor, Bob was editing......I held back some things.
     This (yours) was washed and hung up to dry in the subshine.
      The little angel will be sending you light and energy.
                  Love,
                            S.


I'm grateful for the prayer shawl and the quilt to keep me snuggled with comfort. And all those prayers.


At the end of my third day of chemotherapy, I'm feeling just fine, possibly better than before I started it. In the afternoons my shoulder's tendinitis is less noticeable and my right knee is not as painful (is that the prednisone, do you suppose?), but a dull headache appears in place of the earlier discomfort; a fair trade, I suppose.


Mr. Bob has been having a challenge with a low white blood cell count. We'll find out more about the CAT scan he had earlier this week when we see the oncologist next Monday.


"Our prayers should be for blessings in general, for God knows best what is good for us."  ~Socrates