Home Alone

2:35 p.m. Today's project was to take Steve over to Howard and Charlotte's to help Howard trim his trees. The Stevens' have a couple of acres in Woodcrest that require lots of maintenance. On returning home, I felt a bit disoriented, like the kid from the "Home Alone" movie--what was I supposed to do again? Seriously, I'm so used to making sure Steve is situated, from taking his meds, doing his morning Bible study, eating, and starting his tasks for the day, that going about my own business without interruptions felt odd!!

In addition to a fun outing for Steve, who loves gardening, landscaping, and all kinds of tools, the 3 hours gave me a solid block of time to work on my Galatians edits. It is very hard to concentrate when anyone else is in the room. Since I did retire to spend time with Steve and help him to stay occupied and feel useful after losing his ability to work, I had been getting up very early to write in the morning silence. But I would only have about 60-90 minutes to work. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit faithfully opened up my mind each morning with ideas and applications from life and His Word! The verses that the reader needs to look up and write down were all in place, as was the basic commentary. The editor just needed me to expound more fully and make some corrections. Progress has been solid, but slow. In all of that, however, I can clearly see that God will not, and never has, failed me yet, 30 years and counting!

But with a deadline of September 15th to add expositions and anecdotes to each section of the study, I was needing to find a solution that met both of our needs. I thought of all of the work Howard has to do on his property, and the way that Steve enjoys his work mornings trimming trees for my dad over in Redlands, and a mutually beneficial plan for all of us came about, thanks to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and love in the Body of Christ! God is faithful to meet all of our needs, and is pleased to allow us the fun of being part of helping one another!

Philippians 4:19 says, "My God shall provide all of your need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." And "all" means ALL! Our need was for friendship and fellowship support for Steve; Howard needed some help; and I needed time to be home alone with my computer!

Needs are all around us: Steven needs college funds and a new place to live in Fresno; Steve and I need to meet all of our obligations on drastically reduced income. Dave and Lynnae Williams from Calvary Chapel Moreno Valley need to come up with $250,000 to cover their son Skyler's medical expenses after 1 1/2 months in the hospital with serious digestive issues, with no insurance coverage. Their information and donation website is below, and I'll add it to my Reading List: www.wix.com/medicalupdate/skyler.

Skyler's website has the song "That's What Faith Can Do" playing in the background, and it's a sound reminder that when we find we've hit a wall, God is right there on the other side. After all, didn't Jesus come through the walls of a house to prove to the disciples that He is alive? (Luke 24:36)

Because of Jesus' resurrection, instead of all hope being gone, hope is just beginning!