Three new praises so far today

2:33 p.m. Today's project was to "set up shop" at the Starbucks on Day Street in Moreno Valley, to enjoy uninterrupted working time setting up appointments with customers, making new contacts, and inviting all of them to Cara's and my "Muffins and Makeovers" class on Saturday morning at my house.

Our male early morning caregiver was to leave at 8:30, and our excellent handyman Lou was due at 9:00 to see about fixing the dreadful leak from our front-of-the house faucet. He did come over, and quoted less than half the price of the Yellow Pages plumber who stopped by last week! Since Lou has done construction plumbing, from building to tear down, we have confidence that the Lord has brought him to help us out.

In Daniel 5:11, when King Belshazzar's wise men could read or arrive at an interpretation of the writing from the hand on the wall at his great drunken banquet, the queen told him not to be troubled. She told him,

There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God. And in the days of your father, light and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him; and King Nebuchadnezzar your father--your king--made him chief of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers.

Daniel was called, and gave the interpretation--the doom of the Babylonians (verses 25-28).

God has truly gifted members of the Body of Christ in myriad ways, while also gifting them with the desire and compassion to go to the aid of others. And if they earn a living this way, they rightfully should charge a fair price for their labor.

Romans 12:5-6a say:

...so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individual members of one another. Having then gifts according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them...

One gift that I see with volunteers in our church, is that of helps. Cindy, my good friend, has just this gift. On one day's notice, she eagerly agreed to help me out by supervising Steve for a few hours today! (She has much experience with Alzheimer's from caring for her late father-in-law). I gave her a list of both outdoor and indoor projects Steve would enjoy, his lunch and snack, and was then able to conduct my business with complete peace of mind. When I returned, my carrot and spinach seeds had been planted in the garden, Steve had swept the driveway beautifully, and one of our burned-out fluorescent light bulbs in the kitchen was replaced. I brought home a new one from Lowe's on my way back, and she got back on the stepladder and put that one up, too. Our Jada welcomed her immediately, sensing a big dog lover and remembering their past games of fetch. I Corinthians 12:28 includes "helps" in the list of spiritual gifts, and verse 31a directs us to "earnestly desire the best gifts."

A third praise came from an entirely different direction. My nephew Brady emailed me a link to a new experimental Alzheimer's treatment that is showing tremendous promise with many late-stage patients. So I watched the video of an elderly gentleman's incredible improvement and filled out the online form. While I was at Starbucks, I got a call. Their nearest clinic is on Hospital Road in Newport Beach, so I made a free consultation appointment for next Monday after our tax appointment in Tustin and a visit with Steve's siblings in Orange. Might as well just dedicate an entire day to personal business instead of staggering this kind of appointment throughout the week.

I have no idea whether Steve's early-onset inherited dementia will be one that is qualified for the clinical trial; the information really didn't elaborate. But my prayers for healing or improvement to any degree, as the Lord wills, may come through a new method, not the standard medications that help with functioning, but don't affect the disease's progression.

Honestly, if Steve just returned to the level of independence and functioning here at home that he had two years ago, or even last year, there wouldn't be an issue of whether he could go back to work, like there was when Alzheimer's ended his career in 2008. With his disability income, my pensions, and my Mary Kay income, we are getting along with the Lord's help (and miraculous happenings of every kind)!

I praise you, Lord for these three marvelous works You have done, and it's still afternoon yet!