One year ago today this is what I wrote:

Thursday, June 17, 2004

Thursday 6/17 second edition!Krl has had a couple of promising job possibilities! We have been very excited about them. One of them puts her back in her old field. Both of them present very good benefits! We need benefits! Today the one that was most promising kind of had a down turn. Pray that Krl will be put where GOD wants her to be in this job search! Expand us FATHER!
posted by d at 3:28 PM 0 comments

I am somewhat refreshed after the day off but find myself wanting another day off. It was quite enjoyable. The only thing I did was go to the pharmacy, twice. I have decided pharmaceutical companies are satan's spin off! But that is another story!

For the past ten years I have had a job contract in St. Lawrence, Texas every Fall. This is not an incorporated city or town it is just a very small community located in the middle of fertile crop land and iron horses pumping Texas gold to the surface. There are two establishments that are at the center of this community. The St. Lawrence Catholic Church and the Glasscock County Co-op. I am not a seasonal Catholic so you can safely surmise my work is with the Co-op. When you are driving down FM 2401 you feel quite confident that you could not gather twenty-five people in the total radius of area that you can see. That confidence would be wrong. The Church can open its doors and people come out of the woodwork! The Co-op can schedule a gathering at the Church Hall and you may have five or six hundred people. This community is a mix of Germans, Pols, Slovs, Bohemians, and Chechs. I have met several older residents who can speak four or five languages fluently. Just a few years ago there was a convenience store, Ronda's Quick Stop that had a grill and it was the gathering point on a daily basis, but it has been gone for a couple of years. I will never fully understand why it didn't make it. I figured with the beer sales alone it would be a thriving entity, mass quantities of alcohol are consumed, I guess it is the heritage! Add in the seven dollar hamburger lunches and this should have been a solvent business. Three partners couldn't see things eye to eye and it closed.

I remember the first community function I attended was sponsored by the Co-op and held at The Hall. When I walked in I counted eleven sixteen gallon kegs, iced down with pumps at the ready! A very different way of life from what I was accustomed to!I believe that in my ten years out there, the Church has had three different priest. My favorite of the three has been Tom. All the community referred to him as Father Tom, I referred to him as Padre Tom. Call me crazy! I just had a problem with "FATHER", you know, call no man Father except ... O.K. you get my drift. Padre Tom collected Catholic University sweatshirts. I could probably count on one hand the number of times I saw him with his collar or frock. It was always interesting to see his sweatshirt, Notre Dame, Holy Cross, Boston College, Xavier and on and on. Maybe he should have been a University Padre! I had occasion numerous times to have lunch at Ronda's with "Padre Tom". He was very personable, quiet, soft spoken, sometimes humorous, always kind. This was in stark contrast to what I would hear from his parishioners. Those that went into confession first would quickly pass the word that "Father" was tough this week! Many would get together and decide if "Father" was tough they had better get their "Hail Mary's, worth" and would quickly organize a twist off event or another excursion! The community as a whole is very dedicated but they do seem to work their religion to the max!

The one thing that sticks in my mind is that I don't think I ever left "Padre Tom's" company that he didn't end it with some type of benediction. Usually it was "Bless you my Son" or "Go with GOD" followed by the sign of the Cross. Personally, I would have preferred him to say "May GOD bless you", I had no problem with "Go with GOD". To this day I continue to find the sign of the Cross very warm and comforting. Maybe it is the "points" of the Cross over my heart, maybe it is the outward signing of an inward commitment, maybe it is the proclamation of being Christ centered. I think I like the sign of the Cross.

FATHER, I thank YOU for this beautiful day and the blessings it holds! Thank YOU for YOUR LOVE, YOUR MERCY and YOUR GRACE, Thank YOU for JESUS and the HOPE and PROMISE I have through HIM. Thank YOU for the seasonal work In St. Lawrence and the friendships and memories that I have made there. FATHER, thank YOU for "Padre Tom", may YOU bless him and go with him. FATHER I pray that YOU will bless my friends with a bountiful harvest, let them be good stewards of YOUR earth! FATHER, I continue to lift up Aimee Harris to YOU for YOUR miracle of healing! FATHER, reports said she was looking so good last evening! The ATG treatments start today! She will be moved to children's ICU later today. FATHER I pray that she will have no side effects from the treatments. FATHER I continue to ask that Zach be compatible as a marrow donor should it be needed. Bless that family FATHER, comfort them, hold them in YOUR palm and let them know YOU care. Bless my day FATHER, help me to surrender my day to YOU and let YOU work through me!
posted by d at 8:37 AM 0 comments

One of my favorite pieces.

Krl's job possibilities came to be and she accepted one, only to be horribly disappointed in a"friend", ultimately choosing to move on rather than be a victim of circumstances. She thoroughly enjoyed her customers though. Things have a way of working out, she got to spend the most amount of time ever with me at the fall worksite. Truly GOD has answered the many prayers lifted on Aimee's behalf. The reports I get say that she is doing very well and her body continues to produce blood cells normally. She is monitored closely. I find myself more "needy" now, than a year ago, of a greater being than me. For Divine guidance. I am thankful that GOD was and is and will be faithful to meet my needs. It would be hard to continue without this greater sense of being. And lastly, in four days I will make the trek back to the 2005 family fun day and barbecue. I am looking forward to seeing everyone again.

My yesterday was tough. It has been a long time since I have had a day like that. I was leaving the house when the owner called me. It was seven straight up. He asked me if I would meet him at the warehouse facility of our core customer. We had some trailer issues that needed attention. Actually he had finished his Wednesday giving attention to trailers. I stopped by and picked up some fast food breakfast for both of us, and I am glad I did. When I arrived we had a loaded trailer needing a tire, the owner had all of his equipment out and very quickly this delivery was on its way to Dallas. I moved to the next trailer which had two gaping holes in the floor where forklifts had broken through. The owner is very capable of making the repairs, his slow suit is in developing a plan. He had brought all the needed supplies, generator, compressor, drills, air impacts, saws, specialized flooring material and flooring screws. I grabbed a framing square and quickly drew the cut line for the floor area replacement. Very quickly this project went from tearing out to replacing and we moved to the next hole. I was thankful that we were doing this early in the morning because already the sun was beaming down on the metal roof of this trailer. To my surprise, we moved on to another trailer and then another and when it was all over we had been to three locations, working on four different trailers, repairing six floor issues, and three tires! And I had one hour of comp time to add to my growing comp time list. Our whole day had been spent working on trailers. I bet I lost twenty pounds. Talk about hot. About mid-morning these trailers were really warming up. Add to this the closed area and limited air flow and sweat was dripping off! I am looking for pickle juice this morning. Muscle cramps! Ugh!

Just when we had put away the last of the tools into the service trailer, the owner's wife (our lead dispatcher) drove up to check on us. At that point she advised us of scheduling for Friday. Both of us were going to have to cover for drivers taking off! When I left there was still some discussion going on so I will find out this morning who won this argument. I really don't want to go to the metroplex today but at least the trucks have air conditioning. We will see. I am just concerned that my "bod" is too achy to sit in one place for very long. Ouch! Getting old is "getting old."

FATHER, this day is up to YOU. I am running on fumes and I am hurting. I pray for a safe and productive day. Deliver me to the weekend. I pray for Krl. I pray for her healing, physically, emotionally, spiritually. I ask that YOU lift her and surround her with YOUR angels. I pray for Memama, Pepa, Ol, Hag, B., Lillie, Michelle, Aimee, Jennifer, Ashlyn Kate, those continuing their recovery from the accident, Tj, Anna, Jess, Dr. Mackie, Yaenga, and Jeanine. I ask YOUR gifts of healing for them. I pray for those sad and hurting from grief. I ask that YOU fill their void with YOU and that YOU comfort them. I pray for our spiritual family and our leaders. I pray for the efforts being made to expand YOUR kingdom. Bless-ed be YOUR name!