My Slow Takes (vol. 4)

1. I just learned that some close friends are having a series of new issues. These are added to what they are already working through and I'm sure their faith is being tested. I have been praying for them and continue to do so. The news was not easy for me as I felt confident that things were slowly coming together. Perhaps this is my faith being tested and I need to make sure my heart is open and that I'm listening to God.

I have my own issues to deal with. I pray and work through them, but I need to be better at "not losing my inner peace." So I pray, "Lord please forgive me for these lax moments and help me strengthen my trust in you." Amen.

2. Life is forever changing and I've learned to change with it. Most of the time it is good and once in awhile it is not so good. We are an "Apple" product family and one of our favorite products is "mobileme." It is going away and being replaced by "iCloud." We are loosing "Gallery, iWeb publishing," and "iDisk." We gain other things such as "iTunes in the Cloud, Photo Stream," and "Documents in the Cloud." Some of this is similar but it is a change and I will embrace the change and learn about the "new" enhancements. We will continue to be an "Apple" product family.

3. Our God daughter Carrie is an English doctoral candidate at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. She has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Jamaica to work on her research in African literature.

Information on Fulbright Scholarships can be found here.    

Carrie's research will focus on letters written by Jamaican people. She believes that "because of the intimate nature of letter writing, letters offer an important glimpse into local ideas about social and political history." She is "interested in examining how letter writers endorse universal human rights laws but also how they challenge them." Her "research will investigate attitudes toward female education, women's roles within marriage, inheritance law and mental health."

4. Yesterday I was not doing well with issues at work and concerns about the short term future. Dee and Todd both asked what was bothering me so I knew my "inner peace" was not as strong as it should be. Fortunately Dee made sure that I focus in the right direction without lecture; just by love and understanding. This morning the sun was shinning, I was well rested and Dee was there with a warm hug.

Today's Gospel reading was appropriate for me, "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest."

He is always there. Thank you Lord.