UPDATE ON AILEEN

continued prayers -- from Sally Boyd.

Begin forwarded message:

On behalf of Aileen I want to thank each and every one of you for the birthday wishes and prayers. Spent the day with my sweet girl. decorated her room to try to make it more festive. I dont know if she even realizes it, but it made me feel better. Bright note: white cell count dropped its biggest drop yet and her hemoglobin is up. After five bad days, today is good news.---Mike

May God the Father bless you, God the Son heal you, God the Holy Spirit give you strength. May God the holy and undivided Trinity guard your body, save your soul, and bring you safely to his heavenly country; where he lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

O God, give to Mike and all who watch and wait with Aileen strength and courage during this difficult time. Surround them with your presence in the power of your Holy Spirit that they may trust in your everlasting love.

Sally Boyd is the priest who ministers to Mike and Aileen.

From Ann.

CROOKED STILL - "WADING DEEP WATERS"

The song came up in my iTunes DJ, and I listened three times, I believe, so here it is for anyone out there who likes this sort of music.

"HYPOCRITES AND FASCISTS"?

From Sarah Hey at Stand Firm.

Click on the images for the larger view.



Posted without a link or commentary, except to say that I have no verification that the list is accurate.

THEY HAVE NAMES

9 U.S. Military Killed in Afghanistan Last Week 1.9.11

US Army SGT Michael J Beckerman, 25, Ste Genevieve, MO

US Marines LCpl Maung P Htaik, 20, Hagerstown, MD

US Marines Cpl Jacob A Tate, 21, Columbus, OH

US Army SGT Jose M Cintron Rosado, 38, Vega Alta, PR

US Army SPC Jose A Delgado Arroyo, 41, San Juan, PR

US Army SGT Eric M Nettleson, 26, Wichita, KS

US Marines LCpl Joseph R Giese, 24, Winder, GA

US Army SFC Robert W Pharris, 48, Seymour, MO

US Army SPC Christian J Romig, 24, Kenner, LA

May all who died serving their country rest in peace and rise in glory.

May God give comfort, consolation, and the peace that passes understanding to those who love the departed service members.

Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

List and title of the post from The Daily Office.



My faded bumper sticker that was once bright yellow, red, and blue.

"HAVE YOUR CANDLE AND EAT IT"

From Lapin, who says. "Guess you remember those inventive 50's magazine recipes."

I do. I do.

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE FOR MATT'S TREES

Thanks for voting.

PRAY FOR THOSE IN THE PATH OF THE FLOODWATERS IN AUSTRALIA

From Cathy:

Would you terribly mind posting an urgent prayer request for this tonight:

If the Wivenhoe Dam breaks or overflows in any serious way, thousands of people in Brisbane could die. The 1974 floods were disastrous. It seems to be doing its job at the moment, as they say, but it is holding a horrendous amount of water. My dad's house is in one of the suburbs that has been warned to expect flooding,

cathy x

From the Couriermail.com:

A BODY of floodwater larger than Sydney Harbour threatens Brisbane, with only the Wivenhoe Dam's 2.3km-long earthen wall standing in its path.

Police are advising people near the Brisbane River at West End to move to higher ground.

"The Brisbane River has risen and we are starting to see the water enter streets in the low lying areas of West End." a police spokesman said.

This comes after Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman warned yesterday that more water was flowing into the Wivenhoe Dam than the Brisbane River had received in the 1974 floods.

The Brisbane City Council last night issued a warning for residents in more than 30 suburbs to expect flooding.

Read the rest at the link above.

Lord, in your mercy hear our prayers and protect the people threatened by floodwaters in Australia. Among all the changes and chances of this life, defend them by your gracious and ready help, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

UPDATE: Brian at Noble Wolf posted a video of floodwaters inundating the city of Toowoomba in Queensland. 8 are dead, and 70 are missing.

REMEMBERING THOSE WHO DIED

Clockwise from top left (AP):

Christina-Taylor Green: A "Face of Hope," this 9-year-old politician often wore red, white and blue in honor of her country.

Dorothy Morris: The 76-year-old retiree, Dorothy Morris, attended the event with her husband and high school sweetheart George Morris.

Judge John Roll: A widely respected federal judge, Roll received death threats in 2009 after his decision allowed a case brought forward by illegal immigrants to proceed to a jury trial.

Gabe Zimmerman: Recently engaged and one of Giffords's aides, he was known as a master in dealing with other people.

Dorwin Stoddard: A fixture at the Mountain Avenue Church of Christ, Stoddard blocked his wife from gunfire, eyewitness reports said.

Phyllis Schneck: A great-grandmother, the 79-year-old retiree admired Giffords's stance on border safety.

From the Washington Post.

Heartbreaking pictures.

O God, whose beloved Son took little children into his arms and blessed them: Give us grace to entrust this child Christina-Taylor to your never-failing care and love, and bring us all to your heavenly kingdom; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

O God, whose mercies cannot be numbered: Accept our prayers on behalf of your servants Dorothy, John, Gabe, Dorwin, and Phyllis, and grant them entrance into the land of light and joy, in the fellowship of your saints; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

SENIOR CODES FOR TEXTING...

ATD: At The Doctor's

BTW: Bring The Wheelchair

BYOT: Bring Your Own Teeth

CBM: Covered By Medicare

CUATSC: See You At The Senior Center

DWI: Driving While Incontinent

FWBB: Friend With Beta Blockers

FWIW: Forgot Where I Was

FYI: Found Your Insulin

GGPBL: Gotta Go, Pacemaker Battery Low!

GHA: Got Heartburn Again

IMHO: Is My Hearing-Aid On?

LMDO: Laughing My Dentures Out

LOL: Living On Lipitor

LWO: Lawrence Welk's On

OMMR: On My Massage Recliner

OMSG: Oh My! Sorry, Gas.

ROFL... CGU: Rolling On The Floor Laughing...Can't Get Up

TTYL: Talk To You Louder

WAITT: Who Am I Talking To?

WTFA: Wet The Furniture Again

WTP: Where's The Prunes?

WWNO: Walker Wheels Need Oil

All right!!! I needed a laugh, even at my own expense. Thanks to Canon Itchy. Or no thanks? Which is it?

"A RIGHT TO BEAR GLOCKS?"

From Gail Collins at the New York Times:

Today, the amazing thing about the reaction to the Giffords shooting is that virtually all the discussion about how to prevent a recurrence has been focusing on improving the tone of our political discourse. That would certainly be great. But you do not hear much about the fact that Jared Loughner came to Giffords’s sweet gathering with a semiautomatic weapon that he was able to buy legally because the law restricting their sale expired in 2004 and Congress did not have the guts to face up to the National Rifle Association and extend it. (My emphasis)

If Loughner had gone to the Safeway carrying a regular pistol, the kind most Americans think of when they think of the right to bear arms, Giffords would probably still have been shot and we would still be having that conversation about whether it was a sane idea to put her Congressional district in the cross hairs of a rifle on the Internet.

But we might not have lost a federal judge, a 76-year-old church volunteer, two elderly women, Giffords’s 30-year-old constituent services director and a 9-year-old girl who had recently been elected to the student council at her school and went to the event because she wanted to see how democracy worked.

Even if you accept that we are all militia, as the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled, and we all have the right to bear arms according to the 2nd Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, what about regulation of automatic weapons? That in certain areas, there are no laws against the purchase of automatic weapons seems insane to me. What citizen needs an automatic weapon for self-protection? But our Congress stands immobilized by fear of the N.R.A. As Collins says:

Most politicians won’t talk about it because they’re afraid of the N.R.A., whose agenda is driven by the people who sell guns and want the right to sell as many as possible.

Doesn’t it seem like the least we can do?