Prayers For My Sisters

My sister, Glenda, had surgery today. It was a complete success, and she is in the process of recovering, but she's in a great deal of pain. My other sister, Norma's, incision from her surgery doesn't want to heal properly. She has a doctor's appointment Wednesday. Please help me pray for their complete healings. And if you could spare a prayer for my third sister, Zita, and one for me, that would cover us all. Thank you, readers for your continued support.

Double Moss Washcloths

Our church likes to pick a family of the month. That means that for an entire month, that family is recognized and honored, and made to feel special. This allows us to show each church member how important they are to the church and how much we all love them. This month was for my cousin's household. A few months ago, Dave made a CD from an old cassette that has special meaning to our families. It is a recording of my mom, my aunt, and his mother performing songs that his mother wrote, with my uncle on guitar. His mother, and mine are both gone to live with the Lord in Heaven, so we all cherish this tape. I wasn't sure if he had it on CD, or how well his cassette tape still played, so I made him a copy of ours.

For the two of his daughters still living at home, I gave little bottles of bath gel along with a hand knitted color coordenating washcloth. I knitted several different patterns, but none of them really looked just right. I decided to create my own, using the double moss stitch from my stitch dictionary, and I was much more happy with the effect. For any of you who'd like to knit a couple, I've included directions for how I made mine:

Double Moss Cloths

Cast on 36 stitches

Rows 1 and 2- K2, P2 to the end of the row

Rows 3 and 4- P2, K2 to the end of row

Knit these four rows 14 times, then repeat row 1. Cast off in pattern, and weave in ends.

Optional: Crochet a border. I just made a simple single crochet border, but the possibilities are endless.

A Max Sighting

God is so good. Today, I was allowed to see Max. One of the neighbors in that area lives in a house, whose backyard faces the back of the apartment building, where Max used to live with sis JoAnne. I had given this woman a current photo of Max with my name and phone numbers on the back, and she's been helping me look. Around 1pm today, I got a call from her, telling me she'd seen him hanging around the back of the apartments. Dave and I went over there to check it out, and it was Max. He was laying on the concrete storm drainage area that runs behind the appartments. My heart just leapt with joy. This is the first time I've seen him since we rehomed him in October, and he just looked so good. I guess he's forgotten us, because he ran away as we got closer. He ran along the back of the building and disappeared around the corner. By the time we got to the corner, he was gone. We hung around for a bit, calling him, but he never returned.
Now most people would consider it a disappointment to get so close and still leave the area without him, but I've chosen to look at it as an answered prayer. I have been out of my mind with worry. My illness causes my imagination to run wild, and I had so many unanswered questions: What if he's hungry? What if he's injured? What if he's (God forbid) dead? Well, now I can speak to those questions and doubts. I saw him with my own eyes today, and he looked fed, unharmed, and very much alive.

Thank you, God, for allowing me to see him. Now my prayer is that he'll find a home with somebody who'll love him as much as I do. I'll still go over there everytime I get a call, because I'd love nothing more than for him to be reunited with Peace and Sis JoAnne, but if that's not to be, then Please, Father God, let him find someone. Please don't make him have to live the life of a street cat. He deserves a home. Please lead him to the perfect companion for him. If that is us, we'll gladly bring him home. If not, please lead him to that forever home.

Success!

Well, our Thanksgiving went really well, in spite of a little snag. Actually, it was a big snag. The turkey took a hour longer to cook than anticipated. There we were will all our veggies and side dishes all ready to eat, and no turkey. The day could have gone down in our minds as a failure, but it didn't. It just gave our family a chance to visit, and share stories about thier own little Thanksgiving turkey hitches. When the turkey was done, Dave rewarmed all the side dishes, and we ate our delicious meal. In the end, it was a great day.
I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was filled with many blessings.

Preparations

Dave and I are having so much fun preparing for tomorrow. By the time he got home from work, I had finished my pasta salad, and sliced up my pineapple (for the fruit salad). Dave made the crusts for our pies, and a pan of cornbread to be used for dressing. He's really the cook around here, while my role is to chop, peel, measure, and assist him. Right now, I have a pecan pie in the oven (yes, except for the crust, I made it), and Dave is unwrapping the turkey to help it thaw faster. I honestly am having a great evening. Yes, it's a lot of work, but Dave and I enjoy working together like this. I hope our Thanksgiving dinner is tasty tomorrow. If it's not, it won't be because we didn't try.

Visitors

Today, I had a pleasant, and very welcome, surprise. My sister, Glenda, arrived earlier than her doctor appointment, and decided to come by. We sat out back and had a lovely visit before she had to go. We talked about plants, pets, house cleanining, and even bugs (ew!) It was so relaxing and fun.

Glenda, we had prayer for you at tonight's prayer meeting, and we're continuing to pray. You're surgery is going to be a complete success, and you're going to feel better than you have in a long time. I ask this in Jesus' name- Amen.

More Cleaning

Today was another cleaning day. There has been a funky smell in the house lately, and Dave and I believe the source has been coming from behind the recliners. During his lunch break, Dave moved the recliners and end tables out from the wall, before he went back to work. I vacuumed back there, then shampooed the area using my Bissel Little Green, and the solution for pet odors. I also emptied the litter boxes, washed them, then refilled them with new litter. I must have gotten to the root of the problem, because the house already smells fresher. Hopefully, by the time Dave gets home from work, the carpet will be dry enough to move the furniture back, and I can run the vacuum where the chairs were sitting. I'm hoping to finish the big tasks today and tomorrow, so all I'll have to do Thursday is tidy up the living area before my guests arrive. Sisters, you're all more than welcome to join us. Ricky has called, and he and Alice will be coming. This will be the first time I've entertained one of my brothers for a holiday. He, Dave, and any other man who wants to, can plant themselves in front of the football game while we ladies visit. It will be fun.