What a difference you guys are making out there. That is awesome.  Imagine 
sending one off to meet the Lord in song. When we returned back north from 
Texas, one of the pastor's wives said the north, Wisconsin was her personal 
reference because that is where we were headed, was very hardened and tough 
to break through. There is truth to the noreth being harder and I think 
your neck of the woods is probably even tougher yet. A positive is in such 
times, you likely stand out all the more, a brighter light.

Brad
At 11:10 AM 6/18/2007, you wrote:
>Oh Brad,
>         Do I ever hear you here.  On top of that, I don't know if you 
> were on list last December when I talked about being at a lady's death 
> and singing the hymn: "The Old Rugged Cross?"  This lady died right on 
> the words, "I will cling to the old rugged Cross and exchange it some day 
> for a crown."   Anyway, the wife of the family that I talked about is the 
> dying lady's daughter, which piles grieving on top of everything else.
>         You're right, some people just seem to be a magnet for 
> tragedy.  The family that we brought gifts too last Christmas is another 
> one that just can't seem to get ahead.
>         There is another single, elderly person that I know who has 
> chronic conditions and really gets the run around from the medical 
> community, partly due to the constraints of Meda_Care, and I've taken it 
> upon myself just to give her a call around once a week and pray for her, 
> just to give her an opportunity to air all her complaints and let her 
> know that she's not forgotten.  Being alone, or poor, or elderly in this 
> society isn't necessarily all that it's cracked up to be because we 
> aren't in a godly society today, but a practically godless one in which, 
> for many people, self reigns supreme.  What a shame.
>Kathy
>
>
>At 09:46 AM 6/18/2007, you wrote:
>>kathy,
>>
>>Wow. That is rough, I can't imagine that. We here, our church that is, is 
>>doing similar for a mother of two young kids battling cancer in our 
>>church. Households taking turns cooking and bringing by dinner and etc. 
>>But in your folks case, what a job to try to keep one's spirits up, as it 
>>were, in the midst of such. Why is it some people seem to go unscathed 
>>through life and they just live life, not for God , may not even be a 
>>believer and yet no matter what happens, things turn for good, and then 
>>there are those, believers alike,  who seem to attract calamity in 
>>succession without relief? Is it a Job thing or what. Don't you just wish 
>>you could find the cure and answer to their problems and let them live a 
>>semi-normal life? Or what seems semi-normal. Thanks for sharing that.
>>
>>Brad
>>
>>>Well Brad,
>>>         You asked me to share, so I will.  This week, our church is 
>>> ministering to a family in real need.  They used to attend our church, 
>>> but left when their daughters hit puberty because we don't have much in 
>>> the way of ministry for youth.  The mother had a breast removed this 
>>> past March.  She had tried to return to work, but it has been 
>>> discovered that she is allergic to the medication that she was on, so 
>>> she is waiting to find another medication that she can tolerate. Her 
>>> job is important because she carries the insurance for the family.  Her 
>>> husband has twisted bowel syndrome, which means that, every once and a 
>>> while, his intestines just knot up and he has to lay in the hospital, 
>>> on pain killers, until they straighten themselves out.  He can't eat 
>>> much in those situations eithre, for obvious reasons.  When he is 
>>> working, he delivers beverages to local stores in the smaller towns 
>>> around Bangor.  Near the end of last month, he was making a delivery to 
>>> a small country store.  He had cases of beer and wine stacked up on a 
>>> hand cart.  Someone at the store had carelessly left the trap door to 
>>> the celler open and, as Steve was backing up, he didn't see this and 
>>> fell into the celler, on to the concrete floor with all of the 
>>> beverages falling on top of him.  He has massive injuries.  This 
>>> couple's two daughters are learning disabled and, on top of that, the 
>>> younger one is deaf.  The younger daughter was hospitalized last week 
>>> with what may have been blood poisoning.  Her leg was swollen and hard, 
>>> with red streaks, so it had to be drained and so forth.   Both parents 
>>> are out of work, for now and it just goes on.
>>>         Anyway, even though they have left our church, we have kept 
>>> tabs on this needy family, because it is the right thing to do.  We 
>>> took up a collection for them yesterday.  Some people have offered to 
>>> purchase grocery store gift certificates, and I've organized for some 
>>> dinners to start, until we learn what else they need.  This is truly 
>>> the fun part of ministry, trying to help others in need.  I had made 
>>> prayer shawls for the mother and two girls earlier this year to reach 
>>> out and Greg is going to talk to the pastor of the church that  they 
>>> are attending now to coordinate efforts.  We don't want any walls.
>>>         I know that I tell you guys these stories from time to 
>>> time.  This is what church is to me, reaching out as Christ's hands and 
>>> feet to those in need.  When you think about it, pray for the Barker 
>>> family.  They can use it.
>>>God bless,
>>>Kathy