Kathy,

I'm praying for you and for Greg with the sub job at the post office. I'm
also praying for Helen as well and everyone else involved.

Love and Blessings,
Pat Ferguson



At 07:46 AM 10/5/04, you wrote:
>Hi Guys,
>While the subject line may sound a bit dramatic, it's true. I just wanted
>to share with you guys something that has been thrust upon our family so
>that, once again, you guys can send up a prayer on our behalf.
>Saturday morning, Greg and I began a very relaxing day with plans to
>finish up preparation for Sunday and to get some work done around our
>house. Life was okay until we got a phone call from the post office where
>Greg Subs. Greg's regular had walked off the job and the post master
>asked Greg if he could come in and deliver the route. Well, it messed up
>our plans, but Greg was pretty good about going in and finishing up the
>route anyway. When he arrived, he found out what happened.
>First of all, so that you can get the picture in your mind, both the post
>master and the regular that Greg works under are women. That really
>wouldn't have any baring except that the argument was kind of over Greg
>and I got to tease him later about having women fighting over him. Well,
>this regular that Greg works under just happens to be a pretty difficult
>person. She abuses her subs pretty regularly and they don't work for her
>long. One of the reasons that the post master, or maybe I should say,
>mistress, sorry about that, I'm not sure, anyway, one of the reasons that
>Greg was hired to work with her is because he is a pastor and the thought
>was that, with God on his side, he may be able to handle her better.
>Well, Helen, the regular, has proved to be a challenge. She will call in
>sick when she is not and leave third class mail behind, on purpose, for
>Greg to deliver on her day off. She makes mistakes and blames them on
>Greg and, for the most part, Greg has been able to stay pretty detached
>and just handle it without getting ruffled. The post master-mistress,
>however, has noticed this abuse. On Saturday, she saw Helen purposely not
>delivering a bunch of third class mail so that Greg would have to do it
>on Monday and the post mistress called her on it. Well, I guess that a
>shouting match ensued, and Helen walked off the job and that's why Greg
>was called in. Greg learned later that Helen was planning a poker party
>at her home that night and that may have helped her want to walk off the
>job as well. Who knows.
>Anyway, Greg had a really heavy mail day yesterday, obviously, and he had
>to work late. After the post mistress had left, Helen called the office
>and spoke with Greg. She told him that she had gone to the doctor on
>Saturday and had received a note excusing her from working until she felt
>that she could come back, or until she has things worked out with the
>post mistress. There is suspicion that she has already used up her
>vacation days and is trying to get out of delivering the new phonebooks
>and J. C. Penny catalogs, always a monumental task for the mail carriers.
>The post mistress had hoped to dock Helen a days pay, but that probably
>won't happen now that she has a note from a doctor saying that her
>situation is stress related. Helen is a member of the union and she, has
>the pull.
>For our family, this means that we are in limbo. We need to find rides
>for our kids to and from school and the ministry still has to be done as
>well. In a way, this is a sort of blessing because we were wondering how
>we were going to be able to afford the moving costs for the mobile home
>to the consignment lot and now, it looks like we'll be able to do that
>without much trouble, but, in all this, a lot of people are affected.
>Greg is really praying that he can behave as Christ would and still be
>loving to Helen, in spite of the many things that she has done to him in
>this past year. I know that he prays for her and all of his coe-workers,
>and I do too, but I am also the one who has to find the rides and call
>the church people and explain things, when needs be. I suppose I could be
>nasty and say something like, "well, if you guys payed us more," but, I'm
>rejoicing over the spiritual gains that many of the people in this church
>have made. I know that this is just another tool of the devil to try to
>stop forward progress for the Kingdom.
>Please pray that we will find people to help out our family and please
>pray that Greg may be able to find another sub or two to help share the
>load so that he won't have to do this for long. He couldn't even go to a
>district meeting of pastors today because of this. I keep telling myself
>that every interuption is ?God's will. I just pray that Greg will be able
>to demonstrate true Christian character in this situation so that, maybe,
>someone, will be saved, or, at least, reconciliation will be achieved for
>a good work environment.
>Kathy
>
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