April, good ramble.  Lol.  I trust the Lord will continue to use you for Him.

earlier, April Reisinger, wrote:
>This morning we had about sixty people at our macular degeneration support
>group meeting.  Even the gabby worker didn't bug me because things were
>going well.  I worked on a little transcription in Duxbury, waited for my
>nurse to dress my wound, and engulfed some doughnut holes because my insulin
>decided to relase full force this morning and I had a sugar low.  I felt
>honored because some of the group members were actually asking about me.
>How special!  After the question and answer session, several spoke to me.
>Finally I was doing what God told me to do, I thought.  Serving others.  And
>some of them actually seemed to appreciate it.  Lonnie came then and we
>headed for the meeting to celebrate National Mental Retardation and
>Developmental Disability week.  I spoke before two groups of adults.  Some
>were listening attentively while others were making fun of me.  Another was
>deaf and kept clapping his hands.  A lady pinched my hostess several times
>and she had to have somebody make her go away.  One man barked like a dog
>with infuratingly loud barks.  "Dear God," I thought.  "Is this what it's
>like not to be able to think?"  Then I wondered.  Is it just because they
>are different?  Was I feeling a little afraid of them?  Well, yes, as a
>matter of fact, I was.  I remembered many years ago serving with a church
>group and going to a nursing home where many mentally retarded adults lived.
>One lady named Janet got me good.  Her teeth sunk in to my flesh through my
>sweat shirt, jeans, and coat.  She held on for dear life!  I was peralyzed
>with fear!  I could only say in a normal voice, "Would somebody please show
>Janet how to let go of me?"  What seemed like eternity was probably only
>about thirty seconds in time because dutifully somebody came and restrained
>dear Janet.  At other times I can recall working with mentally challenged
>adults and loving my work.  But when the man began barking like a dog today
>in puffs of auditory suffocation, I became violently sick to my stomach and
>wondered if this were what the demon-possessed people were like in the
>Bible.  And my mind went places.  I traveled in my mind to war-torn Iraq and
>Afghanistan.  I thought about the guy in Columbus who lay on the walk with
>no arms begging for food.  And then I wondered about the wealthy poverty
>experienced in this country when we have houses to live in but no way to
>live out the American dream unless we come from Opportunity or make
>Opportunity our prize!  And I thought, "What have I done with my life?  Have
>I really helped people, or is this all for vain glory?"  And then I wondered
>about tomorrow.  Will there be profoundly disabled people among us?  Always,
>till eternity.  But it broke my heart.  My mind, people say, doesn't really
>trip the intelligence trigger, but I have one.  I can travel places in my
>mind to take away the pain of being alone or missing a friend or loved one.
>Where do the Janets and the Barking Dog men go in their minds?  How does the
>pinchy lady say I love you?
>
>Perhaps you'll think this a bore, but my mind is heavy today and I just
>needed to talk.  To whom can I go when my thoughts run with me?  OH, yes, I
>can go to God.  But I wrote my thoughts today.  I need God putting on Skin.
>I need you today, my friend, more than you'll ever know.  Please remember I
>love you, and I want Opportunity to be your best friend next to God Himself.
>I will hold you when things are too tough.  Can you hold me now?
>
>Sorry for rambling,
>
>April
>Loyalty is an asset of the heart.

John

   Birthdays are good for you - the more you have the longer you live