She Held the Hand of God

We decided that since our whole family was together on Friday evening, that we would catch a movie we have all wanted to see for quite some time, The Blindside. Since we were meeting My Dear there, we chose to eat at CICI’s Pizza close to the theater, not on our ‘normal’ side of town.

We girls were running a bit late and My Dear had already purchased our meals, so we rushed in, grabbed our food and joined him at the table. I noticed a large area of stuff near my chair, all covered by a camouflage tarp, as I sat down. As I was in a hurry, I did not give what was near me much thought…now, I kind of wish I would have!

When I had taken a few bites of dinner, the gentleman at the next table asked if his stuff was in our way. I then looked at our table neighbor for the first time – a homeless man! Why had I not noticed him, or for that matter, his stuff? You may remember I reviewed the Andy Andrews book, The Noticer, a few months back and mentioned that I wanted to notice more around me…obviously, I still need to work on that!

I felt a tug on my heart that I should carry on a conversation with him, but how do I even begin that? I’m still a work in progress. Very soon, though, this man was leading a conversation with me! It was such a delight!

He is from the area, having lived in our city for many years. He graduated from my daughter’s rival school, South, when North was just starting out. He told us the grocery store in the center was at one time a Piggly Wiggly, and then became a Safeway before shutting down over 20 yrs ago. He told us how he lived in a brand new home on a close by street at one time, and how his family was one of the first tenants in a brand new apartment complex where the Super Wal-Mart now stands. I do remember the apartments!

My Dear and his family lived near the area for several years, including the almost three years we were together before marriage, and visited this shopping center many times. At one time, there was a Furr’s Restaurant in the center and that is where my in-law’s brand new Buick was stolen in the spring of 1990…yep, the same one My Dear drives now! There were some things about the area that we already knew, but he was such a wealth of information that we all listened intently!

As I began to gather my purse, I noticed our CD had come to stand by the man’s table and was talking to him. I heard her ask him if she could pray for him and his response humbled me. He said that was his ministry, to pray for others, but he did not mind her praying for him. OH, MY!

Then, my sweet, now adult child reached out her hand to gather his and prayed!

A sweeter prayer, I’m sure I have never heard. I know she touched God’s heart, because I could feel mine breaking under the weight of innocence and grace!

Matthew 25:40 Then the King will answer, "I tell you the truth, anything you did for even the least of my people here, you also did for me." How is it that our children can teach us so much more than we could ever teach them?

Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow…like homeless men and precious daughters!!

God’s girl,

Pamela

It's me, oh, Lord, standing in the need of prayer!

Could you please pray for our family? I desire our home to be as beautiful inside and out as this picture...and we can only do that with God's grace and mercy!

We are going through a sticky situation as a family! We are praying for unity during this time and for all of our hearts to change, to reflect the love of God! Not only outside of our home, but to each other, as well.

Thank you for sharing your time with me and my family. I pray your week ahead is blessed!!!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow...like my family!

God's girl, Pamela

Please Pray!!!

I know y'all, my sweet bloggy friends, are more than willing to pray for others and right now, I am so thankful for that. I am coming to you with a request to pray for someone that means a lot in my life...A LOT!

Talk about memories!!! Sean Leetch is in just about every high school memory I have! And I want more memories of him...at our 25th reunion coming up in just a couple of years, as we become grandparents (he'll be first!), and as we just grow old! He is the closest thing to a big brother that I could ever have! And right now, he is in a fight for his life.



This picture of Sean was in either our Junior or Senior year book...this was taken on Crazy Day during Spirit Week but don't let that fool you...he was crazy!!! He was the epitome of a class clown and always brought laughter with him when he entered a room.

He was also a very sweet friend! If I was having a bad day, he had to make sure I was smiling within just a few minutes because he could not stand to see anyone down or upset! He was the one you could tell anything...especially the secrets, because he never told anyone else! NEVER!!!

My sweetest memory of him, though, is when dear hubs and I had just began dating. See, hubs was not popular in our high school....in middle school we had called him some pretty harsh names and by the time we were in high school, he was totally drawn into a shell that no one could penetrate. He was always hanging around the computer room and knew his computer stuff but had never really matured socially because he had been put down so often. Of course, to think of it now hurts my heart because I now love this man so much and I believe Sean Leetch had a hand in that.

Sean and I were Seniors and future hubs was a Junior when the English teacher asked me to go to the Sports banquet with him. My friends in my class were shocked that I agreed to go! Before the banquet even came, though, I had been having phone conversations with dear hubs for a couple of weeks and I was beginning to see who he really was...and I liked him - a little bit! I had told Sean of these phone conversations and, being such a protector, he always made sure things were going okay between us. Sean would come up as future hubs was carrying my books to my next class and ask him how things were going. They began to talk but my future hubs saw Sean as more of a threat than anything!!!

Future hubs then asked me to the formal Jr/Sr banquet - our Christian school's answer to prom - and I then gladly said yes! And, scandalous, I know, but I decided that I would kiss future hubs for the first time that night! I told Sean of my plan and he did all that he could to make sure that I knew what I was doing!!!

Sure enough, May 2, 1986, dear hubs and I shared our first kiss - before we went into the banquet! He parked the car and turned to me and sweetly asked, "Can I have my kiss now?" How could I say no??? We went into the hotel and I think Sean could tell by the smile on my face that we had already kissed because he hurried over to us and asked how it was!!!

That very night, it appeared Sean let up on my future hubs a bit! He no longer was constantly grilling him, he was actually talking to him and you could tell the difference. By the time we went to school on Monday morn, everyone's attitude toward my future hubs had changed...he was beginning to be accepted, because of Sean Leetch.

We have gone our seperate ways, seeing Sean on occassion at homecoming games and at class reunions. He still brings the laughter even though his own life has not been an easy road. His parents still serve tirelessly at the church where we first met, over 30 yrs ago.

And Sean is now in a fight for his life...literally!

No one is sure what happened, and I will be honest, I am very sketchy on the details. However, I do know that two weeks ago, he was rushed to the hospital having been found with a severe head trauma. The prognosis right now is really unsure. His brain is tremendously swollen, but Sean shows progress when he is allowed to come off of the heavy doses of medicine....like responding to his Mom's touch and his sister's singing!!!

Sean is 41 yrs old!!! He's a terrific Dad! He loves those close to him with all that he has!!! Sean is a true servant and would give you the shirt off your back if he felt you needed it!

I feel it is time for me to do something for Sean and what I can do at this moment is ask that you pray for him and spread the word that a family in Texas needs prayer. Sean is married to Leticia and they have children. He also has two younger sisters and a little brother that now have families of their own.

THANK YOU!

Hopefully, the next time I sit to type up a post, I can say God has begun the healing process! Hopefully!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow....

God's girl, Pamela