Ode to WAMU

Last night, FDIC stepped in and had to seize control of WAMU's accounts. Some are have called this the largest bank failure ever. Yes, I could go move my accounts to another bank and it would be a hassle, and I might have to. But what bank? It concerns me because WAMU had the best customer service of any bank I have ever dealt with in my life. If there are not unreasonable fees slapped on my accounts, and my deposits are counted in a reasonable amount of time, I am not going to be too concerned with changing banks. I hope that the spirit of service that WAMU has provided its customers over the years can live on through these acquisitions.

I saw in the news before this happened that they had gotten a new CEO because of failed mortgage accounts. This move seemed to be a last stitch effort a bit too late. The whole economy is really getting squeezed. I remain prayerful and hopeful that I can navigate these new markets successfully. It can be a challenge making ends meet and meeting my obligations.

I don't know where my career going. It is difficult to plan for my future because my vision of it is so unclear. It has been quite difficult for me to put a picture of where I want to be in my head and go for it because my mind trips me up not believing that it is possible to securing financial security in this world. Two financial institutions that I had at one time been interested in working with are suddenly in a heap of trouble. Fortunately I am providing services for one of the strongest insurance companies around if not the strongest. I may need to make a move, I am not sure. I don't want to loose what I have in pursuit of something that isn't worthwhile.

I have pushed credit to uncomfortable limits, and I seem to only have enough to meet my obligations and making it difficult to obtain some of the basic needs like clothes, food, and other basic needs.

Unfortunately, I am not alone in this mess. There are many others in this country that are squeezed to. Unfortunately, too many of them are defaulting on their loans and not meeting their obligations making it more difficult on those that do.

I affirm again that God is my source.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Blessed are those who suffer for they will be comforted.

What brings me joy?
The belief that there is something greater than all of this.

Its more than a belief, it is a knowing.

God bless the Earth and all its inhabitants.

What is 100 years compared to eternity?

Hmmm

I found an interesting suprise when I got to my car this morning. I found the obituary page out of the Dallas Morning News that had Wilma's obituary published in it. I found it to be a little strange. Even if someone knew me and found it in the paper, if they set it next to my car like that, I think it would have easily blown away. Instead, I found it and I picked it up and found the obituary right there. It was a little strange. I wonder if someone actually placed it there, but I am somewhat doubtful because there was nothing to keep it from blowing away.

25th Annual Allan Ross Freedom Parade

I went to the Dallas Gay pride parade today. I went because I saw it as a great outreach opportunity. There are many hands out there grabbing wanting some kind of souvenir to take home. Most really just wanted beads and candy. I passed out almost a thousand little booklets filled with some of my favorite verses of the gospel. I was actually in the parade for the third time. The theme of the parade was remembering our past and celebrating our future. Our church had a float of church pews and a stained glass window. After the parade, I got away from the crowd and cooled off a bit. I did get a bit sunburned while I was walking around out there. I should have used sunscreen. It wasn't too bad though. I really didn't socialize much though. I just kept to myself feeling alone in a world of thousands once again. I did have those from my church that I knew. I was glad to have the opportunity to pass out those little gospel booklets. I pray that they bless many people. I feel that it is so much more noble to pass those booklets of gospel out showing the love of God from God's word rather than trying to use one scripture out of the bible on a protest sign to control other's lives.

A couple friends came over and I stayed up until about 11 PM. We just sat and chilled an hung out. Our friend Jim Beam was hanging out with us a bit to. My friend brought him over from El Paso.

Celebration of a lifetime

Today, I went to a funeral.

Wilma, a friend of the family who I spent some time with washing clothes, feeding cats outside before I warmed up her meal, moping floors, and just being there with her passed away earlier this week. When my parents got married, her son said that his two best friends were getting married at the same time to each other. She was a caring person. In her earlier days, she kept cat food in her car so if she saw a hungry stray cat while she was out and about, she would feed them. She would give away things. I remember her bringing me a spider man decoder toy when I was a kid. She fed my mother when she was a struggling adolescent living off of potato chips. My mother in turn was glad to be around to help nurture her in her last days while avoiding her having to be placed in a nursing home. Wilma's brother talked about how Wilma always had a child like heart. She was traveling somewhere with her brother and she said to stop. She said "There is a windmill over there, let's climb it." She got to the top and waved down and said "Come on you can do it." She was adventurous and encouraging. Her brother Allen said that she was always there encouraging him. After the funeral, we went out to eat. Fourteen people gathered and had a nice meal after the service. It was a celebration of our dear friend's life.

Wilma will be missed. More than some may realize.
She lived to be 92, but was only about a month away from her birthday.

Her funeral was a exactly a month before her 93rd birthday.

May your body rest in peace Wilma, while your soul lives on.

I love you and I miss you.

Lazy and lethargic

I've been very lazy and lethargic today. I didn't do much at all.

I did decorate some little books I got from www.sowersofseed.com that I will be passing out with church members at a large parade in Dallas next week. This is an event I look forward to. A great opportunity to share Gods word of love with the community.

I didn't go to church this morning though. I woke up early, but I just didn't want to get up. I didn't feel like I had the energy.

I left the apartment to get a smoothie and and again later to get a burrito, but other than that I have been hanging round the apartment. I did a bit of cleaning and throwing out expired and contaminated foods from my pantry.
The weather was absolutely beautiful. I didn't get out and enjoy enough of it.

I sold my buss pass, which I will turn around and get some gas with. Things have a way of working out it seems.

I was glad to hear that my grandparents did not go very long electricity after the storms rolled through.

Back on the road!

My car is back on the road! (Watch out for a silver car with a black hood!) I got it out of the body shop and over to an inspection station and passed. It feels good to be back on the road. The car still has its share of imperfections, but I don't have to worry about it getting towed away or getting a ticket for not having current inspection credentials. It is back to getting me to and from work quickly and being able to go outside of the public transportation routes and time frames. It took me about 45 minutes to an hour to get to work using pubic transportation. When I have a car, I can generally get to and from work in less than 20 minutes.

I am in a very tight financial spot, but I am working hard to keep everything current and make progress. I am fairly good at keeping my expenses low. For the most part I am living paycheck to paycheck and my credit is pushed too close to the limits for my comfort or the comfort of lenders. I have hopes of finding ways of generating more income for myself in a slow economy. Perhaps I can make myself start selling some of the items I don't use anymore on Ebay! I hope this slow economy picks up sooner than expected.

I am very thankful to have a car that gets me around legally.
I am thankful for computer equipment that I can use to communicate with the world.
I am thankful for the progress that my mom is making in therapy.
I am thankful for the extra hours while she recovers.
I am thankful for the healing I have seen in those around me.
I am hopeful for personal healing and financial success. (I think both really hinge on self discipline and enlightenment)
I am thankful for reconciled friendships.

Made it to church, not exactly on time.

I missed the very beginning of the service this morning.

I rode the DART bus to church. It was a fairly quick route, it took me only about thirty minutes to get to church on the bus. There was a huge emphasis on the need for more volunteer help in the education ministry and the appreciation of those that are currently involved and those that have been involved in the past. I enjoyed the service and I enjoyed having pasta with the pastors after church. It's a monthly thing we do. After service, we get together in the activity center and have some pasta. I really needed the food, and the fellowship was nice as well.

I was very glad I made it to church. I was glad to see so many of the fellow members still coming to church there. I want to make myself be more dedicated to going to church and I am wanting to get more involved in the church. I am committed to a huge outreach opportunity. This event is one that I look forward to because I will be passing out a taste of God's love through his word to people that many times have been shunned and turned away by some churches.

Someone I used to talk to on the bus a bit was at church today and asked how I was getting home. I told her I hadn't really figured it out yet. She offered to give me a ride home, and I accepted gladly. She lives very close to where I do. I talked with her a little bit about how I am wanting to get more involved and have considered joining the choir. She gave me her phone number and offered to give me a ride to church if I wanted. There are several people at my church that would do the same. That's one thing I love about my church. People help each other in my church.

Maybe Monday?

Well my car wasn't ready yet.

They basically told me to call back at the end of the next business day again. I am trying to be patient, I feel that is the best route. Some things you just can't rush. I would much rather the time be spent to get it to the best they can with what they have to work with than for them to rush it out the door ready to fall apart.

I didn't go see my grandparents with my parents because I didn't want to try to make it to to their place without my car to ride all the way out there to my grandparents and then come back. It would make for a very long day and I really had some stuff to handle. I had hoped that I would be picking up my car and getting it inspected, but that didn't happen. I had stayed up a little late the night before doing some housework.

I did a little bit of housework again today. I went and got a burrito over at the local Chipoltle. It was a good fill for lunch. I was thankful a friend of mine treated me to the lunch.

I spent some time with some friends that stopped by. I watched an interesting video about HAARP, a program funded by the United States government to blast radio frequencies into the atmosphere for various experiments. There are people quite concerned about the magnitude of what they are playing with. They are making temporary holes in our atmosphere using radio frequencies making the sky light up and get very hot. The physicists doing the experiments say it is not much different that what the sun is doing as it shines on the atmosphere, but it is. There are different reasons they claim to be studying this stuff. These kinds of things can alter weather patterns. It is beyond my comprehension how much what they are doing could affect the living organisms on our planet. Nevertheless, the experiments still go on.

I got very hungry and decided to go to an all you could eat buffet at Cicis. I ate a ton of stuff. It isn't the most nutritious food, but I got to eat large amounts of it. I don't want to loose any more weight at this point. I would love to get in better shape though.

Guess it is time to turn in and get some sleep.

No car yet

I had hopes that I would have my car back on the road today.
However, it looks like it will be tomorrow.

Oh well.

Ho hum.

I got a ride home from a friend though, which was nice.

There's only Love, There's only Grace

The words that are in my head come from a wonderful Christian music artist Matthew West. (Rhapsody Link)

I am driving legally on grace, but it won't last long like this. I need to get my car inspected, and to pass legally there will be some work to do. I hope to get on the road legally without breaking the bank.

If I have to go without a car, I am not sure how well I will cope without it. It would take me an hour to get to work via bus and train versus a 15 minute drive. I have done this before, but the bus schedule worked a bit better for me.

I was looking for someone to talk to, I even called a few people and got voice mails and left no message. I have been in this situation for a while and most of my friends know what's going on anyways. Someone called me. She told me how she has recently gone through an abrupt divorce and had to go out and fend for herself. She had to rely on family for help long enough to get a place to stay to get back on her feet. I hadn't heard the bad news. I was glad to hear from her. She didn't call to tell me the bad news, she assumed I already knew. She called to tell me the good news. She has an apartment of her own and a couple of jobs and she got her car back on the road. She called me to tell me how her faith has pulled her through. She was there for me. She is praying for me. This is someone who had lost her faith in God for for many years, over ten years. Her faith is now strong.

I am reminded how much Love God has for us.

How adversity many times brings us closer to God.

I have seen miracles in my life.
I know we will all have our struggles, but I know that there is love and grace.
I know my God lives.

My God is greater than any problem I face.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me
Philippians 4:13