Let's pray, shall we?

Financial times are pretty tough for many of us right now, and with that comes new problems and stresses. The recession has altered a whole lot of well laid plans for many of us, and it has been on my mind (and in my face) a lot as of late. It really makes me wonder- What do people without faith do these days? I mean, exactly how do they get through each day? I know,(all too well) that I wouldn't last a single minute without my faith. Here is one example: Each week since I started at the bank in December, a young Dad (early 30's I'd guess...I should pay better attention to his driver's license, I suppose) comes into the bank to cash his unemployment card. (Both he and his wife are out of work... Reno's unemployment rate is now above 11% and climbing.) He's a nice guy, and he always brings along his darling little three year old son. Two weeks ago when he came in, he was really down. It seemed that their washer had broken and the repair man gave them an estimate and then charged them for parts on top of that. He said his wife had had all she could take, and was having a melt down at home.He was at the end of his rope. I offered him some sympathetic looks and some encouraging words, but it seemed to not phase him. Finally I said, "Well, we all just have to hang in there and have faith. You've got to count your blessings.""Like what?!" he said, kind of angry like."Like that little guy there." I replied."Ya, well, we don't even know how we're going to feed him." he snarled back at me and turned abruptly and left. Well, I had to bite my tongue so hard I thought I would scream. Had he never heard the English proverb "there but for the grace of God go I"...? You see, I work with a guy who has a three year old son with leukemia. I wanted to say...no, I wanted to yell at this man, "Hey! How would you like to trade places with that dad? Huh?! You ungrateful man." Of course, I didn't. Instead, I prayed a long silent prayer for him. He can't help it. He doesn't have faith. He is completely alone in this scary, uncertain time we live. Last week, he came in again and I greeted him. "Hi there. Are things looking better this week?" I asked hopefully."No" he grumbled.Again, I prayed for him, and I continue to pray for him, his wife and darling little curly haired boy. One more story, and I will get off my soapbox...a few weeks ago, I was in WalMart (where else, besides TJ Maxx I mean...) and, maybe it was brought on by my own financially challenged situation, or menopause, or hormones, or the moon...but... I was in the midst of a fairly decent sized pity party for myself. (Life is too hard, I'm a good person, why me, my arms are flabby, I have no money, yada yada...) Cruising the aisles, looking at things I couldn't afford to buy, and bemoaning to myself how I was going to do 100 hours of work (painting furniture) in a week, while working 34 hours at a bank to make my squeaky tight ends meet and still get at least five hours of sleep each night, when I came whipping around a corner end cap..and almost ran head on into a sweet faced young boy, maybe ten years old, clinging to the handles of his grocery cart while his Mom was filling a prescription. He had skinny, shiny, metal prosthetic legs and appeared to be slightly mentally handicapped. He was smiling.I swear to you, it was total God thing, if you know what I mean. Seriously.(I still get goosebumps thinking about it and the sheer magnitude of the moment) It was God smackin' me down, telling me to knock it off and get over my bad self..right then and there. I felt ashamed. And humbled. This boy never has an "easy" day. Neither does his Mama. But yet, they move forward.With smiles on their faces.They have faith. I guess...what I am getting at with this rambling , picture-less post is...Yes, these are challenging times, people. But, those of us with a secure faith in God have the competitive edge, for sure. We have something bigger and better than houses and cars and money.So. I'm asking you today, if you are a person of faith, please, please pray. Pray hard. There are lots of folks out there that don't have the security blanket of faith, and I am fearful as to what may happen to them in these trying times.