When I talked to D. this morning she was dropping off E, the 1st grader I babysit.  He still had a fever and his ear infection was still causing him pain.  She would be going through the apartment today,  she has 2 hours to grab what she can so they will have clothes and a few things with them.  They are staying with a friend for now,  E stays with his dad on the weekends,  and next week they are staying at her mom's house for Christmas.

Her income has dropped catastrophically  since October.  But she prioritized and made sure that she was never late with rent.  Her present property manager knows she is a good resident and wants to move her to another property,  but the only thing in the area near her price range is rather "seedy" and run down.  There are other properties in the area, but with her income as it stands now,  she would be hard pressed to be approved for another apartment.  

This is the critical need,  right here.  She is "okay" for Christmas.  It is the days after Christmas,  and E's 7th birthday on January 4th.

Any little bit helps,  and if you can't help out with money,  send your friends here,  encourage them to donate or spread the word!!

Today I had to go to the mall to exchange some shoes for my youngest son.  I ordered them online, but wanted to exchange them in person.  I found the Trendy Shoe store in the mall and made my exchanges.  As I was making small talk to the sales dude,  I mentioned the lightning strike and subsequent fire.  Without pausing he asked if he could donate a new pair of Trendy Shoes to E.  I was floored.   He said that employees get two free pairs of Trendy Shoes each season.  They are meant for employees only, so sales dude may get into a fair amount of trouble if he is identified.   He looked at E,  who had the whole miserable ragamuffin kid thing going on with his cold and ear infection.  His words were "I've got enough shoes and a roof over my head" .  Then he took E over to the kid shoes and asked him hid favorite colors.  They came back with some blue shoes with lime green fuzz on the inside.

D. just dropped off two of her cats,  the "small" ones.  They look like littermates, but are not.  Each are about 3 years old and about 25 pounds of monster cat glory.  It is like having my recently deceased Mo cat back in the house.

God is good.  No matter the tragedy,  no matter the sorrow,  in each situation you will find glimmers of hope.