Book Winner, and a call to ‘Pray, Baby, Pray.’

Congratulations to Dana from the Stone Rabbit blog! Dana is the winner of Lost Highways and Driving Lessons. I heard her squeal all the way from Kansas. Give yourself a treat and click on her blog.

In the interest of full disclosure, another person won first, but when I sent the email to notify her, it bounced back. Please do be careful when you put your email in the comment.

You might enjoy the random number generator that I use at Random.org. The entire site is interesting and fun.

I’ll hold one more giveaway the coming weekend, but for now I’m pausing to ask you to pray in earnest for the oil spill catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico. Calculations vary as to how much oil continues to spew into the Gulf, but there is no doubt it is an alarming amount, and no doubt that it is killing on a massive scale–sea life and people’s lives made from the sea, and from there the lives of people who make their living from those people. Certainly the economics of what is happening in the deep water of the Gulf will affect our entire country, and the world.

We live some twelve miles north of the Gulf. Often when it rains now, we can smell an old gas station odor, one I recall from childhood when I would enter my grandmother’s dirt-floor garage, or when we stopped for gas along Route 66. Often this rain continues up state and on to Georgia, Tennessee and parts beyond.

People are working hard to correct this horrendous catastrophe. Most of us feel helpless as we watch it unfold on the television news. Just this morning I saw a piece with Governor Bobby Jindal touring the Louisiana marshes and saying how silent they were now. My heart aches. But I am helpless.

“More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” ~Alfred Lord Tennyson

Yes, there is one powerful thing I can do. I can pray. And if you are a person who believes in prayer, you please pray, too.

Dear God, a mistake has been made, and your humans have gotten themselves in a mess again. But your Word tells us not to be anxious about anything, but to pray about everything. Your Word tells us that when two or more pray, you hear. Your Word tells us that when we need wisdom, you will give it, freely, and without reproach of our ignorance. Help this situation now, Father. Inspire the minds of those who are working to stop the flow of poison oil, and strengthen those who are working to save the wildlife, and those trying to lead us out of this mess. Bring us all together in support of each other. Thank You. Amen.

Pray, Baby, Pray!