Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Sometimes things are little bizzare

I spent 3 hours this morning on coffee row checking in with people after yesterday's meeting. I came home and went on line to check out the newspaper article people were referring to. I found that I had actually read it last night after I got home.

But in the process of finding the article I linked to a previous article. In the column on the side, which listed related articles was this link: "This may be your year to paint your bedroom purple." Go figure.

Love and Prayers,
Ann Marie

Monday, February 23, 2009

Prayers Update

Thank you for your prayers and concerns. An arrest has been made - a local man. Our meeting today has started the healing process for the community.

One of the positive things I found at the meeting was that the community is concerned about the family of the man who is charged with the murder. It could just as easily gone the other way. We tried to be very careful in how we dealt with the talk around the arrest but in general there was more concern than condemnation of the family. I give thanks to God for that blessing.

This community will heal. This became clear as we talked in our small groups. The process has been started and part of that is giving the people the information they needed (at least as much as the police were able to give) and provide a healthy venue for them to start being able talk to each other in constructive ways. I had been concerned because some of the conversations on coffee row and in restaurants was being done in whispers. Today, people spoke out loud and were able to voice the fears and feelings. It is a good first step. Another positive point is that out of this we may become a community that is much more conscious about how it cares for its members, especially its aging population.

Once again, thank you for your concern and prayers.

Love and Prayers,
Ann Marie

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Prayers Please

I would ask all that there to pray for our little community. Last Tuesday we experienced our first murder ever - an eighty-two year old woman living on her own. (Years ago there was a murder/suicide but that affects a community in a different way.) We may have had a colourful past in some respects, and sometimes that past may have involved things that bordered on violence, but never has it left our aging population feeling so vulnerable. In some ways innocence has been lost, never to be recovered. Now a murder has happened. Before murder was something that happened in the city or somewhere else but not here. Now it is here and people are struggling with how to deal with it.

Steps are being taken to help the community. We have a community wide information and concerns meeting scheduled for Monday. I ask prayers for the woman who was killed, for her family and friends, for the one who discovered her body and one who was the last to see her alive, and for the community as well as for whoever it was that did the killing and those surrounding him/her. That's a lot of prayers, I know, but thank you in advance for your concern.

Love and Prayers,
Ann Marie