The Crazy is Gonna Get Me

I have a special talent of letting crazyish people find me. I would go so far to say that I am a magnet for them. I will also tell you that I am a bleeding heart for people who need help, though I am naive enough to not check out if their story is legit.



So this morning at work, there was a message on the machine from an extremely distraught lady, saying she didn't know what to do, that she couldn't move all these boxes etc.� She was crying and said she was afraid.� I get a lot of calls here at work from people looking for money, or help paying rent or utility bills and often we don't have the funds to help them.� Often when I get these as messages, I don't call back, because I know that they hung up from me and called another church and we can't make it a practice to pay everyone's bills with our limited income here.



But this lady I called back.� She sounded too upset to not call back.� Turns out she is older, disabled and her landlord is putting her out for some reason.� Maybe she isn't paying her rent, I don't know.� She said she has been robbed twice where she is currently living and she was afraid to even sleep at night.� She said the only family she has is a daughter who won't give her the time of day.� She alternated between being very calm and very weepy.� She said she had an electric bill to pay.� I asked her if she had a truck and she said someone was going to help her get one.�



I was concerned on several levels, one being the obvious, that this woman was in dire straights and needed help.� Secondly, were there some mental problems going on.� I called social services and spoke with a really nice guy and when I explained the situation, he knew who I was calling about before I told him her name.� They can't really release any information due to confidentiality, but he told me to listen to my instincts and he did tell me that what she was telling me was true.� He apparently called her when he hung up from me and encouraged her to give me some names and numbers so I could verify things.� I told her I needed to wait until the pastor came back from his vacation weekend to know what, if anything, we can do.



So, I may be in need of some folks to help move this lady.� My congregation is a lot of older people, though there are some younger I am going to be hitting up for help if it comes to that.� It is so hard to be in the middle of these situations sometimes, but I still believe that as the church we are called to help others and though we have to be selective on who we help sometimes, due to some folks working the system, there are many needs that are legit.�� So, anyone available to help move a lady at the end of the month??



I'm running today using my new Nike+iPod and we'll see how it goes.� Goal is walk a mile, run a mile and repeat.� I think I am the slowest runner in the world but that is okay by me; I'm still doing it.� Took Spin last night and remembered that I really don't enjoy it all that much.� I find it rather boring.� I really want to give Yoga a shot this summer as I am not all that flexible and have been told Yoga will help with that.� You know that stretch where you bend your knee...oh hell, this one:





Totally cannot do it.� My leg does not want to bend back that far and I think Yoga can help.� At the end of Spin last night, they want us to put our leg up on the handlebar to stretch out and yeah...not so much.� So Yoga is a summer goal.



Tonight dinner with friend (YESSSSS...even though I am taking the kids, adults to talk to!) and then Tod's show.� Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and wish me luck on my drive back to Reagan Airport tomorrow!