Two Prayer Requests

This morning I had a long conversation on the phone with a good friend of my wife and me. She told me a little about her marriage. Her husband seems to be an abusive person, very chummy on the outside, but rather different towards his wife. They married after she became pregnant on their first night together and he – as the “intelligent” and educated one earned the money while his wife did the household and brought up the children, always doing what he wanted because “he earned the money and therefore earned her total support. I learned that he beat her up last year – not only “losing his selfcontrol” but comeing bach for a second round all because she dared to call him a knucklehead. To make a long story short, she is coming home now after another bout of troubles and I really fear for her health! She wants to get her son out of the house and stay with a friend for a while.

Please pray! Just ask our Lord for guidance for us her friends, for protection for her – she is again becoming depressive, for the four children, for her husband!

Father, hear our prayer for this woman and her children that they be kept safe, and for this man that he repent his sins and treat her with love and respect, through Christ our Lord. St. Joseph and Mother Mary, pray for this family.

Another reader writes:

As of today (the 10th) I am one week past my due date. While both the baby and I are currently fine, my body is still not showing the kind of progression that predicts imminent labor. I am scheduled to go in for an ultrasound and a non-stress test on Friday. There are several issues here, of course I am concerned because the longer a baby goes past the due date the higher the chances of things going wrong, but also, we are forced to pay for this pregnancy out of pocket (my health care coverage doesn’t kick in until June 1st). We have carefully scraped and pinched and borrowed to be able to afford our midwife and a basic, no epidural kind of a labor. Induction and even worse a caesarian with its anesthesiologist and extended hospital stay could be catastrophic to our financial situation. Even just the ultrasound is likely to be a couple of hundred dollars.

So could you please ask your readers for prayers that my child be born quickly, and for the grace of trust and patience for myself and my family?

(In case any readers are moved to offer practical suggestions, I do appreciate it, but keep in mind that we are in Canada and thus the situation is very different than the US, in terms of resources.)

Father, hear our prayer for a safe and healthy delivery for Mom and baby and for a cooperative and skilled care provider, through Christ our Lord. Mother Mary, pray for all concerned! St. Luke, pray for them!

I’ve asked my reader if she has a Paypal account and not heard back from her. If you do have one, gentle reader, please let us know in the combox (just click on the link for this blog entry) and give us the appropriate info and I will see if I can drum up a bit of blogospheric cash from my readers (to send to her, my minions, toadies, followers and suckups, not me, just to be clear). Money: it’s the universal gift certificate!