It’s that time of year again– the corn is thigh-high, or would be if I’d planted corn this year. The air is steamy. I’m less ill from the heat than you’d expect, and I have to ask my readers for a favor so I can stay that way.
Michael and I receive a small check from Patheos, but at this stage of the game our primary income is blog tips; several of you have been extremely generous thus far, you know who you are and thank you from the bottom of my heart. As I periodically say on this blog, you guys keep the lights on around here. And this month, that’s going to be literally true.
I have mentioned before that for some reason, one of the features of my autoimmune condition is that I have full-blown allergic reactions to getting heat exhaustion. This year that’s partially under control, due to the fact that concerned readers have had some window air conditioners delivered straight to our house. Just about every room in this cavernous, drafty old rental house is now cool enough for me to walk into without getting sick, and I can’t tell you what a grace that is. I’m healthier than I’ve ever been in July, my sickest month of the year. I can even run errands on the bus instead of being housebound.
The snag is, with all this air conditioning running, we racked up a high utility bill, and we’ve just gotten our scary notice from the electric company. I am not 100% sure how we’ll manage. Yes, there is utility assistance, and we’re trying to get on it, but as I’ve written already it’s nearly impossible to get on when they change the rules every month, and it’s even harder when your primary income is widely varying amounts of PayPal tips instead of having everything you earn on a series of crisp pay stubs. I know that God provides, but he has a bad habit of doing that through friends, family and blog readers instead of just handing me cash. He apparently thinks I need the humility lesson. So, I’m thanking my readers who have tipped; you guys have kept us scraping by for months. And I’m humbly asking my whole audience: if you like what you read, give me a tip so my laptop and internet router can stay on and I can keep bringing it to you. If you don’t like what you read but want to do a work of mercy, give me a tip. If you just want to be mean to me, there’s apparently a box where you can type a memo with your tip when you donate, so make a donation and then you’ll get an opportunity to privately call me a parasite in the memo. If you can’t afford a tip, pray for us, keep reading and sharing, and may God bless us every one.
How do you tip? It’s easy! If you’re on a computer, just look for the “Donate” button on the side of this blog post, the one with “your gratuity helps support the author’s family” written above it. Click on the button and PayPal will walk you through everything else. If you’re on a smartphone, you may not be able to see the button on the side of the page. For you, tap on the “donate” tab right above this blog post but below the Steel Magnificat banner. Click on the button you find there, and Paypal will walk you through. Thank you again!
(image via Pixabay)
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