Today's Work for our Hands 

November 6, 2012

With leather gloves and sharp snips I deadheaded nodding mums and faded knockout roses, then I snipped down below the mulch wild suckers that in summer’s heat I just tolerated. But today a misty rain chills the Fahrenheit down. Gals like me can slip into sensible riding boots, warm pants, and a knit cardigan to welcome late fall in the Deep South.

Our flag waves as maple leaves tumble across the front lawn. Southern pines with wind swept pine needles stroke like a painter the backyard grass a sandy orange. My Maria and Buddy already raked pine straw mounds last week. If it weren’t so wet I would get out the rack.

So I rest inside on a sofa. I am oddly alone. The clicks of the lit Mac keys render an artifice of social connectivity with the world.

Captain Cat is curled asleep in the study.

My beloved Hubby catches up at work after a long weekend break. The two of us drove North to visit friends from church and our eldest son, Miguel.

Buddy is out and about volunteering with his life-skills counselor before he bowls with Special Olympics pals this afternoon.

My Maria departed 5:30 a.m. to work a polling place until who knows when. Each hour there is an hour she will gain what this bleak economy has failed her— a paying job. She will also be paid for her poll training. Thank you, God!

For endless weeks Maria searched computer sites and all over town for work. On an almost full paper pad she’s recorded the dates and places of applications. She's memorized the time periods she must wait before reapplying.

Once we believed Maria had networked a job at Walmart. A season before, a female supervisor at one of the local Walmart Stores wanted to train and hire her, but the first application fell through. My Maria waited out the months and reapplied. When that application passed, we rushed down to Walmart only to discover that work was so scarce, the supervisor had to work two stores to obtain the hours she normally filled. Her second store was 89 miles west of our town!

My Maria and Buddy are "the Uncounted" in muddled unemployment figures. They'd be needy, but for God's grace; MBH works enough to support a family of four adults.

Election Day 2012 is a blessed day for Maria, yet I still pray for that steady job. I pray for her brother Miguel, quite stressed at his job, and for Buddy, who is happy to volunteer, but tells God, “I need a job."

My prayer list expands. Two Christian brothers from my former church were recently let go. In my social network my typed words hug and comfort two younger wives whose husbands were just let go as well.
Please, dear Lord. Give them the work You created them to do, the work of their hands. Amen

Cat jumped beside me for a hug—a scratch about her neck. I don’t need to get out to vote today. All the family voted early, standing an hour to an hour and a half to cast votes. I hear it may be even longer this day.

Impatience is no excuse to avoid the work of our hands.