Contests, An Amazing Woman, & Sweet Potato Fries

I had so much fun with the trivia contest that I am seriously considering doing some kind of a contest each month or each quarter. I won't be able to offer a prize of a gift card every month but I will be able to do some decent prizes and if I decide on a quarterly contest then I could probably do the gift cards. I haven't made a firm decision of doing the contests yet but if I do it won't always be a trivia contest. Maybe a how well do the posters and readers know me contest. Or how well do the posters and readers know the other posters contest. Or a contest where all of the answers are somewhere on the blog. Or maybe a solve the mystery contest. Or a bunch of who am I questions, where you guess either the famous person or the poster decribed in the question.

Yesterday I met the most amazing woman. A few months ago the minister at our home church quit the church and moved on to a different position as a chaplain at a local hospital. Since he is no longer involved with the church he wouldn't be allowed to do a memorial for mom if something happened to her. Mom has been really worried about not having anyone to conduct the memorial for her, so she has really wanted to meet the new minister at the home church. Mom hasn't been able to go to church for a while because it is just to hard for to get dressed, get in and out of the car, sit for an hour etc. My mom is a pretty thoughtful person. She will often sends cards to people for various reasons. Last month in the monthly church bulletin the new minister had written about the recent death of her dad and it was a glowing tribute. Mom wrote the minister to tell her how much what she wrote touched her. Shortly after she received the card, the minister called. Mom and her had a great talk. The minister offered to come visit mom. She didn't have transportation, I offered to pick her up and bring her to Mom's. The date was set for yesterday. I picked up the minister at 1:30 at the parsonage. The minister has five degrees. She has a marvelous speaking voice. An amazingly positive outlook on life. And she is blind.
Totally blind. I honestly had never helped a blind person before. I didn't really know what to do about little things. Do I let her hold on to me? Do I let her navigate on her own? Do I guide her with my voice? So what I did is ask her what to do. She did amazingly well on her own and when she wasn't sure she asked if she could hang on to my arm. Mom, her, and I talked for a couple of hours and had an amaazing visit. Mom and her connected on a higher level. I'm telling you this is not either your normal woman or your normal minister! He beliefs are not totally in line with the church but they are real and pretty much in line with mine. That is we have to open our hearts to everyone not just those that toe the line with everything the church wants us to. I really, really enjoyed the time with the minister.

Some additional notes about the meeting. My sister and her husband are visiting from Utah for a week. Sis was a great hostess, bringing coffee and cookies for everyone. I was so pleased about that. There was a time where sis might not have participated or interacted with the guest. It was so great to see the growth on the part of my sister.

Also you really never know how what you write will impact people. You never really know who reads what you write. We have a local weekly publication called The Times Publication. If you remember a while back they had a special insert in their publication called "The Potrait of Washington County" where they asked readers to submit creative suggestions about the bests in the county. I submitted a little writing about the best 93 year-old in the county, my mom. It was not only published but on the very front page of the paper where the article introduced the special instert they mentioned three of the over 90 submissions included in the insert and my was one of the three mentioned. Now I find out that the new minister at our home church not only read my submission but was so touched by it that she not only put it on the bulletin at the church but she mentioned it from the pulpit. Color me surprised and touched myself.

On the agenda today is sweet potato fries. Mom, sis, brother-in-law, and moi are going to Spirit Mountain Casino for lunch. It is about a ninety minute drive. We go there for the food. And the really best sweet potato fries anywhere. The also have the cleanest rest rooms anywhere. We do gamble sometimes. Last time I was there was when I won nineteen hundred dollars. I am not gambling much today but I am sure I will take a chance or two. And of course I will eat the sweet potato fries slowly to enjoy every bite!

I hope today you will meet an amazing person, have some great food, have some good luck, and that someone will tell you something you did touched them!