The Vortex

In the early years of our second family, I felt lucky to live apart from my father and step-family.
There was so much turmoil all the time, I felt like I was standing alone outside of a whirling vortex and just sticking a finger in sucked me in entirely.

Now that the kids are older and out of the house, there's still trouble but it's more like a fast river with lots of rocks on the bottom and I can wade in without getting dragged downstream.

The kids troubles are more adult. Fortunately, I get along with both of the kids. We communicate in peace. We like each other.

The sad thing is that my step-brother is in deep doo-doo.
Today, if he hasn't left, he is in "Detox."

This is the second time he has sought help. The first time, my stepmother only took him to a doctor, who prescribed some drugs for him to take to help him get off of opiates.
He sold the pills.

Why can't he just be a pothead? Good grief.
He's not 21 yet and he has already seen a friend die of an overdose.


Heavenly Father, Thank you.
Today I am especially grateful for the roof over my head and the bed I sleep in.
Please bless the families in Okeechobee who lost their homes to fire last weekend.
Please incline the hearts of those who can help them to help them.
Thank you for sparing their lives. Thank you for allowing me to be of some assistance.
Thank you for my family. Thank you for allowing our family to celebrate my father's 78th birthday this weekend.
Thank you for the peaceful and loving relationship that I have with my family.
Please bless them and help them to have a more peaceful and loving relationship with each other. Please let the realize each other's true value and how much love they are actually capable of. Thank you for allowing me to be a confidante to my step-sister. Thank you for allowing me to have a positive and caring relationship with my step-brother.
Thank you for my step-brother. Thank you for all of the times I was able to share with him when he was younger. Please help him resist the irresistible lures of peer pressure and the highs and numbness of drugs. Please guide him to the path of responsibility and sobriety. He is a kind person who is out of control. Please help him find something that will make staying off of drugs worthwhile. Please help him live. He is greatly loved and we want to see him have the happiest and least self-destructive life he is capable of. Please help him know that he is not alone.
Please incline the hearts of the people who want to hurt him to find other outlets for their anger that do not hurt anyone.
Please take my step-brother into your arms so that if he does die, he finds his paradise and doesn't remain on earth as a restless and unhappy spirit. Please don't let him suffer.
Thank you for the peace and kindness I find in my every day life. Thank you for my lover's family. Thank you for their welcome. Please help them find complete peace and acceptance with our relationship.
Thank you for my co-workers and the laughter we share. Thank you for guiding me and please help me choose the actions that will allow me to remain vital and employed.
Thank you for keeping me clear of the trouble I see on the streets and in other families everyday.
Thank you for my loving friends and please help me give them the attention they deserve and that I want to give them.
Thank you for my personal gift. Please help me to hold on to it and to exercise it regularly.
Dear Lord, please help Joey be healthier. Her illnesses are very wearing on us both. Please give me the stamina and fortitude to continue.
Thank you for allowing me to take the burden of caring for her from her mother. Please help her mother heal and live long enough to see her grandchild into adulthood. Please help her step-father cope. Please help her find peace with her real father. Please help her pass through her grief. Please help her understand the nature of love.
Thank you for my health. Thank you for showing me alternatives for continued health.
Thank you for keeping war away from American doorsteps so far. Please guide our leaders in the direction of peace for all people.
Thank you for the wonderful animals in my life. Thank you for the special blessing of the relationships I have with other people's companion animals. Dogs wag their tells and cats come to me everywhere I go and I really love it. Nice work on the furry creatures there, G.
Please incline other people to forgive me for my indiscretions and selfishness. Please help me keep a giving and forgiving heart. Please help me to keep good thoughts about people who don't always behave well. Please help me to be calmer, more patient and friendlier. Please help me control my temper and my tongue.
Please forgive me for the things that I shouldn't have done and for the things I should have done but didn't. Please help me forgive myself.
Thank you.