"Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well." 3 John 1:2

Recently I realized that I was in trouble physically, because I am sick in my soul (in my mind and emotions). The events of the summer have taken their toll on this soul of mine. Not just the stuff with my friends in other cities, but with friends in my church. It seems that I'm not allowed to ever have close friends. Even the ones here at home, in my church, have been ripped out of my life.

I realized the state of my soul Friday or Saturday night after one of my friends who left our church emailed me to see how things are going. This was the morning after I realized that I no longer trusted the Lord as far as plans for my life. It's no irony that found me getting physically sick Saturday night with an upper respiratory infection that I am just now starting to recover from.

Then Sunday my pastor preached some things that began the healing, just a bit. A good start that probably would have gone deeper into my soul if my body hadn't been feeling so poorly. I made it to both services, and I'm really glad I did. Pastor even spoke encouragement directly to me just a bit. A gentle reminder of things I needed to hold on to.

I had another small thing happen today, someone from the past replied to a question I'd emailed to them. There's comfort in finding that not all bridges are burned.

So, here I am, recovering from a physical illness: the first one this bad in about two years. Following the worst spiritual attack of my life, I think. I'm sure of it, because I've never been as spiritually mature or strong as I was at the beginning of summer, and this attack nearly took me out.

(I must add something hilarious. My sneezes totally send my cats up the walls.)

Only six weeks until my trip to Israel, and I know I'll be recovered from this virus. I'm also working hard to be as ready as possible when it comes to the injuries from the car wreck last year. I started some new therapies last week, and they are making small improvements each week. I'll be calling the airline in a couple of weeks to see if I can take my EMS (Electro-Muscle Stimulator) Unit on the plane. It's a battery operated device that sends electrical impulses into muscle tissue to stop spasms. It will be of great help for the long flight from NYC to Tel Aviv, but in this post-9/11 world, I can't just assume it's okay to take as a carry-on. I also want to take chemical hot and cold packs, so I'll ask about them too.

All I know now is that we're flying over on Delta. I'll be receiving the final information in about two weeks according to the travel agency. Six weeks from tonight, I will be finishing up packing to go to Dallas on Nov 15th. I then join the others the next day to fly to NY, where we meet up with peeps from CA, GA, and NY. I don't know how big the whole tour is, but it must be huge.

I still haven't bought a camera. I'm shopping around and will wait to see what kind of sales there are for Columbus Day next week. That will be my last big thing to buy for the trip. There are some smaller things, but they will be easy to get.

Okay, I've rambled on long enough. Time for bed. Must get well.

PS. I've decided if the weather is still mild after I get back, which is possible where I live, I'm going SKYDIVING THIS YEAR!! If not, next summer for sure.