[Faith-talk] Prayer Request for a Personal Issue

Wed May 31 12:39:56 CDT 2006

Hi Mary and everyone,

I will certainly keep you in prayer as I get ready to transition from San
Antonio, Texas to Cincinnati, Ohio as I prepare to start a new job as
Braille Proofreader either on June 12th or June 19th, 2006.

I will be without emails for several weeks as I make this transition. I
should be leaving either on June 7th or June 14th to fly to Cincinnati,
Ohio.
A lot depends on the assistance with the state in getting things ready. 
I also want to announce that my new site is up and running.
It is listed below.
Take care everyone and see y'all in Dallas, Texas.

Lisa Hall, President
National Association of Blind Office Professionals (NABOP)

Old Web page: http://home.satx.rr.com/lisahall
(good until July 8, 2006)

New web page:
http://www.lisa-halls-world.org

Phone: (210) 829-4571

E-mail and MSN I.D.: lhall10 at satx.rr.com
Skype: lisa120362

-----Original Message-----
From: faith-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:faith-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of Mary Donahue
Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2006 12:20 PM
To: Faith-talk, for the discussion of faith and religion;
for.the.faith-faith-talk at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Faith-talk] Prayer Request for a Personal Issue

Good morning everyone,

    I pray everyone is having a blessed day. I am writing to send a prayer 
request about a personal issue regarding me and my parents.

    First, let me begin at the beginning, which goes back to 1985, the year 
Pete and I got married. I was still working for the State of Wisconsin 
Department of Public Instruction as a Braille transcriber based in the 
Wisconsin School for the Visually Handicapped, now the Wisconsin Center for 
the Blind and Visually Impaired. Pete and I had gone together for almost six

months. That previous fall, I had gone to Texas for Thanksgiving to meet his

family and to spend a few days with a close school friend of mine. At that 
same time, I had invited Pete up north for a prom that the WSVH student 
council was putting on, and he came. It was only supposed to be for a 
weekend, but ended up being for a month. During that time, I took him home 
to meet my parents, and their values did not match up with his. When you get

two outspoken people together, there is bound to be clashing. I meant my 
mother and Pete. They tried to tell me to break up with him. When I was in 
Texas that previous Thanksgiving, I felt God was drawing Pete and me closer 
together than ever before. I was not about to have others tell me what to 
do. That time, I must have written a two- to four-page typewritten letter 
telling my parents  so. The more someone tells me to do something, the more 
I do the opposite, especially if it is God's will.

    At any rate, in February of 1985, I came to Texas with Pete, and about 
six weeks later, much to my parents' displeasure, we got married. True, the 
first three years were rocky, and I am not saying they are perfect now, but 
my parents did not marry Pete; I did. Ever since we have been married, and 
my parents have planned on coming down, we have both been nervous and prayed

that there would be good visits.

    Things came to a head this past February when my parents came. I know 
Linda has heard some of what I am saying already, but let me repeat it again

for the benefit of others on this list. The weekend of February 10-12, 2006,

was the weekend my parents visited, and it was the same weekend that my job 
location with Marriott Reservations was going to move locations, so my 
parents' visit did not help the level of stress. February 10 was a good day.

We all went out and had a pleasant dinner together. I put my parents up in 
the Airport Courtyard by Marriott Hotel up the street because they had 
stayed there before, and that way, they would have their privacy. However, 
the next day, after we looked at furniture for a belated Christmas present, 
and had gone to Best Buy to get the home theater system (hidden charges and 
all)!, things went to a head after we came home. I am thankful that time 
that Pete went into the bathroom and stayed until after they left.

    The next afternoon was very tense between my parents and me. I had to 
use tough love, and tell them that they were no longer welcome here. I spent

about three weeks of sleepless nights, also finding out at that time that my

blood pressure had risen, and it took me five weeks to learn the way around 
our new building at work.

     However, on March 20, when our new living room furniture arrived, I had

to break down and send my parents an email message thanking them. After 
all,the furniture was a belated Christmas present from them. During that 
time when we were leaving each other alone, my rehab counselor from the 
Division of Blind Services had referred me to one of her other consumers who

did housekeeping services. It turned out that this lady and her husband are 
in business together, so the housekeeping was a team effort. My dad offered 
to pay for their services, and this couple comes every other weekend. I do 
not have a problem with that.

    However, I did have a problem with my parents telling Pete and me to buy

a specific washer and dryer, and to buy it at a specific store other than 
Best Buy. With the work that the Federation is doing with appliance 
companies such as Whirlpool, we want to go into an appliance store and check

out appliances to see to it that Pete and I can work these appliances 
independently before purchasing. We did that with our computers, our cell 
phones, and our home theater system, and we will do the same thing with a 
washer and dryer and microwave oven. When I called my parents back Monday 
evening, my mother gave me an ultimatum: either buy the Maytag that our 
cleaning team picked out, or nothing at all. In other words, they would not 
help us pay for any other washer and dryer. Our current washer and dryer is 
working except that it needs a preventive maintenance check and a new dial.

    Needless to say, on Monday evening, after I talked to my parents, things

came to a head, and Pete typed an email message on my computer, and sent it 
to them. Unfortunately, I used some words I shouldn't have used, and God 
forgive me. I will try to write to my parents later about that. In any case,

my mother was very upset when she wrote back. I am just tired of them 
telling me what to do and what to buy. I want to forgive my parents, but 
right now, it is very difficult. I had to put my foot down yesterday and 
tell them not to plan on seeing me at the end of September. I am not going 
back on my word. If I have to go up there and listen to Mother and
Dad talk about Pete and his faults and belittling him, I don't ever want to 
go up there. I have other people in Wisconsin to visit, too. At the end of 
my mother's message, she said she had already lost two children, and it 
looked like she was losing another. She did not actually say it, but she may

as well have said I was dead to them.

    I apologize for all of the details, but everything is leading up to a 
prayer request. Please pray that my parents and I can somehow restore our 
relationship if it is God's will. They are older people, after all. (My dad 
just turned 80 at the end of March, and my mother was 76 on her last 
birthday.) If we end up buying another washer and dryer and microwave, the 
least I can do is tell them about it, but I must remain firm. Right now, I 
cannot see them physically. Maybe I will be able to a year from this 
September. I feel bad, because when I visit my parents, I always visit my 
brother Bill's family in the St. Paul area. I love those three kids; they 
grow up more and more each year, and they will grow up more in my absence. 
All I am asking for is God's strength during this time. Thank you in advance

for your prayers. Lord willing, we'll hear from each other soon.

Mary Donahue

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