Good morning, a partly sunny day in the city, supposed to be in 50’s today. We haven’t had any snow yet; a few flurries a couple times is all. The weather has been very pleasant with lots of sun. Makes for enjoyable walking.!

We picked up our new boy Saturday evening. He is Levi Jantzen from Maine, a fine young man. We are no longer the newest in our unit setting. Is interesting to see the city through another’s view. We stopped for supper at Jackson Hole, an old classic diner. We all ordered burgers and milkshakes, very good. Arrived home and moved Levi in and kicked back the rest of evening. We were awakened at 2 am for the start of Levi’s initiation from the boys!! It went on for a while, then it was over. Stan’s heard some of it, they are a floor below us yet, so gives you an idea how it may have sounded. Levi seemed to accept his welcome fairly well…

Some impressions from the lady in the house:

All of the chance encounters. Yesterday walking home from the hospital, the lady on the corner. We exchange hello, I see she has an eye patch, the kind after an eye surgery. I ask her how she is doing and comment on her patch, we are waiting for the WALK sign, we can go, we visit as we cross. I tell her our daughter had a surgery like that, and she tells me about hers. As I head for the grocery store and she is going on, she calls back, “I will pray for your daughter.” I tell her I will pray for her.

Tuesday afternoon I meet the boys at the hospital, and we sing for an hour or so for whoever wants us to sing for them. We sang for a doctor who I believe came here from another country to work and now he has cancer, and it is spreading. He and his family spoke Spanish so we couldn’t visit much but they understood Amazing Grace, and we understood their appreciation. Was very heartwarming experience.

Here is a crazy one, also yesterday on my way home. I was coming past a store and this young black gentleman came out just as I passed. Just like that he says, “Well there is my little wife!” He fell in step with me, and we visited. He wondered if I was a Jew, I said no I am a Christian. We soon went our own ways. You never know what you will hear. He liked my hat anyway.!

At the Bowery Monday evening we had a nice turn out for our service. One gentleman met us at the door and told us his troubles and asked us to pray for him. Told us his name was Jesus, not the God Jesus, the one that needs Jesus. Another fellow there told us he had been a unicycle rider. His mother had taught him to ride. She had him when she was 12 so they had grown up together. He is now 82 and what a spy, sparkly eyed man. Also, a street preacher visited with us there. He is living among the homeless and preaching to them, comes from Oklahoma. Interesting.

The group of us sang some songs and then either Stan or Papa Randy gives a lesson. It was Papa this time. He made a comparison with a $20 to our soul. The $20 looks all nice and clean when we are young, and then he crumpled it up and said that is how it looks when we make wrong choices. Then he stepped on it and says sometimes we get stepped on and trampled on and then as we let the Lord into our hearts, he pulls out a nice $20, you look like this again! They cheered and clapped.

Sunday at lunch, we had a young couple visiting and Ellen Brown asked the young lady if she was a model! Ellen says our people look like farmers. Randy piped up about looking like an actor, oh she got the giggles over that. Thought maybe sooner he was a comedian!! She is such an interesting lady; she is here from London. And she seems like she could be or is a preacher. She can really hold forth and knows her Bible well. Love to listen to her in Sunday school. Rebecca is another attendee, she reads so beautiful, but something is different in her mind. She often counts things in the air when sitting and whispers to someone we don’t see. One wonders what her life has been or will be.

We are enjoying the boys. They are so different from each other but love to see how they get along and encourage the best in one another. They are learning to know us, and I am trying not to let them see I fall for their story, hook line and sinker. But they have caught on they can get me… They are finding Randy’s humor, like the other eve sitting at the table discussing birthdays. Stan asked Randy how old he felt, and Randy, shoulders hunched sitting at the end of the table pondering the discussion says, oh about 140. That hit the guys funny.

So that is a little of what has been happening here. I can talk about cooking and cleaning and such like at another time.