Rest on the couch and Rest in peace

I thought I was done with my bed rest, and I hope I may not have to go it full time again, but I've started to swell up again after a trip to Cincinnati for the funeral of an old friend of the family, so here I am again on the couch, listening to Darwin do all the housework while I experiment with posting from my phone. Sigh. Five and a half weeks to go…

In a sense, I can cast it all up to the late friend of my family. Before my freshman year of college, when my parents couldn't afford the whole portion of tuition, our friend and her husband offered to cover the balance. And of course, I met Darwin three weeks into the school year and our future relationship was just about set in stone from that first meeting. So thanks to my generous friend, I am now stuck on the couch under the weight of my sixth child -- and this is likely the least effect of her lifetime of charitable works and constant prayer.

Please say a prayer for the souls of Charlotte and Charlie, and don't hesitate to call on them if you need some intercession or assistance. They had a lot of practice catching God's ear while they were on earth; I can only imagine how effective they are now that they're constantly in His presence.