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On this first day of 2023 I thought I’d reshare a story I posted in 2018. The focus is the power of God AND the amazing generosity of the folks who live in SULLIVAN County. Maybe it might console someone who is down on themselves and their life situation.“In the end this post is a testament to the real presence of God in all of our lives whether we acknowledge Him or not; whether we love Him or not; whether we believe in Him or not, and to the humanity and truly selfless generosity of the people of Sullivan County, as exhibited time and again.When I was a boy, my mother, a devout Catholic, had an framed image of Jesus exposing His Sacred Heart hanging in our living room and we grew up with that image our entire lives. A quick reminder to those among you who claim Catholics worship statues and images, we don’t. That image served as a constant reminder that Jesus was an integral part of our family and our familial life. My mother was a woman who trusted completely and blindly with a childlike absolute confidence in the Providence of God and whenever a situation arose that presented a problem for our family, no matter how big or small, she would stand before that image and present the problem and end her dialogue with, “Your Will be done.” She meant that she would accept whatever answer came from heaven. I cannot remember all the countless times her prayers were answered but there was one time which was so obvious and practically instantaneous with reply that it left an impression on me which lasts until today and will probably last the rest of my life. I tell this story constantly when the situation warrants it and so I tell it now because it happened to me just the other day. It was the mid 70’s and our parents had my four younger brothers and I enrolled in Catholic grade school at St. Francis of Assisi in Astoria, NY. It was tuition time and my dad did not have the money. It was a choice between the mortgage and food, or the tuition. As my mom would retell the story well into her 70’s and early 80’s until she died, and always with a perfect memory of the events, this is what happened. The morning of the day the tuition was due and we did not have it, after my dad went off to work and us to school, my mom says she went to stand before Jesus, represented in the image hanging in the living room and she pleaded her case with him as a daughter would ask her father for something she considered important. With full confidence He would resolve the issue, she asked Him for the tuition money. That was at 8am. Afterwards she went off to daily Mass and continued with her daily housewife and mother routine. It was about 12 noon that she heard the mailman drop the the mail through the slot in the front door. She went to get the mail and there was an envelope from the parish addressed to her. She had no idea what it was. Mom said she opened the envelope and read what was inside and she froze, letting out a tiny shriek of shock at the contents. She had forgotten that a few months before at the parish bazaar she had purchased a raffle. Well, the letter was to inform her that she had won first prize and the enclosed check was the prize minus the tax already taken out. It was for the exact amount of the tuition for my brothers and I. Down to the penny.God had once again shown His power and governance and mercy to His creature and creation and there was no doubting, there was no coincidence. This was real. He answered her in 3 hours.That image hangs in our family room now, part of our inheritance from my parents. In spite of my constant failings, I inherited a certain amount of that childlike trust from my mom and whenever I have an unresolvable problem, I go and I stand before that image of Jesus and like my mother did so many decades ago, I plead my case and I ask for a resolution and I leave the problem in His Hands.On Saturday, June 30th of this year, just last weekend, a friend of mine called me. She was in tears. She had hit bottom and was on the verge of giving up. Her life, as a single mom of wonderful…yet semi-feral urchins, had been a series of disasters which were not of her doing. Call it bad luck if you will. I don’t know what else to call it. She is a good woman and a hard worker and she has given to the community in so many ways, helping the needy, even when it hurt her to do so. And never giving up on the neediest and the worst of people even when others had thrown them away. How was life repaying her? By knocking her down every time she tried to rise above the tides of misfortune. She is homeless, currently relying on charity and a teeny apartment over a garage. She has been without a job and a home for about a year now and without a car for several months. Someone took her to some job fairs over the past few weeks and she found a job. Someone offered to take her back and forth to work until she could afford to put a car on the road. She was finally able to do that, and spent a considerable amount of money doing so, depleting whatever money she had. The day after she started driving the car, a section of the frame which was rotting but hidden fell out of the car and onto the road rendering the car inoperable. So there she was on the phone tearfully relaying her current state of affairs. No car again would mean no job again and continued homelessness. So I calmed her and told her not to worry. Everything would resolve itself. This was Saturday morning. At 12:21pm I posted a plea for help for this woman on all the Sullivan County pages I thought it was appropriate to do so on, and other than a couple of idiots, the vast majority of posters wanted to help, which is so typical of Sullivan County folks, as has been my experience posting requests for help for folks over the years. At 12:30pm I stood before that image of Jesus, looking up to Him, and asked Him to give this lady a break. Those are the words I actually used. Less than 90 minutes later at 1:56pm I received a PM from another woman I know through one of the pages I run. This is what she wrote: “Hi Gabriel. Can she or you look for a car for up to $2500.00. I will pay for it. Let me know when or where.”In 90 minutes He answered my prayer.At that moment I felt the shock my mom felt so long ago, when she read the letter mentioned in the first paragraph. I felt so small in the presence of God for it was He who answered my plea made an hour and a half before, through this lady. How can anyone say there is no God when the proof is so darned IN YOUR FACE.Today, everything came to fruition. The woman was able to drive home in a solid car, paid for fully by the selfless generosity of a member of our community who wants to remain nameless.And that is my story which I wanted to share with you. God is great and our community IS a community.”