My husband Randy, in spite of (now) having a Master's Degree in Software Engineering from a major university to go along with his YEARS of on-the-job experience as a Computer Systems Programmer/Analyst AND his BS/Information Systems from that same major university, has not been able to re-enter the field of IT successfully since losing his technical job position a month post-9/11/01! If that isn't 'bad' enough, in the last 4 years we've lost 3 out of 4 of our parents as well. I am permanently physically-challenged and unable to work in my own field of Music Education also. I am asking you to pray for the successful RE-employment of my husband Randy Zeleznak in his dual-degreed and experienced field of IT/Software Engineering in a LOCAL (non-traveling out-of-state) position on a full-time w/benefits basis and an annual salary which reflects his educational and experiential accomplishments, which will then allow for assisting both of our daughters to go back for at least their Associates Degrees, and if they want also then, their Bachelor's Degrees from accredited schools in their desired fields of study. I am not asking for my own illness to be completely 'cured', but I would also ask for your prayers so that my physicians are able to keep same from progressing quickly to a negative which cannot be recovered from, and that the physical abilities I still possess can be maintained at least at their current level until my own life's journey is over, whenever that is to be. Finally, I ask that my husband's physical/medical health & well-being are allowed to continue at their current level, so we can have many more years happily together (26+ at present) as loving husband & wife.

VERY involuntarily, I find myself back to needing to ask for prayers for myself & my husband...as we find ourselves once more financially between that proverbial rock & a hard place: Mom who passed last Jan. 20, 2011, had somehow neglected to tell us (since 1985, we'd been living together in the 1st floor flat of the 2-flat my Dad[RIP 1992] had inherited from his bachelor brother upon his death in the early 1970s and we've never wanted to move out until after my Mom passed, because she really couldn't get by on her own) that for the past several years, she had NOT been paying her property taxes to the county, AND she had NOT been paying her annual water bill to the city ... and as a result, NOW unless we can 'find' a few thousand dollars to pay those bills, our water will get shut off AND the house will be put on the 'sell for back taxes owed' list by the county. SO, conceivably not only can our water get shut off by mid-month next month, additionally the house and property worth $80,000 can be sold for 'only' those few thousand dollars and we, along with 2.5 families' memories, posessions, heritage items, and the like - along with our rescue dog & 2 rescue cats, will be out on our @$$e$ ... and btw, I am permanently significantly physically challenged/dis-abled by a very rare illness of my entire neurological and circulatory system for which I am treated with oral chemotherapy using Imuran/azothiapine daily, and being told that a stronger chemo (Rituxan) is looming quickly on my treatment horizon per my rheumatolo-gist. As such, since my initial dx in 1994, I have not been able to work in my career of an elementary/HS music educator in the Catholic faith-based school system locally. Additionally, my beleaguered husband, who has a MASTER'S DEGREE in Software Engineering since 2008, as well as a Bachelor's Degree in Info. Systems since the early 1990s AND who worked in technology until he lost his job as a Senior Systems Programmer/ Analyst a month after 9/11/01, has only been able to earn wages by working part-time overnights M-F as a bulk package handler for an international shipping/re-ceiving corporation, which also is the only way our family (including our 2 daughters) has any health insurance coverage, and that's imperative not only for myself & my husband, but also for both girls each of whom has a significant chronic illness which requires regular doctor's office visits AND significant pharmaceutical therapy via prescription drugs, also.

PLEASE pray for us all, so we can navigate these treacherous financial and health and employment waters 'safely' and also then 'quickly' find a way to reach the proverbial shoreline without drowning first ... in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit ~ Amen. God Bless You ALL for your kind prayers and thoughts on our behalf.

I am asking for prayers not for myself (I know, for a change!), but for my dear, dear near-lifelong friend Suzan Venturelli. She suffers from PKD and is awaiting a match for a transplant. I love her like she was my own sister. Can't imagine my daily life without her in it either thru Facebook, text messages, phone calls AND the like, so any/all prayers for her best health, quick procurement of a donor organ match, a 'textbook' surgery, a quick/complete recovery, and a LONG life afterwards are VERY definitely appreciated. God Bless ...

PLEASE pray for my nearly-90-year-old mother-in-law who was just transported via ambulance to the ER with SCARILY high blood pressure suggesting a stroke in the works or an active MI happening, and whatever God's will is for her, may she not suffer needlessly - if this is 'it', let it be peaceful and painless PLEASE ... in Jesus' name, AMEN ~~

A nearly-completely selfless prayer request: God, PLEASE find it in your infinite goodness and wisdom to grant my husband Randy whatever
'divine assistance' You see fit to impart in regards to his upcoming job interview at BCBSIL that is coming up very soon, so that he will simply 'ace' the interview completely and then be offered the position in short order. This will, in turn, positively affect SO many other lives, but most importantly - Randy's: he deserves nothing less than this, and in all actuality, he deserves this AND so much more! In Jesus' name, Amen. To God be all the glory!

Thank you all for your prayers re: my Mom. Sadly, she passed on January 20th from complications due to lung cancer. She's with my Dad now, and happy/pain-free once again in Heaven. God's taking good care of them, I have faith in that. Today's problem is, scarily, with regards to my 'youngest' daughter (21) - the one who is usually INFINITELY healthier than her older sister. 911 had to be called for an extremely severe asthma and/or infectious bronchitis exacerbation at home, and she was transported to the nearest (NOT the best!!!) hospital against our conveyed wishes, where she sat for nearly 6 hours on a gurney in the hallway NOT being medically assessed at all UNTIL I called the ER myself, demanded to speak with the charge nurse, and when I did and explained calmly and thoroughly about daughter's past history, family history of severe asthma, and that we just recently buried my mother after she passed, THANKFULLY the charge nurse 'lit a fire' and got some active assessment/treatment initiated. PRAY that she doesn't have to be admitted though ... thank you all for your prayerful assistance! ~~~ A loving Mom ~~~

Dear Lord: Once again Mom had to be transported via ambulance to in-patient hospice unit @local hospital. Once there, she was for a very brief moment in time semi-responsive, but then she closed her eyes and did not open them again for nearly two hours until we needed to leave. My heartfelt prayer is simple: let her drift out of consciousness and into the light of your grace in Heaven with no additional pain of any type at any level for any reason. May she be welcomed through the gates of Heaven into the arms of all her loved ones and family and friends who have gone before her. May she finally be at peace. Amen

Sadly, our lives have taken an even MORE harmful and emergent turn for the worse AT THE HANDS/DEEDS of two people who were tasked first by my immediately-after-birth adoption and then secondly by virtue of being entrusted with becoming my baptismal sponsor/godparent, and all that both of those 'duties' entailed ... I can no longer pray for those who would do me/us harm physically, emotionally, or spirit-crushingly and hope-dashingly.

The only prayer I can now request is that, through the power OF my entreaty here today, anyone who reads this immediately asks God to uplift us from not only our spiritual and emotional despair, but also from our financial and living-arrangements despair as well. I so desperately want to allow myself to trust in God unquestioningly, but I am heavy-hearted and doubtful and frightened out of what little may still be left of any semblance of sanity and hope that had remained in me. Dear God - keep my husband and I safe and healthy and non-homeless, and lift up our hearts and minds to restore our trust once more in Your Divine path for us which, because of our troubles and sorrow, are currently blinded from seeing clearly at present. In Jesus' name I thank you all for your prayers for me/us and your kindness IN that prayer/those prayers, Amen. Jesus, Mary, Joseph - PRAY FOR US!

Mom's death from lung cancer is so very imminent; you can just tell by looking at her. She was tiny (4'10") to begin with, but she has now lost SO much weight, she's at only about 85 lbs., and she looks as though she's 'knocking at _____'s door' right now :''( Also, it turns out that she only carried $10K in life insurance, which just will NOT even 'cut the (financial) mustard' in regards to her final expenses, and with me on reduced disability income and husband functionally unemployed in spite of many years' experience in IT AND a Master's Degree in Software Engineering from DePaul University in 2008 (lost his last full-time IT job as a Senior Programmer/Analyst a month after 9/11/01!!!). I am asking for prayers for my Mom AND my husband, and not for myself (in spite of my own very serious illness, current chemo for same, etc), because they need prayers much more than I do. God Bless All of You in advance, and Happy Holidays 2010