The Kindness of Bene Diction

Bene Diction is a great blogger--he's also a very kind man. And I just wanted to say thanks to him.

I've been working on a piece about the Real Live Preacher and asked Bene for a quote. He obliged, and then offered something of far greater value.

His prayers.

Some of you know that this has been a long year for our family.

Last year Kathy, my wife, had a case of severe depression. She quit her job, felt suicidal for weeks, was crumbling to bits. She got better with a lot of prayer, a great program at a local hospital, and some good meds.

We'd just bought a house a year before Kathy got sickand were counting on her working to pay the mortgage. Her illness was not in the plans.

We're still hanging on, due to a lot of freelancing and help from some friends. But Kathy's not going back to work anytime soon and I've about hit the wall. To many late nights at my computer have worn me dry.

So there I was at the wall, and two things happened. The first was that in our email exchange, I mentioned to Bene that I was feeling burned out.

He responded with a very kind note and an offer to pray for me. It was a gracious offer that lifted my soul.

Then, after a long night at work, I came home to find the living room plaster with pictures that the kids had drawn, all of which read "We Love Daddy." The kids had left me a note, telling me to come upstairs and not look at the living room. (I didn't.) The next morning they lead me downstairs, showed me their art, and smothered me with hugs and kisses. I felt like a drowning man who'd been thrown a lifeline.

So thanks Bene. Thanks Sophie, Eli, and Marel. I needed that.

Praises be to the healer of my life.