Prayer Request

Your prayer requests are always welcome on "The Great Day in the Morning Show," and today I have one of my own. Please raise your hands to Heaven and pray for my stepfather James "Spot" Ray, who is recuperating from a "minor stroke" at Forsyth Memorial Hospital in Winston-Salem, NC. I visited him Sunday (Veterans Day) and he seemed to be doing better. He was alert, without pain, talking normally, and enjoying the care he was getting from the pretty nurses. Lucky guy!

Despite the fact that my stepdad is doing much better, he will remain in the hospital a bit longer for tests. So keep him in your prayers please. If you would like to do so, please send him a get well card. The address is James S. Ray, 603 Salem Highway, Stuart, VA 24171. I am sure he would appreciate your thoughtfulness, and so does the family.

Spot is a great guy! He is a very soft-spoken, gentle Christian man who has his priorities in order. He loves God and puts the Lord first in his life, followed by his beloved family, his church family, and his friends and neighbors. He never has a bad word to say about anyone and always tries to help people as best he can even though in his mid-80s it isn't as easy as it once was. I remember that when my aunt Ruth was living, he carefully and honestly managed the money of my mother Willie Mae Ray's blind sister, Ruth Crannell, making sure that every penny was accounted for and that she had everything she needed. He would go grocery shopping for her once a week, deliver her groceries and put them away for her. That is typical of the thoughtfulness and kindness that are his hallmarks. I wish I had many of his qualities. He has always been a great role model that I try to follow despite the fact that I often fall short of his genuine goodness. I'll keep trying.

In addition to his wonderful personality as a Godly man, Spot is perhaps the best tomato grower in Patrick County. He prides himself on his crop each year and tends to them like a mother nurturing a newborn babe. Some of the other tomato growers in our area consider his tomatoes the benchmark of excellence. To me Spot's 'maders are the best and so is he. God bless him!

Let me also ask that you continue to keep Sheriff David Hubbard in your prayers. Saturday's "Stars of David" benefit at Hardin Reynolds Memorial School in Critz raised over $18,200 (including the more than $5,000 we raised during a WHEO radio-thon for David a week earlier). Benefit organizer Herbert Conner says that when money from several other sources of funds (raffle, etc.) are eventually tallied in the total raised during this benefit will likely reach about $20,000. That is unbelievable. What a great outpouring of love and respect for our unfortunate retiring sheriff who has been seriously ill for many months.

The "Stars of David" Benefit was very well attended. It was a blessing to fellowship with so many caring Patrick Countians who never fail when it comes to assisting the less fortunate and persons in need in our community. I am so proud of the people of Patrick County. No one so lovingly and overwhelmingly responds to calls to help their neighbors like the people of our county. This is a quality that seems to be unique in our community and one that we certainly want to maintain as we seek to serve God by serving others. Thanks Patrick County for so graciously responding to our calls for assistance to help David and Gayna Hubbard and their families meet their tremendous medical bills.

I would like to thank all who made the benefit for David so successful, including Herbert, Tina, and Catherine Conner, the Patrick County Sheriff's Department, members of the benefit organizing committee, businesses that donated merchandise for auction or use at the benefit, the musicians who donated their time and talents (Tammy Newman, the Singing Directors...Kelly, Ruth, and Donald, the Country Boys, One Accord, the Southern Prophets, Cornerstone Grass, and the Conner family, all those who bid on auction items, made donations or any sort, WHEO listeners who raised more than one-quarter of the projected $20,000 Hubbard Benefit fund-raising total in another highly successful radio-thon for Hubbard on Nov. 2nd, the many people who attended the benefit and prayed for its success, and most of all, I thank God for blessing the benefit, and for the opportunity to live in a county where the people are the best in the world. No wonder we call this wonderful place "God's Country."

As we observe Veterans Day, let's all express our heartfelt appreciation to those courageous military men and women who have served and are now serving our country with distinction and who are helping to secure the liberties that we as proud Americans cherish. God bless our Veterans and our great country!

May God bless you with a "great day." Until next time, seize every opportunity to serve others and shine your heartlight on a world filled with darkness...

Be a beacon,
Richard