We should have had all our 1099R forms sent to us by January 31. Instead, our brokerage company decided since so many mutual funds have to be changed and corrected income taxes filed, they would send them out on February 15.

In the past we have lived off cash we have saved, but this year we have finally had to start dipping into our securities for a monthly amount.

Our financial manager sold a certain mutual fund we have held for quite some time.

The problem is the brokerage house that keeps these records showed it as us not paying anything for the stock and making all profit. Now we have to wait to get the problem corrected.

We know the original tax basis, but the stock paid dividends that were re-invested and we can’t figure out the basis for that stock.

So here we sit with Turbo Tax ready to go and we still don’t have all the information we need.

The secretary to our financial adviser will see if she can get the brokerage house to fix it on Friday so we can have it Saturday (more like Monday), and she is doing all she can do to help us

All we want are the cost bases for the different times this stock was purchased. Is this asking too much?

Oh, and about that rebate? Well, here’s the story from an aide in my congressman’s office. You get the full $600 per adult and $300 per child regardless of how many children you have, as long as your adjusted gross income is about $57,000 for a married couple and half that for a single person.

After that it gradually decreases and again is based on your adjusted gross income and not your gross income.

If your only income is Social Security and you are not required to pay taxes you must file a tax return to get your share of the rebate, which is $300.

Is there a chart somewhere? Sue keeps up with these things better than I do so maybe she can point it out to us if there is one.

But don’t count on $600 per adult.

I am familiar with a situation where a pre-teen child has to take free lunches at school because her immigrant parents recently divorced.

While they were together they got on fine financially, but now she is reduced to taking free lunches.

She won’t take them. Her excuse is she doesn’t like the menu, but the menu is varied. Instead she was taking parts of her friends’ lunches.

The family of one of the friends found out she wouldn’t take free lunches and decided to make her lunch for her on a daily basis.

She likes just chicken and turkey lunchmeat and P, B and J sandwiches. Since it’s Lent and she’s Catholic she eats the P, B and J sandwiches on Friday.

Included with her lunch is a fruit juice drink and a fruit cup or pudding, along with a plastic spoon to eat it.

The cost of her meals is just $5 a week plus the cost of the juices.

I don’t understand why schools don’t make it impossible for students to get a free lunch without having to say the word, “free” when they get to the check-out, thereby inviting ridicule on themselves.

Everyone should have a tag the same color and have to have it scanned and then no one but the cashier knows how much the child is paying. But, then that’s too simple and the government wouldn’t get credit.

I also know of families of working mothers who are homeless. Several churches in our area make space in their church building for them to sleep there for one week and then they have to move on.

The hope is that they will be able to find affordable housing.

How can I rest knowing these stories and knowing they are multiplied all over our country?

We give to missions when a lot of the giving needs to be given to missions right here in the United States.

I don’t know if we can designate our money for missions go to help the working poor in our own city and country or not, but I’m going to ask today.

If I had a second home or a home big enough to take in such a family I would do it in a heartbeat and they could stay until the mother finds affordable housing.

Please pray with me for these people. It’s so hard when you see it in such a small town as ours. Perhaps people in large cities are used to such things, but I’m not used to it and it breaks my heart.

Prayer does a lot and while you’re at it see if God will touch your heart to help such people in need.

Jesus told us that in as much as we helped these people we are helping Him.

Thank you.