Halloween is coming quickly!

Well, it is that time of year again! The kids are picking out who they want to be for Halloween. Parents are trying to find the costumes, buying candy, decorating the house and yard. Ah, the good ole days!
I remember getting so excited about Halloween when I was young. Now, I have to say, it is my least favorite holiday. I really don't like gross, icky, nasty stuff, and that seems to be what Halloween is for lots of adults. I don't like those movies, or anything related to yukky-ness.
So, needless to say, I will be relieved when this holiday is over. On to the next one, Thanksgiving. And honestly, who wouldn't enjoy a holiday that you just get together with people you care about, spend time, eat good food.
Then there is the famous Black Friday shopping the next morning to burn off all those extra calories you took in. I personally have never been able to go and partake in the frenzy, but I hear it can be very fun (if you don't take it too seriously). I have also heard stories of people getting in fist fights over toys (ridiculous! but possibly interesting to observe the behavior).
It's amazing how fast the year has passed by! I can hardly believe that Thursday will be November !! It seems the longer we're here, the faster time goes!

Finally, New photos of the kids!

Yes, it is long overdue! I finally got new professional pictures taken of the boys. They are very cute!! And I am not being at all prejudiced! We got a few indoor and a few outdoor photos taken. The photographer sent us home with a CD of the pictures to decide what we want to order. So anyone who is family or friends, and would like to see the pictures, send me an email and I'll get them to you.

November is National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo, for short. There is a website to sign up, FREE of course, and people try to write a 50,000 word novel in the 30 days of November! It sounds like fun. I've never tried it before, but I am considering it this year. We'll see. If anyone else is interested in the writing frenzy, you can check it out at www.nanowrimo.org . If you decide to give it a try, I wish you the best of luck!

Reconnecting with God

These past 4 years, I have been fighting a battle in my head and my heart. Life has changed so drastically from what I imagined it would be like at this point. Mainly due to the loss of Mom. She was the center of our family, and the binding that kept us together and connected as a whole. Not to mention that I loved her dearly, and miss her everyday. Every time the kids are doing something adorable, loving or just plain cute, I think of how much she missed since her life was ended too soon to experience them. Now I'm just rambling, so I'll move on.

I've had many a conversation with God about Mom. Never questioning "why", just expressing my trouble in dealing with her absence. While I never got a divine message in a vision, or heard the voice of God speaking to me, I know He was always listening and comforting my heart.

In the past few months, I really felt a need to go back to church, which is obviously His plan. So, after some reluctance, I did go one Sunday. Took the kids. As the preacher was talking, I knew that God meant for me to hear those words. It was exactly what I needed, and it seemed as though the sermon was being told just for me. Who knows, maybe the sermon that everyone else there heard was not the same one that fell on my ears. What I know is this, God spoke to me that day, and the weight I had been carrying for the past several years got a little lighter.

Then, of course, life got in the way and I missed a few Sundays. The pull on my heart came again, and I knew not to ignore it. So, back to church I went. And again, God spoke to me, but not in the sermon this time. He chose to give me His message through a prayer for someone else. Yes, we were praying for someone else, but the message behind it was going straight to my heart. As I am sure it was meant to.

As the pain in my heart is slowly eased by Him, He is replacing it with the desire to learn, live and understand His Word. I have been drawn to read the Bible more, talk more to people about God, and to learn about what the Bible tells us. I also want to try harder to live a life according to His instruction.

The bottom line is, I have to accept that only He can give me the peace I am looking for. I cannot make it for myself. And I will find that peace only through Him and living the Word of God.

Gonna work on it.

Patience is a virtue

As we work to build our new Stretch-n -Grow business, we find that the old addage is true. Patience is indeed a virtue. We began regular weekly classes last month at our first school, and today we were informed that they will be discontinuing their participation temporarily. As their enrollment has dropped off since the start of school, their revenue has also dropped. They maintain that they love the program, and so do the kids; and they will resume as soon as they build their cashflow back up. It's sad for two reasons: 1. The kids there were just starting to get into the program and follow along well, and 2. That cuts out income for our business.

On the bright side, we will begin classes at a new school next week. This will be a parent paid program, so the money will be a little different. Potentially much better, but the risk of low enrollment is there, too. Which means low income since we will be paid by the parents for each child.

It takes time and money to start a new business. It also takes a bit of determination. I just hope we can keep ourselves optimistic during the slow times.