Celine Dion - Goodbye's (The Saddest Word)

This says it all right now. . .

Celtic Woman - A New Journey - You Raise Me Up

For my mom, who died when I was 14. Even though she's been gone for 40 years, her loving presence is still felt in my life. She raised me up "to more than I can be". I hope that you're proud of me, Mom. I miss you, and I sure could use your shoulder to cry on and your guidance right now as I "walk on stormy seas". Someday, we will be reunited - but in the meantime, please keep on praying for me and my family. I love you!

I'm getting ready to head to Michigan this morning, but first off, I decided to let you know my thoughts of where my blog is heading.

I've had several readers ask me if I'd be willing to talk more about what I do as a counselor. While I can't discuss specific cases on this blog, I can discuss topics of interest which my readers (or I) might have, I can discuss generalities of what it's like to be a counselor, and I can discuss some questions which you might have.

So, here is what I'd like to do. I'd like to start posting a series of entries about mental health topics - such as eating disorders, abusive relationships, parenting issues, etc. I would also like to focus on faith and how it affects a person's well-being. I would like to open up a weekly column where my readers send in questions and I try to answer them to the best of my ability, with the understanding that my answers are not to be construed as therapy or a substitute for therapy.

I thought about changing my name of the blog, but I am going to continue posting about my family life; and besides, I like the name of my blog because it represents the core of my being.

So, what are your thoughts? Would you be interested in this? I notice I get a lot of hits on my sitemeter, and the majority of them are from people who keep on coming back on a fairly consistent manner, but not too many comments. So, please stop "lurking" out there, and let me know if you'd like these changes to happen. Once I get some feedback, I will decide how to proceed on making these changes.

So, I'm off on vacation. God bless, and I hope to hear from ALL of you!!

Fun Things

Tonight, I'm taking DQ and her friend to see Candace Cameron Bure speak at a church - we are really excited about this opportunity! While Candace and I write for the same ezine www.christianwomenonline.net , we have never met face-t0-face. I'm looking forward to hearing her testimony.

Tomorrow morning, I am leaving for Michigan!!! Three years ago this week, the girls and I headed up there for a long weekend, and it was, by far, the most fun vacation we ever had! Wish I could turn back the hands of time. . . Anyway, this vacation will be one of reading, writing, and praying as I sort through the events of the past six months and try to discern God's will for my future. I am SO looking forward to spending time on the beach (yeah, it will be cold - but hey, I used to go to the beach when it was below zero and snowing, so this will be balmy compared to that!).

I'll probably blog some when I'm up there. It's good for the soul, you know!

TTYL! God bless all of you.

Autumn Weekends

It was a gorgeous weekend - the weather was warm, low humidity, sunny skies, and beautiful colors on the leaves.

It was Seniors Parents' Day at the football game, where all the band parents who have seniors in the band were honored at halftime. It was really, really nice - and, of course, I had tears in my eyes. Then, that evening, we hosted a band party for the kids, and we had quite a house full of guests. We grilled hot dogs and hamburgs, and had tons of snacks. Later, we had a bonfire (getting rid of all that brush from the storm from a couple of weeks ago) and with the full moon, it was just perfect. The kids had a blast - it was fun to watch them play "Ghosts in the Graveyard" on our front lawn, and it left us wondering if they were 7 rather than 17 years old! After our guests left, DQ had a "few" of her friends spend the night - and of course, they didn't get to bed until around 4 or 5 a.m. They had to get up by 7:30, so breakfast was rather silent. Then, DQ had to get ready for her Senior Pictures for graduation. The photographer has a studio in her own home, but the majority of the pictures were taking outside, with the brightly colored woods as a natural background. We even took our family picture for Christmas at the same time. By the time we got home at around 4:00, DQ was ready for a nap! She has a busy week ahead of her, and then there is another football game on Friday, a competition on Saturday, and the Senior Retreat on Sunday/Monday. Soon, she will be filling out her college applications and scholarship essays and taking her driver's ed classes. It's going by so, so quickly!

I have decided to not post anything anymore about my oldest daughter, as she gets upset when I do. She is an adult now, and I will respect her feelings. Please continue to keep her in your prayers. It's hard to NOT write about her because she is such an integral part of my life and our family's life, so when I don't write about her, it feels like she has been written out of the family - and nothing could be further from the truth, but I do need to honor her request of not writing about her. She will always be my daughter, no matter what; she will always be a part of our family; and we pray that she will return to us and to her faith at some point in time. I don't know when or how that will happen, but I have faith in the Lord that He still is by her side, encouraging her to do the right things in her life and to come back home to Him and to us.

I'm planning a short vacation this coming weekend. Actually, it's been in the works for over a month, but I just had to wait and see if I could find a place to stay. The stress and emotional upheaval of the last six months has taken such a powerful toll on my health and my well-being, so I have decided to just spend some quiet time alone. I plan to spend a lot of time reading and praying and writing. And then, when I get back home, I plan on going to the doctor to get some medical tests run which I've been neglecting for a long time - out of fear and out of not wanting to have to deal with yet another stressor in my life. I must admit, the emotional pain of the past six months has been the worst kind of pain I have ever been through in my whole life. Words can't describe the range of emotions which these events have caused me. My husband and my youngest daughter are very, very concerned for me. In all honesty, I am concerned for me as well. I don't know when this pain will end, and it's possible it may never end, but I do know I have experienced God's loving comfort and strength through it all. This weekend will serve as the beginning point of my healing, though. I need to move beyond always focusing on the pain, and start focusing on regaining my strength and my inner peace so that I can continue on the path of being a good wife, a good mom, and a good counselor.

So, I hope all is well with all of you, and that you have a wonderful week!

Addressing a heckler directly

Why I Love Sarah . . .