Happy Halloween, folks!

How could it possibly be October 31st, already?!?! I am continually amazed at how quickly the year is passing by. It always moves fast, but once cold and flu season hits, it goes faster because of how busy it gets at work.

Today has been spent working around the house. I hit the ground FLYing and although I've taken a couple breaks, I've gotten so much done! I'm going through The Boys' room and the basement, 15 minutes at a time, collecting stuff that's just plain trash (*why* have we been keeping broken toys, games missing pieces, etc.????). Then I'm collecting stuff that's still good, but not in use by us anymore - we can certainly let it bless someone else's life! I'll take that to one of my favorite stores,Value Village, tomorrow. I also went to the grocery store and had dinner planned out, but my husband woke up feeling sick to his stomach, and the meal I'd planned wasn't sounding too appealing at all. So I'll save that for tomorrow night's supper and try something quick and easy for tonight.

We'll be heading out for trick or treating later this evening - The Boys are going as zombies (yeah, I really tried to convince them otherwise, to no avail), and GinaGina will be THE cutest bumble bee I've ever seen. We'd planned on heading over to a friend's house for her yearly party, but oddly, she woke up not feeling well either, and isn't sure if the party's a go or not. If not, we'll come back home, sort through the candy, and maybe have family movie night (or family football night, which we enjoy even more!).

Everyone have a safe, happy Halloween! Don't eat too much candy!

Deep breaths.

Do you ever have those days where you have to force yourself to count to 10 about, I don't know, 15 bazillion times? Where you've taken so many deep breaths that you start to feel dizzy? That even your last nerve is about to break? How do you handle these moments? Do you block everything out? Do you have a hobby to take your mind off things? Do you meditate? Pray? Lose yourself in a good book?

I had one of those days yesterday. In fact, I started this post last evening, but ended up getting up from the desk to do some other stuff, and never returned. I'm not going to exaggerate and say that *everything* was going wrong, but goodness...it sure seemed like it. After I finished up a chapter in the new book I found at the library last night, I prayed that God would wake me up on the right side of the bed this morning and help me to see the simple blessings that I might experience today with fresh eyes. (And yes, I may have thrown in a request to let my new attitude affect that of my children...maybe).

I know that one of God's purposes for me is to raise my children to seek Him, and to be a comfort and blessing to my husband. Sometimes we all slip up, and must get back to basics - He wouldn't have called us for such a demanding job if He didn't think we were up to it! Philippians 4:13 (one of my favorite verses) reminds us that we can do anything through Christ and His strength. What an awesome promise! Sometimes when I'm feeling the burn, so to speak, I tell myself that over and over (in my favorite Jan Karon way) "Philippians 4:13, for Pete's sake!!". I have to remind myself that anytime I feel weak and unable to perform the tasks at hand, Jesus has my back - that's his guarantee. That doesn't mean it's going to be pleasant, but I'll make it through just the same, leaning on Him.

Must. Get. Digital. Camera.

Tonight I had to run out for an errand, and by the time I came back into my neighborhood, the sun (gasp!) was nearing the horizon. As I drove along, I'm sure God was with me. The sun, which hasn't been seen in these parts in eons, it seems, was low enough that I couldn't see it through the houses and trees, but just high enough that it hit the tops of trees, setting the fall colors ablaze. As pulled into my driveway and quickly got my husband, but the sun had lowered too far, too fast before we made it back out to look.

God's reminders of His grace are all around us. I only wish I'd had a working camera to catch this and share it with you through pictures as well as words.

I fully admit to never posting here anymore (not that it takes a rocket scientist to figure that out, I guess). For anyone who is still on my mailing list or a fan of my page, I fully intend to start blogging again with some regularity. I can't promise that will start now, as life is in full swing at The Lodge. However, I had to come and post a link to a blog that's become dear to my heart in the recent past:

At The Well

The first post on the site from today is a give-away, which is not the reason I'm posting the link (I do love a good give-away though!). Continue scrolling; continue reading. I think God has always spoken words that need to be heard, whether it be a Bible verse you read during your morning Bible study, a song on the Christian radio station in your car, or a blog post arriving in your email inbox. You don't necessarily have to be on the look-out for it, but your heart definitely has to be open to receive it.

To all of you, have a safe, happy Halloween. If you don't have children, remember kids will be out that night, likely paying more attention to the candy in their pails than the traffic. Be careful; be safe.