Vacation Memories

We started out with smiles on our faces, looking forward to cool air, fall colors and lots and lots of pumpkins everywhere.

We were not disappointed....we arrived at Maggie Valley, N.C. the day before the first day of fall. They were just putting out all the haystacks, pumpkins and scarecrows, the temps were in the high 60's low 70's....perfect!






Our first stop before getting the the cabin was Barbara's Orchard. This stop is a tradition for us..it is a little fruit and veggie stand but also a bakery. Our choice of indulgence was their perfect tasting "apple turnovers". Yummmmmm! They were still a little warm from coming out of the oven. We also bought lots of apples for more cooking during the week.
















Here are a few of the "priceless" memories we shared:

1. Kaitlyn saying, "I want to go in Nana's car".
2. Kaitlyn holding my hand every chance she got.
3. Kaitlyn saying, " That's OK, maybe next time."
4. Anna's beautiful, heart stopping smile.
5. Anna''s sassy little swinging hips when she is doing what she wants to do.
6. Anna saying, oh so quietly....pa pa
7. Making dinner with my sweet daughter, talking, laughing and just enjoying being together
8. Watching John and Abel's eyes light up when they got their milkshake, fudge or whatever else they are indulging in
9. Sharing dinner each night in the mist of our beautiful surroundings
10. Sitting around and talking and laughing about things that in normal life we would never have time for.

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your Heart. Psalm 37:4

North Carolina

Well, it is that time of year. Our yearly trek up to the mountains of North Carolina. This picture is from our trip last year. We are going with our daughter, son-in-law and the grandbabies. I can't wait!

I am originally from PA and the one requirement I have had of my Tampa native husband when we got married was that we will see fall in the North every year. I don't believe we have missed very many falls. North Carolina has become our place of choice. I honestly could easily just stay there.

There is just nothing like the cold crisp air, the smell of fall in the air, the leaves beginning to change, pumpkins and hay bails everywhere and sitting on a porch of a cabin looking over the mountains with a cup of hot coffee in your hands.

Life just doesn't get any better than that.

God's Timing

I have been reading Joyce Meyer's book, "The Secret to True Happiness." The following was taken from that book. As I am in a very transitional time in life I have been struggling with God's timing on things. This paragraph from the book really spoke to my heart.

"One of the biggest mistakes we make as believers is failing to remember that God's timing rarely matches our timing. We think and plan in temporal terms, and God thinks and plans in eternal terms. What this means is we are very interested in right now, and God is much more interested in the long term. We want what feels good right now, what produces immediate results, but God is willing to be patient and deliberate as he invests in us over a period of time to produce results far better and longer lasting than we can imagine.

God sees and understands what we do not see and understand. He asks us to put aside our natural tendencies to want to figure out what should happen in our lives and when it should happen. He also desires us to stop being frustrated because things do not go according to our plan, and instead to relax, enjoy the ride, and trust He is working everything out according to His timing and the wisdom of His plan.

Without true trust in God, we will never experience satisfaction and enjoyment in life; we will always be striving to "make things happen." Psalm 31:15 assures us our times are in His hands. He is working, often in ways we cannot see, to bring His plans to pass in our lives in the best possible ways, to bring us the greatest possible joy. He sees the BIG picture of our lives, from start to finish; He knows what needs to happen and when. we simply need to trust Him and remember His perspective is far superior to ours and that His timing is PERFECT. "

A Grateful Heart

It's been almost 2 weeks since my last blog entry and if anyone does check this blog I am sorry and will try to be more consistent.  If no one checks this blog then it is not a problem because I am OK with it.   

I have been very focused on a project I have been working on and finally have completed this week. I have been writing a Life Coaching Workbook for pregnancy resource centers.  I always wanted to write an instructional training manual as I love to train but the reality of doing it was not quite as glamorous as I thought.  For a person like me that loves to be mobile, be around people and work on projects together with a team, this was probably one of the most challenging assignments I have ever had.  I had to sit for hours on end at my computer and research, type and correct mistakes, I was by myself most of the time and I was it doing myself so there was no team.  

But I truly believed and still believe that God put it on my heart to do this and that is what kept me going along with many family members and friends that believed in, encouraged and prayed for me.  The end result is not a book that I take credit for but a book that was something God helped me daily to do and

 gave me all of the support and encouragement through wonderful friends and family that I needed to finish the task.  I give Him all the glory and thank Him for everyone who was there with me during this time.  

I took the book to the printer today and will have printed copies on Friday to send out to those who have requested it.  The rest is in God's hands.  

I am hoping some of the centers that have ordered the workbook will do some blog questions once they get the book so they can be posted for everyone to see.  We will see what happens.  

For now I just wanted to post to be a encouragement, a challenge or a motivation to anyone who feels God has given them something to do that seems too big for them.  I promise you this was too big for me.  When God puts something on your heart - take a step at a time toward the path He has shown you.  He will light your path but only step by step the rest you just have to trust Him for, but who better to put your trust in!

Here is a picture of the front of the workbook.  I am hoping to have it on my website and a link to some of the chapters by next week.