Halloween Already?

October is gone. How is that possible? I think I've only written two or three posts on this site during the month of October. I could not have imagined how busy this year would be. Seriously, I'm pulling back and not apologizing for it. There are several things I am not doing. When asked to speak at retreats or conferences, I've said no. When expected to attend a conference, I didn't go. Normally I sing in both services for choir, not this month. Even when I try to simplify, life seems so busy. I really don't understand this but I'm plugging away, doing what I can, when I can, and forgiving myself when I can't.

My hubby is mending well. The eye area is healed; the leg is healed. But that arm... it is going to take time, a lot of time! The doctors took a big chunk of flesh from his wrist to patch the hole they made in his face. Since there are no functioning nerves in that area of his face, he feels no pain. However, the wrist is an entirely different story. One wrong turn and the man is in agony! It makes me want to cry to see him suffer like that. Honestly, it is getting so much better. He is radically more capable of caring for himself. He even takes care of all his bandages but one, the ace that wraps around his wrist and forearm. It has been six weeks since surgery; healing is a slow but steady process, and we are grateful for the progress.

School continues to demand our mental and physical energy. My students are doing back-to-back novels since I missed a critical two-week period in September when they should have been in a novel study. I decided to leave the grammar for the sub and concentrate on the literature upon my return. It was a wise move but there's still a lot to accomplish in a very short time. November is full of holidays, conferences, and potential snow-days. (From my mouth to God's ear!)

In 50 days, our kids from France arrive for their first home assignment. We called it furlough, back in the day. We are looking forward to seeing Gracie and Eliott again.

They are growing so fast. This past week, they moved into a new home in Chartres, France. They loved their little village in Jouy, but this location is more central to their ministry and the house is slightly more than twice the size of their prior teeny 500-square-foot apartment.


So as October fades away, we are grateful for the blessings of the past six weeks. As I look back over all we went through over these two months, I see God's hand of strength and healing. I don't know what lies ahead, not sure I want to know, but more than ever before, I believe God is in control. I'm simply going to let him deal with it all.

A Good Day

Wow, it's been such a long time since I posted anything! Today has been such a good day that I have to celebrate with a quick post. First, I over-slept. All right, that's not exactly a good thing but I got to school before the kids came in the classroom so it worked. And I didn't beat myself up over it either. I am tired of holding myself to a higher standard than I do others. Time to let that ship sail. Next, 8th graders had a major essay due today. I had two students unexpectedly absent but they sent their work to school! That is HUGE! Finally, the sun is really shining brightly. We have been told that the rain is going to come on Thursday so we should enjoy this while we have it. I plan to do that... somehow. And now, back to work.

Outside again

I should have been grading papers. Two stacks of essays sit on my desk awaiting my responses. But it was not supposed to rain (and it didn't) and I have a flower bed that has been driving me crazy. First of all, my nephews needed money. Cameron is a senior and Riley is a freshman in high school. Both boys have bikes that constantly require maintenance, due to the crazy things these boys do! The plan was to remove the old weed barrier, covered in clover - hate clover - and put down new barrier and bark. The boys were confident they could remove the old weed barrier before I returned with the load of bark, didn't happen. That old stuff has been there for decades and the roots that were tied into it... incredible! It took them almost three hours to remove about 350 square feet of the old stuff. With another hour's work, the new barrier and bark were in place. I worked with them and have the sore muscles to prove it. Although it's a relative small project, it has been making me crazy for a long time, and I'm so happy to have it finished.

Preparing

A couple months ago (seems like a life-time) we moved T's office furniture to the school and began converting his office into a den. Scott and Kass had a beautiful, wrought-iron daybed that they weren't using, so we brought it to our house (minus the hardware) and made plans to set it up for Gracie's arrival in December. Yesterday, S/K came over with their three adorables, and we set up the daybed. It was quite a process but turned out nicely.


I have a pack-n-play for Eliott but I am looking for a full-size crib that I can set up instead. I have a call into a Craig's list post for one from IKEA. Eliott is not a little guy. He weighs well over 25 pounds and is pretty tall. He'll be a year next Wednesday! Oh how we miss our French kiddos but it's all good; we understand what they are doing and are thrilled that they are able to experience the French world as a family. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to Christmas! They will arrive around the 20th and be with us for six weeks! This will be a super good thing.


And it will be so much fun to watch Eliott grow and develop over that time. What a blessing our little ones are to us.