Changing Seasons

The other day I noticed a few leaves starting to change as a reminder that autumn is on it's way.  I love living in the Northeast with four separate and distinct seasons, and fall has always been my favorite season.

We have separate and distinct seasons in our lives too, don't we?  Dan and I are entering a different stage in our lives and it's definitely been an adjustment.  We have a young adult living with us full-time.  Our middle son, Stephen, leaves for college next Sunday and that will be an adjustment for us as he has been here for the past 3 1/2 months.  Emily is beginning 10th grade.

I'm proud of who my children are and how they are growing, not just physically but spiritually.  They have always had a strong desire to live out their faith and even though they fail at times, like all of us, they keep striving to do that.

Nathan works hard at Walmart and the fire department.  He struggles with so many things and every day is a challenge for him.  He's been having a rough time lately, yet, keeps pushing through and trying to stay positive.  His biggest struggle is the lack of friends and constantly feeling like he is not good enough. He struggles with his disabilities and accepting them.  Yet, every time he is knocked down, he gets back up and keeps moving forward.  Other than his dad and I, he hasn't had a lot of affirmation lately, so we keep trying to encourage him.

Stephen is heading off to my alma mater next weekend where he will be majoring in Biblical Studies.  His plan is to go into full-time ministry as either a pastor or missionary.  It's been wonderful to see his desire to follow the Lord and he studies God's word constantly.  Even though he is shy and struggles with generalized anxiety disorder, he pushes himself to get out and meet new people.  He has been working full-time this summer doing landscaping at a local cemetery.  His last day was Thursday and he is taking the next week to relax and enjoy himself before school starts.

Emily is doing great adjusting to her new school and community.  It was a rocky start at first but she has made a lot of friends and did well in school this past semester.  She joined the tennis team this summer even though she's never played before and after the first week of practice was moved up to the varsity team.  She gets her natural athleticism from her dad.  She's a pretty happy-go-lucky teen and gets along with just about everyone.  One of her friends said to her recently, "Why are you so happy all the time?" :-) l told her that's a wonderful trait to have and not to let negativity bring her down.

Dan is doing great.  He is out and about in the community daily; meeting new people and visiting people in the church. He is not an office guy and definitely is a people person.  He is and always has been a church planter at heart and outreach is his gifting so if he's around people, he's happy!  :-)

Obviously, you know how I'm doing.  I've been trying to juggle the house as well as preparing to open the shop so I've been trying to do just a few hours a day, cleaning and organizing the shop so I can also focus on my home.  I struggled a bit about whether as a pastor's wife I should do this or not but then realized that I'm gifted like Dan.  I love meeting new people and I'm hospitable.  It's a wonderful way to build my business but also get to know people in our community.  I'll be open 4 days a week so I still have 3 at home.

So there you have it!  Lots of new and exciting changes. :-)