Almost Fall in the Mountains

The leaves are turning yellow. The nights and early mornings are cooler. The sun sets earlier and rises later. Fall is nearly upon us. Doesn't seem possible. Seems I spend a lot of time these days wondering where time goes. Does this mean I'm getting old? Possibly. I don't feel like it most days though.

It is a time of change in our family, too. Dana is getting ready to go back to Phoenix to work for a while. For the first time in her life, Amy is attending public school. Cody feels like he's a man and wants to be on his own; he's preparing to leave the nest for a transitional home where he can live independently under some supervision. While he's there, he will earn his GED. And a good friend--our dog Maddie--died yesterday. Why is it so hard to lose a pet? I don't know that our pets will be in Heaven, but if they are, I look forward to that pack coming to meet me! All in all, that's enough change for this family for a while.

The ministry I'm involved with--Valley Horizons--is at a critical point, too. We've been struggling to figure out how to raise some substantial funds when we don't really have a ministry in operation yet. But we have the challenge that it is difficult to get a maternity home up and running with very little money in the bank, too. We've got a unique opportunity right now though. We have a home available to us in November sometime. We need to raise the funds prior to November 1 to be able to pay the monthly bills. Guess who is going to be doing a lot of public speaking in the next several weeks? Yeah, you're right. Would you believe I never got above a "D" on my speeches in speech class in college? It's true. Speaking comes easier these days when I have passion behind me. We'll see how it goes.

On the good news front, son Eli is very nearly finished with his treatment program. He will be eligible to come home soon, but he is showing great maturity by choosing to stay where he is until he earns his high school diploma. This boy has walked a long, hard road. We're proud of his progress and look forward to seeing how God chooses to use him in the coming years.

Guess that's all for now. Best wishes and God's blessings to one and all of you. Let me hear from you one of these days.