Progress and Problems

I don’t like to admit deficiency. I don’t like to accept weakness. I don’t like to complain in any public forum that my circumstances are less than perfect. I don’t like sympathy. I always feel that I’ve overstated my complaint when I receive it, but maybe it’s just that I’m not used to receiving it. It makes me rather uncomfortable so I avoid it by understating, joking around or completely avoiding life’s low spots.

So I’ll keep it simple. My back hurts. I want prayer for that. Not just that God would heal it once and for all, but that I would learn to recognize stress as a circumstance or situation, rather than a feeling. I don’t feel stress until it has wounded or embarrassed me and I would like to change that.

Aron and I are home from church this morning. He has a slight fever and a very runny nose. I was up most of the night with him because he had trouble breathing. He is a very active sleeper anyway so even when he was asleep I was constantly being hit in the face or back with a hand or foot and even his head now and then. He made up for it with his adorable little “I wuv you mom” statements. These voluntary little confessions made me content and happy to stay put. He was pretty upset about not going to church this morning but the fact that I’ve allowed him to watch “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” has more than made up for it.

On a brighter note…Mary Mary Stationery has made some moves in the right direction. I put up another set of cards in my Etsy store. I have also secured a domain name and now have a web page set up here. I visited a friend last week who has a home business and is doing very well. She was able to give me some advice, some insight and some things to consider. I visited a printer last Friday and he has failed to get back with me on pricing on the items I showed him. That may be a sign of the way he runs his business, and I may have to visit someone else. I’m not in a hurry at this point. I’m trying to take it one step at a time. My focus right now is balance. Can I work a little on business and creating each day and still maintain my home and the harmony within it? It’s going well, but it’s forcing me to do things a little differently. For instance, I am trying to “keep up” instead of “catch up.” My typical path is to ignore everything else while I am doing something creative and catch up on the house later. Instead I’m trying to do more consistently on both sides.

I’ll leave you with a few pictures of the boys sweeping off the back porch. I had asked Owen if he wanted to help and he was swift to decline. However, when his little brothers seemed to be having a great time with their little brooms, he couldn’t stay out of the action. He was very proud of himself when the porch was free of leaves.

And there are still so many yet to fall.