I imagine by now you thought they would be in college it has been so long since I posted:0 But here we are, the end of January heralding in the end of winter (all 5 minutes of it here in the south).  Valentines day is coming up soon and these two will help me fill out all those classroom valentines cards and wear red and probably find a way to consume an exponential value of sugar that could fuel cars if given the chance.  Life has changed a lot since my last post and that is partly why I have not posted....but truth is the only way to address life if you want to heal and move forward.  There is a christian song that talks about how families never crumble in a day and that is terribly true...but it does eventually take place on a single day. After heading in a particularly undesirable direction  for years, it finally culminated in the decision that Tully would move back north to Pennsylvania this past November.  Sometimes people have things they never get over in life and sometimes people have a predisposition to dependency issues that are genetic...and sometimes it is both.  The decision to break apart was a difficult one but one that has lead to some amazing healing for us 3 and I am certain for Tully as well.  I am sure he would appreciate your prayers through this time in his life as the change was really big for him.  There is no animosity there and I wish him the best life he can find. I believe he can overcome this thing that chases him and plagues him, because Tully knows the Mighty Creator but that battle is for them to fight now-we have our own course to navigate. I am sure he would tell you I have been far from perfect as well.  Anyhow that has been hard to put in a post for lots of reasons....but I will never be one of those Christians who pretend that life is all fancy since I "got saved"...it would do a great disservice to those in search of the way, the truth and the life that Yeshua has offered us. And even in the messes we create, there is forgiveness and freedom to live life to the fullest. Life is really hard most days.  Lately I look around me and even in my small chasms of work circles EVERYONE is going through major curve balls being lobbed at them.  Cancer, divorce, loss of jobs, loss of homes, wrecks, etc.  and that is in a circle of about 20 people.  If we represent the larger picture, the world is really hurting.  What I am personally learning (again)...(still)...is that we do not need to seek answers, we need to seek God. We get overanxious and all freaked out.  We fall and fall and fall before we hit the ground.  What we want are microwave answers instead of seeking God and trusting his timing.  If we seek answers we won't find them...but if we seek God, the answers find us. We must learn to pray through the situation we find we are in and continue to pray through our circumstances which will eventually change in time.  (some of this is from "The Circle Maker" by Mark Batterson which is a fabulous book on what and how to pray to the God of it all). Prayer is not for the weak who can't find solid ground, it is for everyone regarding everything because it IS solid ground.  But enough here...this is Marina's story so on to her life accomplishments.

Marina is more of the same. By MORE I mean that kid has blossomed into MORE bossy, MORE sweet and more alive than I can describe.  She is electric.  Happy, fierce, sweet and ...not so sweet.  She is so beautiful. I cannot believe how blessed my life is with her in it. The first word she wrote in English is Marina, the second word is MOM which she writes all the time now. She just turned 8 the week of Christmas but seems small to me even though she is in the right size clothes...and outgrowing them quickly just like Evan.  I took her to Shabbat service this morning at a Messianic church and she danced and sang through the songs in a way that challenges my sublte ideas of worship.  Evan is amazing as well.  He went back to school and took on the second grade as "the new kid" since I had to stop homeschooling him in November.  He has transitioned beautifully.  He is handsome and funny and may or may not have a friend-girl of which I am not even allowed to mention to him, therefore confirming it by his way of denial.  Only a mom would dare to write that in the first place:) He has not cried any at school this year and has a zillion friends.  He is beginning to rival my social skills and I am proud to say is also excelling in his school work.  We have switched places...where I used to read to him now he either reads to me or Marina.  I remember the day in kindergarten when he came home on day one and was a little disappointed that he still did not know how to read.  Yep, day one.  Well he is good to go now.  He has recently mentioned he wants to be baptized and if that is so, I plan to take him with me to Israel to the Jordan river where Yeshua was baptized by John (Yochanan if you are counting on me to use their Hebrew names...).  I was planning a trip to Israel this year anyway and would be elated to float the dead sea and watch the sun come up on Calvary with my kiddos.  The vacation is one of those tentative ideas which form if you work at the airport. Now I just have to figure out when it is that not many people travel to Israel so we can. Flying  Standby leaves us flying against the current of passengers if we are smart and don't want to sit in an airport for a week trying to get home. 

I am currently working two jobs which unfortunately run 7 days a week. The fortunate part is that they almost all occur during school hours or early a.m.so I am always able to pick up the kids and they are not inconvenienced by any of this.  A couple of days my nephew earns his gas money by staying over and putting Evan and Marina on the bus since I leave for work at 3:00 am two days a week.  Every time I write that down it amazes me that I make it to work at all...most of the shifts are short and both jobs are part time.  But it works for us for now.  Some days the house is messy and some days it is messier than that.  But I know what is important to me and right now they need someone to remind them to put their coats on as the sun is going down-I know they are outside because I can hear them howling at the moon, seriously:)

I have a short story that is part of a book on mercy that has been published-Echos of Mercy is the name of the book and is available through Winepress publishing.  Click the link to go to the ordering page. It is print on demand and takes a little while to get the book (not like going to barnes and noble) but I love that publishing house and would be delighted to work with them more in the future.  My writing has been on hiatus since adding that second job and taking over the household but it would make my day if you ordered one and read my story--heck it just feels good to sit here and write all of this down now.  I will be ordering in bulk soon so if you want to wait and trust me to link another address in the near future that is also an alternative plan.  It might even be a little cheaper, though probably not enough to mention. I also know alot of the other writers so I am excited to get one my self! The stories are all about a page long and are vastly different in style and content but all about mercy and grace.  and life.

Ok I hear the kids wailing outside LOUDLY and the moon is full and the winter night is cold and sound carries like a rabid coyote around here anyway, so before the neighbors come see if the kids are being chased by something scary, I will stop here and go herd them in the house (no, two does not make a herd so to speak, but the neighbor kid is here too).  Thanks for checking no us and we covet your prayers.  ~Cathy