So Much To Do and SO Little Time!

I must say I'm excited and a little overwhelmed all at the same time. September has been the busiest month I've experienced so far this year, and it promises to get worse, before it gets better....or should I say, it promises to get better, before it gets worse, LOL! I guess it depends if you view being super busy as a bad thing, or look at it like I have to...that the things keeping me busy are WONDERFUL things. Here's a quick overview of what my month holds:

The first week of September our family was engrossed in wedding details. Our son Steven and his lovely bride Hannah were married on Sept. 8th...the rehearsal and dinner took place the evening before and we had a 3 hr round trip to take part. A couple of weeks before my mother and I attended the bridal shower and had a wonderful time getting to know Hannah's extended family. A week after the wedding my hubby, mother and I again traveled to Portland for dinner with Hannah's parents, and the joy of watching our kids open their gifts. We LOVE our new daughter--she's a commited Christian and fits into our family so beautifully.

During that same time period we decided to tackle our lawn project. As you know, we moved into our newly constructed home in early July and it's surrounded by DIRT, which will very soon become MUD! We brought in fill dirt from out of our nearby forest floor. While it's beautiful dirt for growing, it's also filled with tons of roots and branches, which all need to be raked out. After it's raked, we planted seed and are daily watering it, and coaxing the little blades to appear.

I've been putting in 2-3 hrs per day on marketing my book, The Other Daughter, which is very close to it's Oct. 30th release date. I've scheduled a book release party at our local library and will be speaking to a couple of large churches in the area about talking to their women's groups. News releases still need to be written, influencer lists finalized and...well, the list goes on.

Tomorrow I leave for five days for the big American Christian Fiction Writer's Conference in Dallas, Tx, and to say I'm excited is an under statement. I can't wait! I get to meet some of my favorite authors who will also be attending, take awesome workshops, socialize with hundreds of other writer's, and meet with two editors to promote my upcoming potential books I'm considering now.

We'll be home for 3 days, then my hubby and I will head to N. California. We'll be driving a rental moving truck and helping our son and his wife move. It's not a burden at all, we're looking forward to going, as it's our first chance to get away together in quite awhile. We plan on touring the Redwood forest while there, and spending a couple of days in a nice hotel getting some much needed R&R.

That brings me to the end of Sept., when I'll return and have a birthday party for our oldest daughter at our home. Oh, and did I mention the couple dozen pints of peaches I've canned, or the work I've been doing on my second book? No...oh well...there's other things I've forgotten too, but that's simply because my brain seems to be turning to mush.

Wait!!! One more thing! The online catalogue for Christian Book.com just came out, and my book is on page ONE...yes, page ONE of the "Hot off the Press" list! Wahoo! Not sure how that happened, but I'm thrilled! Also, I've gotten two very positive reviews so far.... BE SURE you pick up a Romantic Times Review magazine in early October...they come out around the 10th I think, and turn to the inspirational fiction section where you'll find a review. It's considered a very, very tough review magazine and getting a good review there is superb. Just a hint....I did!

That's it for now. I just took a quick, or not so quick, break from packing but better get back. And after typing all this I realized I did my nails about two hrs ago and I'm afraid to look at them now after pecking at these keys! Yikes! Good night all, and I may not have time to visit with you again, till I return.

The Devil and the Duck

Just a quick story tonight that has a lesson in it for all of us.

The Duck & the Devil

There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm.
He was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods.
He practiced in the woods; but he could never hit the target.
Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for dinner. As he was walking back he saw Grandma's pet duck.
Just out of impulse, he Let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head and killed it.
He was shocked and grieved!
In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile; only to see his sister watching!
Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.
After lunch the next day Grandma said, 'Sally, let's wash the dishes'
But Sally said, 'Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen.'
Then she whispered to him, 'Remember the duck?'
So Johnny did the dishes.
Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing and Grandma said, 'I'm sorry but I need Sally to help make supper.'
Sally just smiled and said, 'Well that's all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help'
She whispered again, 'Remember the duck?'
So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to help.
After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally's; he finally couldn't stand it any longer.
He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck.
Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug and said, 'Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing, but because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.'

Thought for the day and every day thereafter?
Whatever is in your past, whatever you have done ... and the devil keeps throwing it up in your face (lying, cheating, debt, fear, bad habits, hatred, anger, bitterness, etc.) ... whatever it is ... you need to know that God was standing at the window and He saw the whole thing. He has seen your whole life. He wants you to know that He loves you and that you are forgiven.
He's just wondering how long you will let the devil make a slave of you.
The great thing about God is that when you ask for forgiveness; He not only forgives you, but He forgets.
It is by God's grace and mercy that we are saved.