Sorry for the long wait between blogs! Life has been a blur with trips to North Carolina and then continuing north for holiday time with families. In the midst I took a much-needed break at home by myself. All the activity had me unravelling, and puttering around the house and catching up there was a great medicament.

So we're in Ohio at present. The family drove north and I flew into Cinci to keep up with them, then from a best frend's house north to Randy's parents in smalltown Ohio - I can't believe how much I've become accustomed to Florida life! The cold dreariness took me by surprise at first, and then, as we hung out with Mom and Dad, became more and more cozy and reminded me of why I love Ohio. (I had just told someone the other day how beautiful it was here - then to come home in the brown gloominess seemed really weird!)

So our pace slowed at the Bishops', and we took time to sit with Randy's mom (please pray for her - she can hardly walk and they are still trying to diagnose her), play games, eat food that will probably work itself out in strange mood swings (for me), etc. Randy and his dad had some good time together, too, and didn't have any fights (we always tease them about that because they're so alike in ways). We dropped off a few Christmas presents from Kiev and then had to go on.

I'm in Cinci again now to take care of some interviews and speaking stuff for PurityWorks. I get to be in a pulpit on Sunday, which will be fun, and have been given license by the pastor and hostess to say "anything it takes to get people to be sexually pure." Whoa! How can I possibly fail? (-=

Monday I have the American Heritage Girls Christmas Tea. If you're unfamiliar, AHG is the Christian version of the Girl Scouts that has been featured in Focus on the Family publications. They're actually giving us some guidance to help us make the same contacts, and partnering to see how AHG can use PW materials in their program to teach purity.

After time here I head north again to meet my family (who have been visiting with good friends in Michigan) at my dad's. Christmas with the family and friends will happen there, and then we will head south to go home again (I get dropped off in Cinci for a return flight).

Does this give you a picture of what our lives are like? God is certainly giving me opportunity to function in the midst of chaos with a peaceful spirit, to learn to fly on small planes without fear, and to see what is important and let the rest alone. But it is a DAILY struggle. The battle in my mind to overcome fearful and anxious thoughts is very real, and I am learning (via Joyce Meyer's Battlefield of the Mind - EVERYONE should read it - and some good counsel) that a good deal of my personal struggles are rooted in a lack of mental discipline. Taking thoughts captive is not my strong point, but I am learning.

I guess with a Bible college degree and a natural interest in Scripture, I've stuffed a lot into my brain, but not meditated on it specifically enough to let it truly transform me. As I learn to do that, I'm finding that much of my mental anguish is overcomeable.

And you really do have to walk through fears to nail them to the wall. It's a battle, because our enemy knows that on the other side of that fear there are individuals who need love and attention. But fear saps our power and love by making our minds unsound. So constantly "chewing" on the fact that "God has not given me a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" has made the truth of the matter trickle into my mind and spirit, changing my thoughts to good expectations instead of worrying about what "might" happen (and probably never will).

OK, enough sermonizing. I have much more Christmasing to do before we get back to Florida. My wish for you is that you can give yourself permission to dump any holiday "shoulds" that are making you anxious, and to return to the manger to look at the Baby as often as possible. To recognize that the holiday won't be any more perfect than the days that lead up to it or follow it - to walk in that knowledge with grace towards the stressed-out around you and maybe to give up a batch of cookies for a long talk with a daughter or husband or good friend - and to give yourself to the journey, allowing what comes to be sufficient.

Ooooh, that sounds good - now if I can just do that myself!!! Pray for me, won't you?