I don’t know one family that is perfect, that doesn’t go through their days with one issue or another. It’s that way with my family. There are problems that we face, some serious, that nag away at us. We are fortunate that we have the ability to take advantage of counseling, medical help, school guidance counselors, etc.

With my health problems, there is a great deal of stress that we face every day. I have been sick for six years now. Our youngest daughter is ten. So imagine how this has affected her. We have done everything in our power to reach out for assistance, but things still linger.

When Family Review Network gave me the opportunity to talk with Tracy Liebmann, a Life Coach, I decided that this could add to the information we have received so far. I wanted to focus on myself and my feelings as a mother with Tracy.

Transforming Family is Tracy’s website. It provides background information about her and a detailed explanation about life coaching. Tracy writes:

Coaching is an investment in oneself. When you hire me to be your coach you are sending a very important message to yourself. You value yourself and your family enough to invest in a process that will help you realize your vision more quickly.

My half-hour session was Tracy was so peaceful, yet so inspiring. It was very easy to speak to Tracy. She has a gift of making you feel comfortable and helping you to open up. Although it was my first time speaking with her and I was a bit reluctant to go into detail about my problem, in short order I was able to verbalize just what was bothering me. I was shocked because before speaking with her, I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what that was. Through her questions I was able to identify that I even knew the answer to my problem. I had spoken the words but glossed over them. Tracy repeated those words to me and my mind was open to new ideas.

Transforming Family provides a free newsletter written by Tracy, information about her coaching by phone, group coaching and cyber coaching, articles and resources. You can also request a free half-hour session with Tracy. I highly recommend it.

On Wednesday Peanut celebrated her birthday. It was the famous double digits celebration as she turned 10. I didn’t get to blog about this that day since I was so tired. I also wanted to have my photos for the post.

To My Peanut,

Soon I won’t be able to call you Peanut anymore because you are growing up so quickly. I know that you want to grow up very fast as most children your age do. Of course, I want you to stay small for a little while longer. But I know that you are so special and you will be even more special as you grow.

You came to me as a real blessing. When you were born I remember crying tears of utter joy. I did that for a while after too. I’d hold you or just look at you and thank God that you were here.

You are so sweet and loving. People that know you all say that you have something special about you. I can remember one of the doctors that came into the hospital room and saw you when you were first born said the same thing. When I heard that I smiled knowingly. You always felt special to me and always will.

Happy Double Digits! Stay true to yourself.

We’re in the counting down mode now.� Let’s see, there’s a lot of counting to do:

1. 3 Days until Peanut’s birthday
2. 6 Days until my In-Laws visit (They’ll be staying with us for about 2 weeks)
3. 11 Days until Christmas
4. 13 Days until my wedding anniversary
5. 17 Days until our quick Disney trip

So are you counting down the days? Do you use an Advent calendar? (Here’s a link to a free one that you can use.)

We usually do and this is the first year that we forgot about our calendar. The most important thing we need to remember is that December 25th is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus.

The stuffing didn’t have much flavor. The candied yams were a little too sweet. But it was a wonderful Thanksgiving at our home. We prayed for those who didn’t. We were thankful for having food and lots of it on our table this year.

In the background the television was on (not while we were eating) with the news of the terrorist attacks on Mumbai. And we we prayed for all the people hurt, afraid, the families of those injured and who had died and the attackers too. We prayed that they would see the wrong of their way. And we were thankful for our safety.

We got upset with each other as we got tired of the chopping and cooking, the washing and drying of dishes. Then we laughed about it and laughed some more. We prayed for those who were alone today and were thankful for the love of our family.

I pray that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!