FEELING HELPLESS UPDATE

I have had many sweet comments made after my last post. I thought I would at least send an update on some stuff.

1) The young woman who was missing has returned home on her own. There is a lot in front of her and her family, but for now she is home, and that will allow for help and healing for all of them

2) The two boys were recovered from the river. Lots of blessings fell into place to allow specialized divers to be able to find them. Though they are gone, and things are going to be very hard, there will be closure for their family and friends and the community

3) My friend contacted me and was able to share with me some of her challenges. She is such a sweetheart and I am so glad that she is my friend. My thoughts and prayers will continue to be with her.

4) The weather is still as icky as ever - we have even added heavy clouds and rain recently. The gray sky is a constant challenge and I have to fight every minute to not just go straight to bed and stay there. Having my girls home with me for 10 days though will be a big help - we have projects planned to work on more Christmas stuff. Plus it will be nice to have them here to just give some extra help which might allow me to catch up on some much needed sleep.

5) Weight stuff is still a struggle. Other family members will be thrilled to know that I have gained back 2/3 of the miniscule amount that I have been able to lose in the last 3 weeks....giving in to emotional eating was most of that. I am really struggling with finding the desire to continue when progress is so small or non-existent. Eating in general has become a very difficult thing at our house - kiddos are protesting the changes in big ways or refusing to eat all together. We didnt have extra bad habits before - but trying to make changes has been harder for all of us than expected.

We are working hard on all those things to help us keep "holding on". The girls have done esp well with their scriptures this week - our family contest seems to be making good progress. We are still working with the little boys but they are doing well for the most part to participate in family prayer and scripture study. We will just keep doing our best and hopefully, for now, it is enough.