Dear Reader:

In a few weeks Walsh, Mollie, and the boys will move into the B&B side to live while their home is being renovated. I knew when I started renovating (myself) the other side that it would come in handy for emergencies ( Like air conditioning failure) family and friends overnight stays, and a place for family to live between moves or renovations.

Life is crazy with two little boys (3 and almost one and a half.) It can’t possibly be anything else. So every now and then Mollie and Walsh know you just have to stop and have a family hug fest. As long as everyone knows they are loved….the rest will work itself out.

I admit that I am a “HGTV” junkie…..flip or flop, renovate or sell, fixer-uppers, etc. I love them all. It has occurred to me that we humans are faced with the personal choices of whether we, ourselves, are going to “sell out” or fix our own lives up to the dreams we harbor.

It really does come down to “To be or not to be….that is the question.” Are we going to follow the path that our being is urging us to take or simply follow the easier path of selling out on our heart’s aspirations? The answer lies within us.

On the way out of Mandy’s subdivision Saturday I noticed their exit sign board which read: “Follow Your Dreams….They Will Lead You to Your Destination.”

Let me give a “shout-out” to my adorable niece, Carrie Simpson, who quietly, without fanfare, began preparing herself to make a change in her career… which she felt was her dream unfolding.

As a Pre-K teacher in Dorchester Two schools, she decided to begin the switch to speech therapy. This required completing an intensive three- year program plus summer internships. She just finished her last internship, graduated with honors, and is now starting a new vocation, at a new school, still within  her field and love of education.

She took classes and taught simultaneously and no one ever heard a complaint. Like the sign said: “Follow your dreams; they will lead you to your destination.” Change doesn’t have to happen overnight or be something revolutionary….in fact quiet change, accompanied by thoughtful reflection, is the best kind of change.

One very precious freedom given to us IS the freedom to re-invent ourselves as we are lead by our Creator. (I thought the following true story excerpt is a good example of this idea.)

Freedom to Re-Invent- the Man with the Violin (Huffington Post-Kathi Sharp-Ross)

(The author was on her way to a conference and met another attendee on the flight …he was carrying a case and when she asked, curiously, what was in it…he shared his story with her)

It is the first day of August. Say “Rabbit” and have good luck all month. Wasn’t that shower wonderful yesterday and hopefully some more rain is forecast for today. Maybe August will make up for the lack of the rain all summer for us. The garden and myself would love it!