Sometimes I Write

This picture makes you want to come and see me in Colorado, doesn’t it? 😉 That my friends, is the Broadmoor Hotel and Resort. Here’s what their website says:

Located just minutes from downtown Colorado Springs, The BROADMOOR is the pinnacle of meeting locations in North America. It has 700 rooms and suites, 185,000 square feet of flexible event space, 15 restaurants, cafes and lounges, three golf courses, a tennis club, and world-class spa. These lush 3,000 acres are easily accessible…

Paula, Carmen and I had a wonderful time there last weekend at the Whole Hearted Mother Conference. It all began when we pulled into the circular drive and the Valet attendant unloaded our luggage for us and drove off in the cold with my minivan. No walking through the snow for us! YEAH! We checked in and were escorted to our room and encountered the first of our fumblings on tipping at a 5 star hotel. yikes. You would have laughed at the looks on our faces as we tried to discuss what was an appropriate tip while the bell hop was in the hallway in between trips into our room to unload all of our stuff. I thought it was $2.00 per bag, or is that just the tip for skycabs at DIA? Was $1.00 per bag enough? Somebody please educate me on this ritzy etiquette! Anyway, we gave him $10.00 not knowing if we were too generous or if we stiffed him. Like I ever thought I’d be stressing over something like that!

The conference was amazing and I came away from it a bit refreshed and renewed in my walk as a mother and as a homeschooler. I also made a new friend. You can’t possibly be surprised by that. Carmen’s friend Julie met us there, and she was so sweet and funny. At the very end of the conference she asked to see a picture of my family and this look of confusion and surprise came over her face. She said we had met before because she recognized Benny. After two minutes of guessing we realized it was Halloween night at the Chik-fil-a near my house. Our kids were all in costume and we went out for dinner there. She was there with her family and remembered that Petey ran into the girl’s bathroom. As we headed that way to retrieve him, they told me which way he went and laughed at the situation. Benny had chatted with them a minute or two before we left and that was that. Three months later I meet Julie again at the conference and she encourages my socks off. God is so good.

A woman in my homeschooling group at FACE where we attend Friday school classes, and where she teaches, could really use our prayers. She is the loving mother of five children. In April, there were permanent court orders regarding a legal separation between her and her husband. In May, the husband filed motions to change many of those orders. New orders gave him sole decision-making authority over the 5 children. Parenting time was also changed to one week with each parent. The orders were pretty stunning, and there has been quite a bit of sadness and grieving. It seems the magistrate may have a bias against homeschooling as he ruled on education authority yet education authority wasn’t the subject of any of the motions. The woman made another motion to modify parenting time and educational decision making authority. That motion is up for hearing in an initial status conference on January 17 at 8:30 in the morning. Please pray for this family for a positive outcome for the kids. They are all so sweet and really struggling through this awful time in their lives. Thank you!