Coming to Grips

I've come to grips with two things this week.

1. I need reading glasses.

So not thrilled about this.  Not so much cuz it means I'm getting older but because my eyesight already stinks. Serious nearsightedness.  I can't see a thing without my contacts or glasses.  I mean, I can't even tell if Nick's eyes are open or shut when we are lying next to each other in the bed.  Without my contacts, my world is a big blur.  So...I really, really, really wasn't ready to enter into the world of having to keep up with reading glasses too. Boo.  But the fact that  every time someone hands me something to read, I have to hold it back in order for it to focus has propelled me to take the plunge.

I WILL be on the hunt for some super cute ones though...
Like these funky ones...



Or maybe some with major bling...

Probably need some in every color to match with my outfits....


Although, these were hands down the cutest reading glasses I discovered...


Okay...enough of that.

I told you I've come to grips with two things this week...

1. I need reading glasses

2. I'm not Wonder Woman

I have come to realize that I am on the fast track to Crazyville if I don't slow down and jump off the train. I am in a crazy, wonderful, bittersweet season right now and up to my eyeballs in wedding projects x's1000 and graduation party plans, senior table displays, custom orders in my Etsy shop and shipments to be mailed out. As much as I thrive on the excitement and love planning festivities and thoroughly enjoy creating pretty things, I've noticed lately I'm losing the joy in it all.... and I'm a little , no... a lot  stressed out and it's my family who is paying the price.  Not good.  Something's gotta give.

I've already experienced planning a wedding with our oldest daughter, the joy of her wedding day and the bittersweetness of her leaving the nest and then eventually her moving several hours away.  So I totally understand how precious this time and season is with our middle daughter...that life as we know it with her here in our home is seriously coming to an end.

And I know how exciting and monumental this season is for our youngest daughter as she is about to reach her first major milestone in her life as she graduates from high school and moves on to the next phase of her life.  I want her to feel and experience every bit of excitement that her two sisters did...even though it's all wedding mode around here.


And my shop is busting at the seams with orders and I have so many ideas that I want to implement and create.  The Lord has used this shop in a way that is beyond what I could have ever imagined. He has used it to be a vessel to provide for all the extra expenses during this wedding/graduation season.  And the people I've met and the stories they have shared about their lives, their ministries and the reasons they chose the hymn necklace they did or why it's their favorite....well that is like the cherry on top.  It has enriched me beyond what  I deserve.

So how do I do it ALL?

I can't.

I was given great advice early in our ministry...I was told to ask myself when I was faced with another thing or opportunity to add to my plate...

is there anyone else in the world that can do this job other than me?

• Is there anyone else who can be Nick's wife?  No...I'm the one the Lord chose for that honor.
• Is there anyone else who can be Lydia and Lauren's mom and help prepare them for the new seasons they are about to enter?   No.  That is my job.. what I was created to do as I was blessed to carry  them in my womb and raise them for a season. 
• Is there anyone else who can make necklaces with hymn lyrics on them and cute headbands?  Ummmm..Yes. As a matter of fact  just search Etsy and I'm sure you will find something similar.

So there ya have it... as much as I'm loving The Honey Pot Shop and creating things that have blessed me in so many ways, I need to "close up shop" temporarily.....at least until after the wedding.

Because...
I don't want to miss one single thing of the next 6 weeks.
I don't want lose the joy of the incredible season we are in.
I don't want to be stressed out trying to keep up with it all.
I don't want my girls to think back to this season and the main memory they have is me going crazy, eating  Flaming Hot Cheetos by the bagfuls  to handle the stress.

And....
I do want to savor every second of this special time.
I do want both my daughters to look back and remember all the giggles, all the silliness and all the love.
I do want to soak up these last few weeks with Lydia in our home.
I do want to celebrate every thing about Lauren that she has achieved....without distractions.
I do want my girls to look back and think their mom handled this very hectic time in our family with strength and dignity and grace.

So if there was anything you were eyeballing in my shop run over and get it cuz come this weekend it will be on vacation mode and you will have to wait til the end of June to get it!! (I will tell you that when I reopen after the wedding I'm gonna have some amazing new goodies that I've been dying to show y'all!!  Can't wait!)

Oh.. and the morning that my husband and I discussed this decision and he encouraged me to close up shop and not to worry about the extra money it is providing... I checked the mailbox and this was in it. There was no note from the sweetheart who sent it but I have a pretty good idea who I think is responsible!  This message couldn't have come at a more perfect time.

So thankful for His grace. Oh my goodness am I thankful.

This baby is getting matted and framed asap to hang in my living room for me to see 

every. single. day.

Well, let me go...
I have several hundred invitations to assemble, address and stamp  :)

Stephanie :)

ps. Lydia informed me that I am still Wonder Woman....I'm just an old Wonder Woman. Ha.

I'll take that :)

(oh, and all the pics except for the last two are from the lovely Pintrest)