Merry Christmas!

Hello Everyone...Merry Christmas!

I love this time of year. What an awesome joy to celebrate the birth of Christ. He is good!

We are all great here. Kate spent the four days before Christmas with my Mom and Dad in Cleveland (she didn't want to get stuck here at the office all week!). They traveled to Dallas to visit Mark, Terri and Maresa as well as had Christmas day breakfast with Jeanie, Kenny and their three. Then the moseyed over here to Beaumont to have lunch with us. It's Kate's first Christmas to not wake up here with us. In reality, it worked out great because we bought her a bedroom suite from IKEA and needed to put it together before they arrived.

Darren is grateful for a day off from Deer Processing which is good business right now, but tiring. We've had almost 1100 deer come in this season so far. It's been a good season. Creel Investments is doing great; constantly talking with potential clients. Susan passed her Real Estate License Exam and is now a Real Estate Agent.

It's been a busy couple of months...and then there was snow! We had more than FOUR INCHES of snow here in Southeast Texas. Now before you starting thinking I'm crazy...please realize. I have never seen that much snow...EVER! So obviously Kate and Julio (from Cameroon, Africa) had quite a ball.

In fact, here's a video of Kate:

I resigned!

I have forgotten that many of you may not know that I've resigned from Church on the Rock and KE Resources. It was a very tough decision, but once God made it clear, I knew it was time to go.

I had been trying to juggle two business, one very busy husband, one struggling daughter (more details later), a house, and work at COTR and KER. It was getting to be too much and no one was getting 100% of my time, in fact, I don't think that ANYONE was getting 10% of my time. I kept praying that God would 'fix it'. In January, I went part time at COTR and KER hoping that would help (knowing all the time that I was really supposed to be resigning).

Darren and I, after much prayer (though Darren would not make the decision for me) decided that the companies were the vision of our house and our financial future. We even felt strongly that the next big growth burst for both companies would come when I focused more on them.

So, on a Monday morning, just after Pastor Ron's Mentor Meeting with his staff, I resigned with a lump in my throat and holding back tears. I love working for him. There is no greater boss on planet Earth (sorry Darren :P).

Finally, the Lord made it even more clear when Kate was tested and diagnosed with Severe Dyslexia just a couple of weeks after my last day. Kate needed my attention more now than ever, and being the boss of two companies gave me the schedule flexibility to do that.

Now, I pick her up at 3:00 and we go home. No stress...no other responsibilites...phone turned off if necessary. We do her homework and then if I need to go to Gibson's or to Creel Investments I can...but she comes first!

My prayer: Lord, I'm so sorry I'm so hard-headed. I just couldn't imagine I wasn't supposed to be working for Pastor Ron and COTR. I see now it wasn't about me...I'm not sure it was even about Kate. But I know you have a plan...and I know it's a good plan. I am choosing to be a part of it. I believe Lord, but help me in my hard-headedness. ~Amen.

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!

Hello Everyone,
I am here sitting in Gibson's watching about four guys cut up deer one after another...and I thought..."I'm going to blog an entry and tell everyone Happy Thanksgiving!".

I certainly hope that you were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with your family like we were. We celebrated twice; once in Hemphill, Texas with Darren's great family on the banks of Toledo Bend with a gorgeous view. We sat on the porch, in rocking chairs and watched Kate play on the docks. What a great day!

Then Friday, we went to my parents house in Cleveland. It was a perfect day! We were able to take family portraits for my parents for christmas and many of my brothers and sisters were able to be there. Those that weren't able will be 'photoshoped in' at a later time. I think they will be great. Then we played on Mom and Dad's Wii after we ate so much food. It was fun and it's holidays like this that I cherish the most.

My prayer: Lord, I sure am blessed! I'm not talking about the money, house, and fancy cars...I'm talking about the things that really matter. Family, Friends and Fellowship. We've got the best family, friends that anyone would kill for, and we fellowship like there's not tomorrow. Help us all to remeber to "Make a living, Make a life, and Make a difference!". It keeps us so balanced.

Happy July 4th
Everybody!

God Blessed America!
Let's keep it that way!

He took the dare!

So the other day after Kate's basketball game (which her team won!...again!), we took my mom (who was kind enough to come to Beaumont to see her granddaughter play) and Julio to lunch at Cowboy Red's, a BBQ place in Mid-County. They have 'the Outlaw burger'...a HUGE burger with three one pound patties and all the fixin's not counting the buns!...so we challenged Julio to try and eat it!!! He took the bet!...and lost! He brought the leftovers home in a box.

My prayer: Lord, Julio is such a blessing to us. He makes us laugh, he is such a great help to Kate when she has Math homework...so patient! (cuz you know I'm not the math homework person in our home!) and on top of that he's just a great guy to have around. Bless him Lord, keep him healthy, wealthy and wise. Bring him a wife one day when he's ready...too, but in the mean time keep him sane with all the responsibilities and classes he carries. Reveal yourself to him in a ways that make him realize how much you love him. ~Amen.

More Kate videos

She's getting so much more aggressive...we are so proud!

Heart Check

Kate and Renee'

Renee is one of my nieces (my cousin Jonathan Raines' daughter) who lives in Morocco, West Africa. Jonathan works there. They came into the States for Christmas this year.

We had sent Kate to Mom and Dad's in Cleveland during the winter break because she was bored working two jobs with Darren and I. Luckily, Renee and Kate hit it off beautifully! They spent as much time together as they possibly could. They even went to NASA!

My prayer: Lord, Renee is beautiful! Her entire family is such a blessing to you. I pray you keep them healthy, happy and provide for all their needs as they are working out of the country. Thank you for the wonderful time Kate had with her. Family is so precious and I know Kate loved getting to know Renee. My their relationship and the time they spent together be a beautiful memory that they both cherish.

Kate's Playing Basketball!!

Kate has joined the Little Dribblers this year! and she is doing great!!!
At first she was very nervous since she has never played on a team of any kind but we enrolled her in a basketball basics class at a local gym and she has gained so much confidence!

She has had two games and her team has won both. The first game she was nervous and timid but the second games she shot twice (and almost made one of them) but was so much more aggressive (in a good way!)

Anyway, Darren and I are loving watching her play. At least she hasn't sat on the basketball yet (huh daddy!)

Here's a short video of her first game! I'll upload another one soon!



My prayer: God, sports were such a confidence builder for me when I was in school and though I know that they can also 'expose character' I think it could be great for Kate. Please let her have fun, stay active, make friends, build confidence and learn discipline and teamwork. I even promise not to become one of those 'psycho sports parents'!...but you have to help me :)
~Amen

I would love to go to this...if anyone wants to go with me let me know!

Four Generations

Pictured left to right: Jennifer Cooper (my mother), Lillian Payne (my Grandmother),
Kate Creel (my daughter), Susan Creel (me!)
I'm so proud to be a 'baton-holder' in this family!

Kate got an Excellent at another art contest!

Kate latest painting is called Tree of Hope. It's a painting of a lone tree standing in a desert.
She got an excellent at her schools art contest.
Sorry I don't have a picture of it but it's hanging above my bed :)