Like you, I'm sure, this past week I spent some time reflecting on the September 11 attacks of ten years ago.  

Like you, I'm sure, my life has taken some unexpected turns since then. I see these changes as taking place on several different levels.

There is, of course, the superficial level of obvious changes. For example, in the past ten years I have grown ten years older. Probably you did the same. (If not, please share your secret with me!)

My sweet husband gave me a new car that allows me to talk on the phone through my car's stereo -- hands free! What a cool device, and one that has made my life much simpler, not to mention the road much safer for other drivers near me!

But the truth is, I could live without the new car, just as I would be totally fine if I didn't have to keep aging!

On the next level I see changes that are of much greater personal significance.  

Ten years ago Legacy Christian Academy was operating out of two campuses, trying to build a third location for a permanent stay, and I was using my car for an office as I bounced around from campus to campus to city meetings about construction to lunches to raise money and back to the campuses to put out the usual "fires" administrators deal with every day.  

It was exhausting. And my body was paying the price. 

Today my professional life is still full with many ministries and grandchildren, but I'm happy to report I'm much healthier now.   

A big part of this is because I am able to spend some of my working hours work from a real office, in my own home, overlooking my beautiful flowers in the front yard. I am also able to have my quiet time in my sun room, overlooking my beautiful English garden and roses beside my pool. For me, it is peace, quiet, solitude, and beauty that feed my soul.

God is so good to give me these places of beauty and peace to recharge my batteries. I am blessed, to say the least.

For me, though, these are simple joys that deeply touch my heart. It's not that I "hit the jackpot" or won the lottery. I don't have a mansion or three Mercedes Benz.  

What I have is peace. That allows me to continue working the hours I do. And believe me, I still do. But now my time is divided between two areas that I truly love: my work as The School Whisperer and my job as Head of School at Grace Academy of North Texas. So while I do work hard, my spirit feels renewed.

Even more uplifting to my spirit has been the tremendous changes in my family!  

Ten years ago I was not yet a grandmother. Today I have four grandkids -- Timothy James (6), Keagan Michael (4), Hudson Jack (2), and newly adopted Hope Isabella (1). And there is a fifth -- a baby girl to be named Charlotte Grace -- coming any day now!  

For me, there is no greater joy on earth than family. Without a doubt, it is God's finest blessing He provides, short of Himself. Even better, not only has God provided me with my precious family, but for the first time in almost ten years we all live in the same state! And everyone but my son, Chris, who is in Austin, is within 20 minutes of our home.

Other areas of change have occurred that have been extremely positive. Ten years ago, I did not have the books Teaching With Heart, Discipline By Design, Christian Charm Course for Girls, Christian Charm Course for Teachers, or Bonding with Your Teens through Boundaries in print. (Sorry to list them, but authors need that boost of seeing their past publications in print in order to call upon the necessary energy needed to get the next ones done!)  

Today, I not only have those books, but I also have an e-newsletter, several websites, Twitter, Facebook, and blogs! Who even knew what blogs were ten years ago?! Now I am able to help parents and teachers in other states and countries whom I've never met. I'm even going to Indonesia to work with a group who wants to translate my books and have me help them start Christian schools internationally. These are things I had no idea ten years ago God had in store for my life.  

Of course, more books are on the way, too. I'm planning on writing a series of School Whisperer books, re-releasing Touching Hearts and Changing Lives, writing a follow up to the teens books called Bonding with Your Child through Boundaries, and hope to finalize Ants in Their Pants, The Miracle of the Mind of the Child, and Lessons Learned in the Little Red Schoolhouse.

Yet all these wonderful things that bring me such peace and joy, they could all be taken away from me.  

That is what reflecting on September 11 really brought to my mind: I am not guaranteed anything in life.  

As lovely as my flower gardens are and seeing my grandchildren at school at Grace, these things -- and all things on earth -- are secondary in the bigger picture of eternity.

That is why the third level for me has been my continued walk with the Lord. I do not and never have claimed to be a perfect Christian. In fact, that term is an oxymoron.

All I claim is to live in service to the One who loves me and has saved me. The things I do at work, in ministry, and with my family derive their meaning from that one truth.  

That is why I do not list the positives I've been blessed with the past ten years in any effort to boast. Rather, I am thankful and humbled before God for giving me such undeserved blessings.  

After all, it could be my reality to have two gaping holes where two buildings once stood. The image selected for this article was intentional. Just as human beings learned the hard way with the Titanic, nothing we do or build or create lasts forever.  

Yet while we are on earth we are given opportunities to praise our Lord. Sometimes those opportunities come through trials, like Job experienced. Sometimes they come through the kinds of blessings I have been fortunate enough to enjoy this past decade.  

Whatever the time of life -- whether sorrow or joy, peace or turmoil, solitude or solidarity -- it is an opportunity to experience closeness with God.

If you have that, you will find that something still stands in your life, even if everything else crumbles. Or if you are blessed, you will have something ultimately lasting by which you can appreciate what you have all the more.       

Let me introduce you to artist and illustrator Richard Cowdrey.

Probably you are already familiar with his work on projects such as the New York Times #1 children's bestseller Bad Daog, Marley! Or you know him from his work on Super Bowl posters, or any other of the many wonderful visual works he has created.

What you don't know about Richard Cowdrey is that his life would not be where it is today if not for the work of two wonderful teachers who touched his life at two different times in his life.  

Richard Cowdrey didn't always have his own website. Before he became a well-known illustrator of children's works, he was a high school kid who never did his homework, was mixed up with the wrong crowd, and sat in the back of class making doodles.

Richard's life changed, literally, during his high school graduation. When the moment came to announce the recipient of a scholarship, the name "Richard Crowdey" was spoken.

Richard, who had never applied for college, was stunned! 

But then Richard learned that one of his teachers had been carefully and quietly collecting his drawings on the back of other student's notebooks and submitted them to the Columbus College of Art and Design. The teacher told the college admissions director, "This kid has a lot of talent, but he is a lot of trouble." The college took a chance on him, and he received a probationary scholarship. 

Richard attended and eventually graduated from The Columbus College of Art and Design.

Richard applied himself to his art but hung around with like-minded, experimenting people who had open minds but had not discovered truth.

It was time for another teacher to make a life-changing intervention in Richard's life. 

This teacher had a simple message. He walked up to Richard and kindly said, "I've seen you try everything but one thing. I haven't seen you try Jesus."

The teacher gave Richard a copy of the Gospel of John and asked him to please just give it a try.

Richard did. And Richard gave his life to Christ.

Today Richard is happily married and has a wonderful family with grown children and grandchildren. He is a successful artist and illustrator and goes around speaking to people about the power of good teachers, art, and living on the 'straight and narrow.'

He even shares the part about Jesus at public schools, who allow it because the focus on on talk is on art and teachers. But the message still gets across.

As I mentioned in the opening of this newsletter, I have been asked to promote his newest children's book written by Valerie Westfall about adoption called The You We Adore.

I am more than happy to give my endorsement for this wonderful book, which comes out in late October just in time for November's National Adoption Month.  

In my next newsletter I will share more about the book, where you can find more information on it yourself, and how you can get this book into your schools, churches, and pregnancy centers.  

Adoption has played a major role in the joy and fulfillment for our family with the adoption of Hope this past year. Adoption has always had a special place in my heart. I will share more about all this with you next month!