hope

I like to think I am not a worry wart. (Oi, doesn't that sound dreadful? How did wart get attached to perpetual concern?) However, truth being, I do worry a lot.

Worry and Fear are siblings that seem to have latched onto me. I really prefer my two sisters, as they continually encourage me. I am working up divorce papers from Worry and Fear and have contacted a new team to engage my thought life. They are Trust and Faith.

Now what is all this angst over? Retirement. Yup, that's my crisis. Worry and Fear took front row center actually because I rolled out the red carpet for them with my bad habits of spending and not saving money. Okay, I do save. I put a hefty amount into IRA's every year. But I started just a few years ago, so there is not a lot of time for the beautiful exponential growth of interest.

That is part of the story. The other part, if I were to be a bit more generous to myself, is that my husband has not been able to be majorly income producing for the past eleven years.

Okay, enough drivel. I have been praying, screaming out for help, that God would bring something along that I could do for a second residual income. And my husband has been praying the same.

Ever in an MLM? We have done them all. Amway (first husband), Mannatech, Melaluca, an air purifier one. . . We always say, "Never again!" Uhuh, can you feel where this is going?

My husband has found AmeriPlan. No one will write him health insurance. Cruel system we have that when you really need it, they cancel you. AmeriPlan is a discount medical plan (not insurance) that you pay a small monthly fee and participating health care, dental care, pharmacies, chiropractors and such discount their services up to 50%!!

We have several friends that don't have insurance. AmeriPlan is a light in the tunnel for us.

My husband is now a "broker" for this wonderful company with top Better Business Bureau rating. He has a skip in his step and a sparkle in his eye. Yea!

Then, one of my friends loaned me a beautiful cosmetic bag of Arbonne anti-aging skin care. I was astonished at how good my skin felt. I thought I could see improvement, too. Here I go again. . . So, I prayed, "God, I want, for once to ask You what You think about this. So, I am not going to tell anyone what I am doing. If someone comments to me they see a change in my skin, then I will take that as a sign You want me to start selling Arbonne.

Talk about making a deal, huh? So, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. . . nothing. I did my make-up real carefully, so it wasn't thick and gloppy! I smiled a lot. Nothing. Not one client said a word about my glowing complexion!

Today was a lazy day. My daughter was coming over with her friend to list the Country Estate. I cleansed my face with all my borrowed new yummies, pulled my hair back in a pony, did my eyebrow pencil and put on some lipstick.

"Mom, I really like your new look."

"What look?" My heart began to pound.

"Your hair back and less eye make-up and just lipstick. You look really nice."

My mind was whirling. But I had specifically said to God that they would have to say my skin looked better.

"Thanks. . . " I was feeling faint!

"As a matter of fact Mom, your SKIN looks really good!"

At my ear piercing scream and halleluia dance, she jumped a bit and asked, "Have you done something new with your skin, 'cause it really does look good!"

I had my fleece. I pray I have His blessing.

After the real estate contract was complete, I brought out my bag of Arbonne and they had a face feast of fabby feeling creams! They were totally encouraging, said I could come to their real estate office with my Arbonne bags!

This is simple. If a person does not have health insurance, they need Help and Hope. If a woman has a face, she wants to wrinkle-proof it! She wants Help and Hope.

I believe the only reason we were not successful with our other endeavors is we quit, we gave up, we lost Hope.

Fortified by Faith and Trust, we are going to take Help and Hope out into the world and drive Worry and Fear out of our lives.