Stress maybe? Denial?

Ok...I have noticed the calendar and December is ON US PEOPLE!!! I'm totally freaked out.

We have lots of birthdays and then just the normal Thanksgiving/Christmas stuff going on and I'm just slightly overwhelmed.

Ya see.....

I haven't bought ONESINGLETHING for anyone for Christmas.

Anyone else?

Are you all done? Why do I feel like the whole world is finished except for me?

Please tell me I'm not alone.

And, can you give me a brilliant idea for a 12 and 13 year old boy that isn't a $300 electronic something?

Ok, I'm catching the Christmas spirit and trying so very hard to remember the real reason for Christmas.

Deep breaths. Deep breaths.

Oh yeah, the darling picture above? It's last years. I'm just realizing I haven't thought about Christmas cards at all. Nice.

Love y'all!

Tis the season~

Surprises can be great....or they can be not-so-great

You can find me over here if you want to check out the read....talking about surprises!!! Scroll down...i'm the last one! :)

Hugs and blessings~
Fan

After the movie....now I'm thinking!

The whole family went to the movies on Saturday to see "The Blind Side." And OHMYWORD that is now one of my favorite all time movies!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go see if you can. We even took our nearly 9 year old to see it. My personal opinion is the story outweighs any language or scene that might be questionable. And, there were only a couple of places that might have done that to me as a momma.

Even if you haven't seen the movie, you probably know the basic idea of the movie.....a family in Memphis takes in a high school age boy to live with them and he becomes a football star. And, one quick side note, Sandra Bullock was A-MAZING in this movie.

But, really....it's more than that.

I have said to my kids over and over since we saw the movie...."look what happens when you truly invest in the life of someone else."

And, then I began to think....

What am I really doing to invest in the life of someone else?? Really. What am I doing?

I don't have to become a foster parent to make that difference. I am a sponsor with Compassion International and we are changing the life of Sofia in Uganda, but what about the hands on, real life, right here, changing the life of or investing in the life of someone else?

What are you doing? What can we be doing outside the foster parent level? How has the movie changed you? What ideas might you have?

For those of us raising kids, I think we can all agree on the fact of wanting our kids to see just how they can make a difference in someones life.

I'm anxious to hear your ideas. Maybe I'm feeling guilty for not getting my Operation Christmas Child shoebox completed. Maybe I'm contemplating adoption. *wink*

James 2:15-17 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Hugs and blessings~
Fran

Middle school and memories....oh, the joy!

First of all...a huge PRAISE!!! I actually survived the first 2 and half days of work! Can you believe it??!! I did not die. The family was fed. We all slept. The house was somewhat picked up and the laundry was done!!!

Your prayers and love mean the absolute world to me. I'm thanking God for you every day and asking Him to bless you and your sweet families just as He is doing for me.

Oh, God is so good. I'm just so stinkin' grateful! He's amazing to me. He's truly all about our details and that blows me away. Little ole me. He tends to me.

Ok...moving along.

There is ALWAYS some drama going on over here in our land and currently it is middle school.
Let's just say that I'm not a fan of the middle school years. Actually, I think it's because I feel as if I don't know what I'm doing any more.

I have 2 boys in middle school right now. I'd love to hear a funny story, something that stands out as good or bad from your middle school years, or maybe something that you wish someone told you or did for you.

Now...back in the day....we didn't have cell phones so we might have talked on the phone to a boy, but I truly doubt it. So...I don't have any strong memories with boys, but I do have a memory of being introduced to "All My Children" by a friend named Allison and I thought I was going to be grounded for life if my mom found out. HA!

To this day...I can catch a glimpse of AMC and might watch for a little bit. It's been 28 years people and Erica Kane is still there!!! Wow.

Ok...let's talk middle school. It's really not that bad is it?

Whatcha got??

Come on...it'll be fun!

And, be sure and pray for all the middle school kids and their parents if you think about it. ;)

Blessings~

I'm skeered....

Hi friends...

Well, Wednesday is the BIG day. The door officially closes to the past and the future begins. If you followed the story of me leaving ministry and our church, then you know how the story ends.....or begins. You may scroll down and find the story in 3 parts.

I begin a brand spankin' new job this week and I'm so very excited. And, just a tad bit scared to. Change is so blooming hard sometimes. And, for me, right now....I'm losing some of my availability to the kids and that is hurting my momma's heart. But, then I'm given a slap dose of reality that "people have been working for ages and sometimes can't pick up their kids from school so get over it Fran."

All the details are worked out. I'm a big girl now. My kids are older, so after school isn't such a weird thing for me. Except for momma won't be there. *tears welling up in eyes.*

But, you know what??

My heart remembers how God quickly provided for our family and He will provide in the details that I'm scared of.

He is a beginning, middle, and end God so I think I'll be ok.

And, if you can....would you pray for me and our family as we transition into this new aspect of life?

I pray God's sweetest blessings over each and every one of you!!

Hugs,
Fran

The infamous bully

I have a question for you.

There are a lot of things that we would agree on regarding kids and bullying, but I'm looking for something else. I don't even know what I'm looking for, but just thought I'd ask and see if someone knew something that I did not.

We all know that bullying is out there. It's alive on every age level. And, bullying doesn't necessarily mean pushing someone down or shoving them in the chest. Bullying can look different between boys and girls. Bullying can be with words or it can be with action.

I want info on boys.

Does it mean something is happening at home? Does it mean something is happening at school?
Does it mean a child is crying out? Does it mean they are hurting for something? What about the victims? They are being destroyed at the same time.

What on earth do we do?

We pray.....A LOT!

Anybody got anything they can add?

We MUST teach our children to love wisely.

Ok, that's all. I'm done. Thank you in advance.

Just start sharing your thoughts.

GO!

Hugs and blessings~