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~

Where we are today....the conclusion to the story

Well friends....here we are at the end of the story. But, you know what? I don't think it's the end. I think it's the beginning. It all depends on how you look at it. Seasons come and go. Why on earth did I really think life would be the exact same for years and years?? Nah.....God is way too exciting for that nonsense. ;)

So....let's wrap this thing up with some hope ok?

I went to my pastor in August and told him that I had wrestled the thing out with God and even though I had been a mess of emotions, I believed God was very clearly saying...."it's time for you to go Fran."

Gulp.

I sat in shock again. This was indeed real. My life as I knew it was officially over. I quietly snuck out of the church spotlight and packed up my office on Labor Day and left with intense peace in my heart.

But, I was still scared to death.

What I didn't tell you was that my job paid for two of my boys private school tuition. And, yes....that job was gone. And, yes....they still needed to go to school.

So, how are we going to handle this Lord?

I remember saying to someone that the calendar became my enemy. I never wanted to know the date because then I would know that tuition is due in X amount of days and momma had no job.

Gulp again.

A lot of praying now.

For the month of September and the month of October....our sweet Lord took care of the tuition in most unexpected ways. Oh, how I marvel at His provision and the use of others. Wow!! Those 2 months allowed us to not have to dip into savings. Thank you Lord.

In the mean time...I was pursuing some job opportunities that could help things out. Keep in mind...I'm not trained in any thing. I'm a college graduate, but that was FOREVER ago and I never really worked until I landed in ministry at our church.

Hello unqualified...nice to meet you.

After a series of very calculated events....the good Lord basically placed a job in my lap. No lie. Honest to goodness this was not the job I had ever pursued. Is it in ministry? No. Is it in a church? No. Will I get to love on people in a Christian environment?? ABSOLUTELY!!!!!

Wow! I'm amazed at His work and His faithfulness and His provision. He really does have our best interest at heart.

This new job will be very different for me and my family, but why in the world would I worry about the new challenges we will face when I have just seen first hand....He WILL provide.

We have some adjustments to make within the family, but it is not hard and can be done.

I have walked a road that I never, ever saw coming and won't ever forget how it all felt. But, I am coming out of the wilderness ready to tell others just how awesome God is to those who love Him and pursue His desires over their life.

I have learned so much about loss, grief, pride, humility, and God's character through all this and I wouldn't trade it for all the money in the world.

He may not take you down the shiny, pretty road, but I can promise you you'll be glad you hung on for the ride.

Thank you for your words of encouragement and love. It means the absolute world to me.

I hope you know the One who heals, restores, redeems, and tends to the ones He has sought out.
He loves you so!!

And, one more thing....I love the church and all that is in it. I pray we all find ourselves in a place where we are loved, taught the word of God, and are a part of something so special in that community.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

Hugs and blessings~
Fran

Here we go....part 2

I have stewed and stewed about how to continue the story. I've actually put this off for as long as I can. I have to pick up the kids here soon so I need to get busy and tell you the next part! ;)

Please know that my point in telling my story is NOT to tear anyone down within my church or even tear down the church itself. My point is simply showing how God sometimes works. And, it's not all clean and pretty and easy. Ok, here we go......

I believe we left off yesterday with things going south in late July and my world had just been devastated. That is completely true. I'm going to stay away from some specifics because in the big scheme of it all......it really doesn't matter. God will do whatever He wants to do and however He wants to do it.

So, where were we??

During the summer months, something big was happening within children's ministry that was about to either be really good or really bad. I had a tough decision to make and I took the hard road and went with what I truly believed to be the direction that God was telling me to go. I had prayed like mad and sought advice and wisdom from others around me as well.

That decision did not go over well with some church members. The decision prompted some discussions and ideas to take place and during that process I was asked to leave my current position at the church and develop a new ministry. That doesn't sad so bad right?

This is where I'm going to leave out the bulk of the story because it honestly doesn't effect how God was already orchestrating this all anyway.

You see, let me back up a year and a half and let you know that I had been through a really tough year in ministry. I felt completely alone in so many ways and was borderline frustrated with some things going on and really began to wonder if this is where God would have me.

Again...I'm going to leave out some details here. Please forgive me.

I prayed for a solid 18 months about what to do. I knew that if I were to leave it would not be without God going ahead of me. However, at this point, in my heart of hearts, I never imagined I would have to make a choice in all this questioning. I believed God was going to teach me something else. I never thought anything other than "stick it out, Fran."

So, we come back to the summer of '09. I never imagined that God would speak in such a way that would be so devastatingly ugly. Sometimes God won't speak so sweetly into our hearts that gives us the "go or stay" answer that we are looking for. Sometimes the writing is on the wall after something so hurtful that we can clearly hear Him saying......."it's time for you to go Fran."

Huh?

What?

This is NOT how I thought He would tell me the answer to the million dollar question that I had been seeking for a very long time.

I had been hurt deeply to my core and I tried to move past it and keep "doing the thing," but with each day and each week that went by, I knew in my heart......"it's time to go Fran."

And, then came the intense grieving process that felt like death. It felt like life would not go on.
It felt as if everything I had cared about within children's ministry and the church was finished.

One day your passion is alive and the next day it's gone.

It was time to let my leaders know what my next step would be. Would I be willing to get past the hurt or would I walk away from the most meaningful time in my life and let it all go? Did I hear God correctly? Maybe I misunderstood. After all, there is no perfect church or perfect ministry. We are all broken, messed up people for cryin' out loud. I needed more time.

Some serious second guessing began to take place.

I was scared to death. For the sake of my own children and my own family....I got really scared. Maybe God isn't telling me to go now at all. You see....my income was a huge contribution to our family that I couldn't just walk away from.

"Please don't leave me now Lord. You can't leave me here in this place."

*the story continues tomorrow*