Swimming Upstream

Peace and quiet is one of the hardest things to find when you have two small children. My boys have sensors in their brains that go off the second mommy wakes up. I’m up before 6 most days, and you would think that would be early enough to sneak in some time. But it never fails I get my tea, get out the Word, and after ten minutes if I’m lucky, the boys sensors start going off. But if I have to read or pray with Nick jr. blasting in the background so be it. I’ve already spent so much of my life making excuses about how I didn’t have enough time. I’m done giving God just what’s left over. When you are passionately in love with someone, you go to great lengths to spend time with them.


A part of Crazy Love that stood out to me was when he said, “If life is a river, then pursuing Christ requires swimming upstream. When we stop swimming, or actively following Him, we automatically begin to be swept downstream or just slowly start to float away.” I know this is the truth for me. Two days and I can feel it. An hour on Sunday isn’t enough to sustain me through all the distractions of the week.


I went to dinner with a friend and she was telling me about how when she first got saved it felt so good. She was seeking Him wholeheartedly and her life was changing. But then slowly the feeling went away. She couldn’t understand why. I’ve felt this way so many times too. And the reason why is because we get so busy that we stop seeking. The more we seek Him, the more we find Him. When we stop, that’s when we start gravitating towards other means of fulfillment, when we start to float away. This morning was one of those mornings where I got really frustrated and was like God I really do want to spend time with you, it just gets so hard. I started making excuses and then I stopped myself. This is GOD! He deserves the best that I have. How could I even compare Him to the load of laundry or sink full of dishes that really did not need to be started at that moment. And it doesn’t have to be a long devotional time. Just sit, be quiet, you can even let Him do the talking. Here is where I tie in my song that never gets old…


Mercy me-Word of God speak
I'm finding myself at a loss for words. And the funny thing is its okay.
The last thing I need is to be heard. But to hear what you would say. All that I need is to be with you and in the quiet hear your voice.

(photo found here)

Songs that never get old

Ok since I have music on the brain (see last post) I’ve decided to do another theme week. This week I’m going to post songs that never get old to me. Starting with…

Honey and the Moon by Joseph Arthur
you're the honey and the moon
that lights up my night.

Just a cute song that I've loved for years now.
And just for laughs I'm going to post a what were they thinking song too. And today's (which I feel silly admitting I did like this song back in jr high) seriously what were they thinking song is...

Summer Girls by LFO
Hip Hop Marmalade spic And span,
Met you one summer and it all began
You're the best girl that I ever did see,
The great Larry Bird Jersey 33
When you take a sip you buzz like a hornet
Billy Shakespeare wrote a whole bunch of sonnets
Call me Willy Whistle cause I can't speak baby
When I met you I said my name was Rich
You look like a girl from Abercrombie and Fitch
Cherry Pez,cold crush,rock star boogie
Used to hate school so I had to play hookie,
There was a good man named Paul Revere
I feel much better baby when you're near
You love fun dip and cherry Coke,
I like the way you laugh when I tell a joke
Summertime girls are the kind I like,
I'll steal your honey like I stole your bike
Bugaloo shrimp and pogo sticks
My mind takes me back there oh so quick
Let you off the hook like my man Mr. Limpet
Think about that summer and I bug,cause I miss it
Like the color purple,macaroni and cheese,
Ruby red slippers and a bunch of trees
Call you up but whats the use
I like Kevin Bacon,but I hate Footloose

 I seriously cut out maybe the 3 lines that actually were OK.  They must have thought, let's find all the words that rhyme and throw them into a song! So funny.

What are some that never get old to you?

Or that you wish would just go away and never come back?
You are tagged! Comment me if you decide to play along.

(photo from here)

five

It's Friday!!! I'm no longer leaving my house for work so this doesn't have the same excitement that it used to but it still makes me happy because I miss my husband terribly by the end of the week. I just want to say how much fun it has been meeting new friends in the blog world. The decision to stay at home has been a wonderful one, but it does make it hard to meet new friends and have contact with people older than the age of 3 throughout the day. But this blog has been an answer to that problem and it's been so nice to meet you all and get to read all of the interesting things on your blogs as well. You are saving my sanity some days.

Today is the last day of my first theme week. So I saved my most favorite picture for last. It's of the absolutely most significant and life-changing moment of my life. It's a picture of the second I first met Micah. This is me becoming a mommy.

And then it was the four of us. Skylar is my 4th of July baby which I LOVE because that has always been my favorite holiday, especially now.

I would love to see your favorites.

Comment me your link if you decide to play along.

Favorites # four

Every day of your life is a page of your story. Pictures help tell it.

This is really much harder than I thought it was going to be. There are so many pictures that I love. I know I've already posted a Hawaii photo but I'm going to post more from my vacations there for today's favorites. Hawaii seriously is the most beautiful place I've ever been to so of course some of my favorite photos are from there.

The one on the left was taken in Maui back in 2005. I was there for my honeymoon. We went down to the end of the island to watch the surfers and found all this black volcanic rock mixed in with white stones. The hat was the first purchase I signed Mrs. Franke for. I still have the receipt.

I love love loovvee this photo so much that I used it as my header at first. This one I believe was taken in Hanalei, Kauai in 2008. My dad jumped off the end of this pier and lost his glasses in the water. When we dove back in to see if we could find them the water was so perfectly clear that we found them right away. To the right is another view of the pier.

and of course I have to post the Na Pali Coast. When I took this, I remember looking up and then back down at the photo feeling so disappointed because you really cannot capture how magnificently stunning this place is. But I think this photo was a good try. If you haven't been to Hawaii you have to go. I will admit my favorite was Kauai.

Anyone else have any cool hawaii pictures?

favorite photos 3

number 3 of my absolute favorite pictures.

This is a picture of my grandma Anne with 2 of her 8 children. (My mom was #6.) It was taken in Italy. As you can see from my last photo I love pictures of people's backs. ha! I love my grandma. She was my best friend. She was full of so much love and grace and was the funniest woman I knew. I aspire to be a wonderful mom, a wonderul woman like she was.

I would love to see your favorite photos. Comment me a link to your blog if you decide to play along.

Favorite photos 2

By the way, these are not in any special order. Just a week full of the pictures I love.

This one was taken at Tunnels Beach in Kauai. Which I later learned that this is where Bethany Hamilton was attacked by a shark. Glad I didn't realize this until later. I might not have enjoyed swimming in the water as much, you know fish phobia n all. But this is when it was just the 3 of us. Stephen and I were trying to talk him into swimming with us. Micah still doesn't like the waves coming up to get him. Thanks mama for grabbing the camera and capturing one of my favorite moments.

Now let's see some of your favorite photos.

favorite pictures

This week I'm going to have some fun and share some of my absolute favorite pictures with you.
I'll start with this one from the 4th of July 2008. Micah was a little scared of the fireworks but just couldn't look away so he peeked through his fingers. It was adorable! Little did I know exactly one year later I would be in the hospital having Skylar.

Consider yourself tagged! If you post your favorites comment me your link so I can see. :)