Faith, Home, & Family
*Thanks to Pop Secret for sponsoring today’s discussion
We love gathering in the living room and watching movies together as a family. We have 6 kids, the oldest of which is 28, so we have had a lot of family movie nights. A family movie night is not complete without popcorn!
Someone in my family is constantly losing their cell phone. In the couch, in the car, at someones house, at church, or somewhere in their bedroom.
Not just the kids, but my husband, too! So add losing his cell phone at work to the list above!
Not only do they lose their phones, but they make sure to turn them off before losing them! It’s really amazing how these phones, that are on all the time, magically get turned off right before losing them.
It takes talent to lose your cell right after turning it off.
And that is why I buy my family cheap prepaid phones. I can’t even imagine them losing, or destroying a $500 phone. I would have a major meltdown! For the record, I have always used prepaid phones as well.
I was prompted to write about this because my husband called me to look for his cell phone. When he left the house it was in his pocket. When he got to work it was gone. So I looked all over the house, yard, and driveway. He called and asked me to try calling it to see if it fell out of his pocket in the shop. So I called it, only to find out he had turned it off! lol
He called back a few minutes later saying he finally found it. Under the car. It fell out of his pocket while getting out of the car. The screen is all scratched up, but thankfully he didn’t run it over, so it still works.
I’ve talked about family jokes before. My husband and his cell phones is another family joke. He does something to his phone to make it unusable. So he takes mine. I do without for a few weeks or a couple of months, then I buy a new phone. Shortly after I buy a new phone, he does something to his phone to make it unusable. Then he takes mine. This cycle has repeated itself ever since he got a cell phone several years ago.
I just bought a new smart phone 3 weeks ago. A smart phone with a contract, not prepaid. When I bought it, the kids were all asking how long I thought it would be before Dad does something to his phone and takes this one? lol Apparently the answer to that question is three weeks. lol But I’m not giving this phone up!
Ok, now that you know my family’s track record with cell phones, someone please tell me I’m not alone!
For years, my aim has been the family joke. Aim as in aiming at something to hit it with what you are throwing. If I’m going to throw something at you, and I’m aiming right for you, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. However, if I am throwing something and you are nearby but I’m not aiming at you. You had better duck! It’s beyond me how I played on a softball team in junior high! lol
I get comments (taunts) from the kids like these, “Look out she’s throwing something duck!” and “Betcha can’t hit me!” lol
In the past two weeks, I have been the butt of two more family jokes. Both of my own doing!
My niece got married last Saturday. It was a beautiful wedding. The bride and groom did a large portion of the wedding planning and purchasing themselves. They really did a great job! Here’s a few pictures.
I just finished watching my 15 year old daughter sing in church online. The service is being broadcast live by my 18 year old son who is mostly self taught. I’m not in the service this morning because I’m not feeling well. My not feeling well is what first prompted my son a couple of years ago to learn how to broadcast the services live. I bought some equipment, he bought some, and using a borrowed video camera and my laptop, he started a ministry.
Now, he not only broadcasts both Sunday services live, he has the church’s website set up with all the video so anyone can go and watch past services anytime they want.
So while I was watching my daughter sing in a group this morning, I started crying. Sometimes watching my kids serve the Lord makes me cry.
I don’t discuss my medical condition online, but I’ve said a few times that I don’t feel well. Most days I don’t feel well. Most days I can’t go anywhere. While I manage to cook every day, I also struggle every day to keep the dishes washed.
Four years ago, after I first got sick, I was crying and praying and God told me that this sickness wasn’t to death. Since that moment, I have tried to follow God’s will for my life and do the work He has for me to do. Even on the days I don’t feel well. That may sound easy, but it is not. I just remember that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, and do the best I can.
Sometimes I just sit and look at my six children, ages 13-27, and just marvel atwhat God has entrusted me with. And what He is doing in their lives. Sometimes, like this morning, I cry.
I would rather be here with them every day feeling bad, even if I can’t go places like church with them, than to not be with them.
You see, even if I feel bad most of the time, watching my kids makes me realize how truly blessed I am. I truly am blessed beyond measure.
*I received no compensation in any form for this post.
Campus Book Rentals is sponsoring a Pay it Forward School Supplies Giveaway Event! Campus Book Rentals sent bloggers $25 to purchase school supplies to then giveaway to a child that needed them.
Campus Book Rentals is a company that offers students up to 90% off their textbooks! It not only allows students to save money, it helps students make money by providing services for students to rent out their textbooks to other students. Campus Book Rentals has been around since 2007, and continues to help students live a more affordable life. Campus Book Rentals is proud to sponsor such an amazing pay it forward event!
Thanks to this sponsored event, I was able to buy all the school supplies pictured below. I shopped at my local Dollar General Store for everything. I was able to purchase a backpack, a binder & filler paper, 2 folders, 6 composition notebooks, 3 spiral notebooks, 2 boxes of pencils, 1 pack of pens, 1 bottle of glue, 2 bottles of hand sanitizer, 1 ruler, 1 pack of erasers, 1 pencil sharpener, 1 pack of index cards, 1 pack of markers, and 1 calculator.
I’ll get to how much I paid for all that later, but for now, more pictures! I filled the pocket on the front of the backpack with all the smaller things.
The inside of the backpack is stuffed full with all the larger items, the pens, and the pencils.
I run, with the help of my family, the clothes closet at my church. We sort and make available donated clothes and household items to the community for free. That’s right. Anyone in the community can come in and get what they need for free! It has been a blessing for my family to be involved in this very needed ministry.
I am so thankful to be selected to participate in this years Pay It Forward School Supplies Giveaway. School starts here this week, so as soon as I found out I was selected to participate on Friday, I went shopping. I then gave it to one of the boys that came into the clothes closet on Saturday morning. I had purchased the supplies and given them away before I received the sponsors money. lol Since school starts early here, I wanted to make sure the supplies got to the child before they went back to school. If I had waited until this weekend, he wouldn’t have had the supplies for the first day of school.
The boy and his mother were so happy to get the supplies. His mother said he really needed them.
Now, on to how much I spent. Dollar General regularly puts out $5 off $25 coupons. I had one that was good for the Friday I went shopping. Another reason I went shopping that day, so I could take advantage of the coupon. (Dollar General is in no way associated with this school supply giveaway, that is just where I went shopping.)
The composition notebooks and the folders were buy one, get one free. So that added to my savings.
After the buy one, get one free discounts, and the $5 coupon, my total was $25.44!! That’s for the backpack AND all the supplies. The backpack was so full, he’ll have to take supplies out to put his books in. lol He now has all the supplies he should need for several months.
The boy was blessed with a backpack full of school supplies, and I was blessed to be able to participate in this giveaway.
*This is a sponsored post in that I received $25. to purchase the school supplies. I kept nothing for myself. I received no form of compensation for this post.
