Category : Thrive

In May, my husband, Brent, and I sat down at our dining room table with a yellow legal pad and wrote down all the steps it would take to move to Nashville. At that time we had no place to live, no job, and no school in mind for Grant. It was overwhelming, to say the least. We started researching more thoroughly and found the house prices to be 2 or 3 times more what we paid in Oklahoma. The promise for a good elementary school in a neighborhood we could afford seemed hopeless.

We took this leap of faith because we have always wanted to live near Brent’s family. We loved the years we spent in Oklahoma and when we got married we said it would be nice if we could spend some time living near my family and time living near Brent’s family.

Even though we felt at peace about the move there were many obstacles ahead of us. Brent would have to quit his job, we would live off of savings for a few months or until he found a job, we had to sell our Oklahoma house and all the details in Tennessee would have to be worked out. The funny thing is that this was not our first time to move to a new city without jobs. We did it when we moved to Los Angeles and when we moved to Oklahoma. Somehow since the Lord had provided for us in years past it was easier to trust that he would do it again. Although, I did have moments when fear and uncertainty got the best of me.

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Friday is my chance to share bits, pieces, and insights with you that have encouraged, inspired, or simply just made me smile. I hope you find these things interesting and helpful. 

For a new snack try Trader Joe’s Chili and Lime Seasoning Blend sprinkled on sliced granny smith apples. The label says you can sprinkle it on mango, pineapple, and jicama. When we lived in L.A. we would always see the fruit vendors selling their mouth-watering fruit and this treat takes me back there.

Since I was thinking about fresh fruit carts, I remembered a good weekend movie recommendation. East Side Sushi is about a girl from L.A. whose dad owned a fruit stand. Very inspiring!

One of my goals this year is to always have some type of flower, plant, or weed on display in our bathroom. Currently, I have flowerless lavender stems from our backyard. That tiny little vase full of nature makes me smile every time.

Key to our marriage (only took us 10 years to figure this out): Franci needs a weekly date and Brent feels loved when his clothes are ironed. How simple is that? Too bad I hate ironing and Brent doesn’t like making reservations. Marriage takes hard work doing things you don’t like to do, but it also brings so much happiness.

I enjoyed this podcast recently. If you like inspiring stories that involve both fashion and husband and wife partnerships, then you should check it out.

As we go into the weekend, I’ll leave you with this quote which I have also seen labeled as a Mexican proverb.

“They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds.” ― Dinos Christianopoulos

I started off today by spilling a smoothie all over my outfit and had to change clothes two minutes before we left for school drop off. It can only go up from here, right?

We watched a great family movie this week, Oddball on Amazon Prime. It is based on a true story in Australia. It has dogs, chickens, and penguins. A real heartwarming and funny film we all enjoyed.

Early in our marriage, Brent read The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham. It was after a discussion Billy Graham had with his colleagues on how to avoid the many pitfalls of ministry that this quote is found. Although it seems old-fashioned and impossible nowadays we have strived to follow this rule for over 10 years now. It has been awkward and difficult at times, but I’m so thankful for Billy Graham’s example and that we set it up all those years ago. It is a way I can honor Brent and a way he can honor me and that never goes out of style.

“We pledge among ourselves to avoid any situation that would have even the appearance of compromise or suspicion. From that day on, I did not travel, meet, or eat alone with a woman other than my wife.” – Billy Graham

We have had some deaths recently in our family. It has been so heartbreaking and confusing. Naturally, our kids are curious and dealing with all sorts of emotions. We talked to them about it and explain it is a natural part of life, like the circle of life. We also discuss burial, cremation, and heaven. I found this episode of Mr. Rodgers was particularly helpful in the discussion.

I cooked a new recipe this week: Flounder with Coconut-Ginger Rice & Mango Salsa. Since I already had cod I used that instead of flounder, and I used Trader Joe’s Pineapple Salsa instead of the mango salsa.

Two positives as I say goodbye: #1 I cleaned out my mismatched sock basket today and #2 the tulips we planted in the fall are coming up.

The weekend is here.