Wow! Summer has come in full force at the Franklin house! Jarod and Anne got out of school last Wednesday and left bright and early Thursday morning with Russell's parents and brother. Nana, Papa and Uncle Ray decided it was time to take them to Lake Martin in Alabama. Oddly enough - only about 45 minutes from Opelika - the town we served in when Jarod was born. Russell's Aunt has a cabin on Lake Martin and his parents vacation there often.
I was excited and apprehensive at the same time. This was the first time that both children had been away from us for a full week. It's not so bad when Russ and I have friends or family watch them while we go out of town for a few days. But it's different when we are the ones staying at home with our regular schedule and there are no kids around. Boy! Was it quiet! I will tell you though that it did not take any time at all for us to get used to it. We went to dinner, we attempted to sleep late. (Often we had things to do or poor Meggie would wake us up. She was a bit out of sorts with the kids gone.) It was so nice to spend our time together having uninterrupted conversations or just conversations without noise in the background.
And I think you can see by the photos that Ray took - the kids had an excellent time as well!
LOVE this one! Jumping off the dock
Anne swimming with Uncle Ray
Walking on the dock at Sunset
Catching Fireflies
I'm so excited for them and the fun memories that they have made. When I was Jarod's age, we had just moved here to Florida and I got to spend the entire summer with my Grandparents in Illinois. I still have very fond memories of that time.
They came home this past Wednesday and we have been non-stop getting Jarod and Russ ready for Scout Camp. Lot's of shopping and getting things together. Tons of laundry, etc. One thing we did do was celebrate Father's Day yesterday. Since Russ would be gone, we took time to honor him a few days early.
Jarod and Anne found him a new "World's Best Dad" shirt to take to camp with him. Along with a few new movies and other fun surprises for his week.
Anne gave him a special "Father's Day Make-Over" She is constantly sitting behind him and "doing his hair". Every once in a while - when his hair is long enough - there are hair bows involved. It was too short this time.
His gift from me was the new Holman Study Bible. He'd been eying it for a while. One more big book for him to spread out when he's studying for his sermons. I'm thankful for a husband who doesn't have to have the latest technology "gadget" out there - but has a love for God's word and spends his time there. Our family has been blessed because of it.
I have to take a moment and express how thankful I am for such a wonderful husband and father that we have in Russell. He loves the Lord as well as his family and takes his role as the leader of our household seriously. It's evident to me everyday, but this week he expressed it in his column for our church newsletter.
From Your Pastor’s Heart June 14, 2011
Two weeks ago, the Franklin family got dressed alike for a professional family photo sitting. Our last family photos were taken over five years ago, so things have changed a bit. The photographer took many photos of the children and a few of Cami and me, but my favorite photos are of our family together. When the photographer was setting up the shots, she positioned me first, followed by Cami, then Jarod, and finally Anne. I was in the middle and everyone else was leaning on me. When I saw the photo, I was hit by the importance being a godly husband and Dad. God has called me to be the leader in our family, someone they can lean on in good times or bad. He has called me to lead by example as I strive to live out the truth of His word. I pray continually that my children will learn from their earthly father the ways of their heavenly Father. I pray this for all our Dads.
What more can I say? I know there is a lot of controversy out there today about wives being submissive to their husbands as scripture asks us to. But it also speaks of a husband who loves them just as Christ loved the church. (Eph. 5:22 -33) Christ died for the church - he gave his life. When you have a husband who is following Christ and being obedient in his role - it is easy to be obedient in yours. And it is so freeing!
Please don't think we are perfect and have this whole marriage thing figured out. It has been and continues to be a process. When we were married, we prayed and asked the Lord to use our marriage as an example to others. It's taken a lot of hard work to get to this place. A lot of tears, a lot of communication, a lot of hard times. But each and every trial that the Lord has brought us through has been for the purpose of teaching us, growing us and bringing us closer together as a couple. I am amazed at how much more I love him now then the day we were married. We have both grown so much in the last 14 years, but we have grown together. I am so thankful for the husband and father that he is and I know that besides salvation, Russell is truly my greatest gift from God.
I love how active of a father he is as well. Being a pastor means you have many people to care for, but he always makes sure that he is available for his children. He has expressed many times that he never wants them to feel like the church is more important then they are. So he works very hard to be an active part of their lives. I love that about him!
One of the many activities he enjoys with Jarod is Boy Scouts. This morning they took off for Camp Rainey Mountain in North Georgia for a week. They were both quite excited!
Troop 650 - all loaded up and ready to go
They will return next Saturday - hopefully in time for Anne's Dance Recital. We are cutting things close! Then we will do laundry, pack them up again and Jarod and Russ will be off to Youth Camp with the church the next morning! CRAZY!!!! Anne and I are laying low the next few weeks. I have lots of Calligraphy to do, Anne will go to a Vacation Bible School at the church around the corner and prepare for her upcoming dance recital. And I think she and I will take off to New Port Richey for some girl time with Sasha. The four of us will be together as a family again in July.
Please pray for my guys as they travel. Until next time......
These are ours too! Rays of Hope called me when they were packing the container and said that some of the shipping boxes were damaged and would not make the trip on the Sea Container. So - they found an old filing cabinet, thinking that Shelley could use that as well, and stuffed it full of our boxes! How cool is that? 
