Today We Celebrate Russell

Today is that special day when we celebrate  Russell!  44 years ago, he came into this world with a passion and a purpose that has never stopped.  I'm told how his enthusiasm, his sense of humor and his love for our Lord began at a very young age. 

How he would stand on the side of the road outside his house, with a Bible in his hand, and "preach" to the cars going by.  How he would carry his tape recorder around recording himself singing and telling jokes and then play them back, annoyingly, for his entire family - over and over AND over.

There are stories of catching the back yard on fire, while attempting to help his dad kill fire ants.  Stories of jumping off the roof with an umbrella like Mary Poppins, to see if it would slow down his fall.  (He says it worked!)  Stories of breaking the stained glass windows in his dad's church with a rock (on accident) and of sneaking off to downtown St. Augustine on his bike while his parents were at work, and being hit by a red tourist train! (Obviously he wasn't seriously injured).

I could go on and on - but I'm sure if you asked him, and got him started, he could tell you so many more.  I hear these stories and I laugh, but I also see how the Lord continues to use all that passion, enthusiasm and creativity in his life and the lives of those he ministers to today.

One thing that many do not know about my sweet husband is that he was born with a cleft pallet and had to have surgery when he was a baby.  Fortunately, it didn't extend to his upper lip, like most do, but did give him a hole in the roof of his mouth and caused a speech impediment which put him through years of speech therapy.  By the time he was nine, he was struggling in school, was tested and the teachers told his parents that they should find a trade school for him because he may not finish High School and he definitely wouldn't make it to college.

When he was 16 and at Youth Camp, he heard God's call on his life to ministry.  He came home, went back to school and asked the principal if he could have a room each morning before school for a Bible Study.  When I first met him, 26 years ago, he was sitting at a table, teaching through the book of John to his peers.  He has been leading ever since.  He finished High School, he not only finished four years of college, but three years of seminary to earn his Master's Degree.  He came back to the Jacksonville area, got his first full time ministry position and pursued me until I finally gave in.  

Oh how thankful I am for this man. I know that he was created just for me.  God creates all of us for a purpose and it's fun to look back over his life and see how everything has prepared him for where he is now.  He loves the Lord, loves his family and he loves the church.  He is kind and sensitive to others and he desires to lead them to a closer walk with Christ.  He is spontaneous, creative and did I mention enthusiastic and passionate?  He is human, he struggles with things like all of us, but he doesn't hide that.  He is real, he is honest and he is a man of great integrity. 

Russell, today we celebrate you.  How thankful we are for you - for your love and your leadership.  We are thankful for the husband and the father that you are.  Our family is truly blessed to have you.  You have continued to use your gifts and talents that the Lord has given you for His glory.  Your desire to serve and obey our Lord is contagious.  You are my love, my husband and my best friend.  Apart from salvation - you are my greatest gift!  Thanks for being you.  I love you more than you know.      ~ Me

Happy birthday Dad you make me happy every day.  I love you Dad. You are the best!  I love you so much!  have a great birthday.
 Love, Anne

Dear Dad - Thank you for always being there for me and thank you for always loving me even through the hardships.  Even though we both have our moments together, we can still get along.  I love you and Happy Birthday.  Jarod

Happy Birthday!!!  We Love You!!!!

Vacation Getaway

We were supposed to go on vacation the same week Russell came down with Bronchitis.  Fortunately, we were able to reschedule it for this past week.  We were so thankful for the ability to do a last minute switch for a stay at the beach, especially in July!  God is good. 

Here is our vacation in photos -

We arrived at the Condo on Crescent Beach late Wednesday afternoon.  We unpacked the van and the men took their "vacation positions." 

This didn't take long at all.  Jarod had spent the day at his new Jr. High for a "Moving Up" Day.  He was tired and ready to chill.  Russ, still recovering from his Bronchitis, became tired quickly and had a hard time breathing after unloading the van and climbing the steps to the Condo in the FL heat and humidity. 



So after a bit of rest and relaxation - and checking out our view for the weekend,

 

We headed over to the Matanzas Inlet Restaurant for dinner. This was our view while we ate - 

After dinner we headed to the pool to cool off and let the kids play -

While the moon rose above us

The next day, we headed to the beach to play

Love this one of Anne

Russ took Anne out further to teach her how to jump the waves.  

Love this pic of the three of them

Anne did great and had an awesome time but when she was headed back in, she got clobbered!  You can't hear it on the video but Russ and Jarod are yelling for her to hurry.  I love her face when she turns around and see the wave coming.

No worries - she was fine.  I turned the video off to get to her.  She decided to master her Sandcastle skills for a while after that

Such talent.  :-)

The guys decided to ride the waves on their Boogie Boards

Love this!

And this!  Such determination!

Love his face in this pic!  So much fun!

Jarod kept catching waves that would bring him all the way in.  It was awesome!

We played until late, stopped for dinner and then took the kids for ice cream.  You just have to splurge on ice cream when you go to the beach.

 

One of our favorite things to do when we visit this Condo is walk down around the end of the island, under the Manatzas Bridge and watch the sunset.  The kids decided to collect shells along the way.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this pic!!!

I don't think it gets much better than the beach at sunset

Under the Matanzas Bridge

Another Fav!!!!

Friday, everyone was exhausted so we just had a lazy day in the Condo.  We decided to stay out of the heat of the day and play in the evening.  Jarod got a new Skim Board and wanted to try it out.

It's a lot harder than it looks!

Anne wanted to fly her new kite - 

"Let's Go Fly a Kite!"

Partially eaten Chocolate Cake and Key Lime Pie

We went to South Beach Grill for dinner that night.  At the end of our meal, our server brought two desserts with candles in them, wishing Russ and I a Happy Birthday.  I looked at Russ, baffled and he looked at me.  Then we both turned to Jarod who was grinning from ear to ear with pride!  We thought he has excused himself to go to the bathroom, but he took it upon himself to tell our hostess that we were on vacation celebrating our Birthdays.

I was just so impressed with his creativity and thoughtfulness.  We don't typically do this at restaurants so the fact that he did this was a huge surprise to us.  So thankful for the glimpses of a tender and giving heart that God is molding.  Being almost 13, we don't always see this side.  I honestly felt like God was reassuring me that He is working in Jarod's life and answering my many prayers.  I know it sounds strange - but these desserts gave me hope as we enter the teens years.  I needed that!  :-)

We checked out on Saturday and headed in to Downtown St. Augustine.  One of our favorite places.

One of my favorite restaurants is Cruiser's Grill.  There are only a few in town.  One is out at Jax Beach and I made sure we went at least once or twice a month when we were driving out to the beach for church.  Now that we don't go out there anymore, I have withdrawals.  LOL!  They do however have one in St. Augustine and I requested we have lunch there.  My family complied.  So thankful!

A great time was had by all!  This getaway was more needed than we realized.  So very thankful for it.  Can't believe there are only 2 weeks left of summer.  It's winding down quickly.

Until next time......

Tid Bits

So Russell has been down for three days with a fever.  He got into the Dr. today and has been diagnosed with Bronchitis.  No wonder he hasn't felt well.  He barely made it through his sermon on Sunday, came home, collapsed and hasn't really moved from his chair or the bed since.  Hopefully he will be feeling better soon.

Momma is in the middle

While resting, we have been enjoying our new little friends out back.  We discovered these little guys a few weeks ago.  They were born under our back porch and Momma Kitty has been taking good care of them.  But they are a tad scrawny and so we decided to help a bit.  All the shelters in the area are full so no one would take them and they are too young to have fixed, so we are attempting to help fatten them up a bit until they are old enough to have surgery. Then we will release them again.  They are not socialized at all and run any time we even come close to the back door, but I did manage to get these photos through the glass. 

Meggie is totally intrigued by them and has even shown a little jealousy.  We have purposefully kept them separated so she just watches them through the glass door.  And she can't understand why she can't have any of their kitty food.  It's funny.

I have to say that while I enjoy watching these adorable kitties play, I love my Meg more.  They will NOT be coming inside.  I am very content to be a one cat family and I think Meggie is as well.  As we watch the kittens and their momma, we are amazed at how social Meg was with us.  She was meant to be ours.  These cats won't even come near us.

So thankful for our sweet Meggie.  She was definitely meant for us.

She loves us.

ApParent Project Update:

Things have slowed down a bit in the last month with my sales, but everyone is vacationing, etc.  I know that it will get busy again once school starts.  

The sales may have slowed down but the collection of cereal boxes has not. I have 14 boxes packed and ready to go.  I'm working with a freight company here in Jacksonville to try and get things to Rays of Hope cheaper.  Very excited about the possibilities!

I had the idea of trying to get ApParent Project into the Southern Women's Show here in Jacksonville.  Each year hundred's of vendors and literally thousands of women come and shop over a four day period in October.  It's a pretty big deal around here.  I made phone calls, filled out the applications and prayed for the Lord to open the doors if it would be worth it for the artisans.  Unfortunately, they had already filled their quota for jewelry vendors so God closed that door.  But already today, I've been contacted by two different churches wanting me to come and speak and do a jewelry sale.  So excited!

As fall approaches, I am convinced that ApParent Project sales are only going to increase.  I am excited to see all that God has planned.

If you are interested in having me come to your home, church, work place - let me know!  I would be happy to schedule you!  Call (904) 703-1608 or email me at:  Franklin4@truevine.net 

Until next time.......

Celebrating our Anne

One year ago today, our Anne girl gave her life to Jesus Christ.  We sat down and prayed with her and were so very excited.  We still are! 

As a parent, it's the one thing I have prayed most about concerning my kids and when those prayers were answered, all I could do was cry.  I'm like that.

To read all about Anne's big day
click here.

Today, we celebrate Anne's 1st "Spiritual Birthday."  She's requested cupcakes and we will make her a special dinner and talk all about how awesome it is to be a part of God's family.

We love you Anne, and are so excited to see all the God is already doing in your life.  We know that He has great plans for you and we cannot wait to see them unfold.  May you "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 3:18)  Following God is not always easy, but our obedience brings blessings and glory to Him. We are so proud of you and amazing girl that you are!

Off to make cupcakes - until next time........

Haven of Rest

Friendships - such an important part of our lives.  So thankful for the Bennett family and all that they mean to us.  We all spent July 4th together but Emily and I got together for lunch on Thursday for some much needed face time.  We already spend lots of time on the phone each day, but being able to be together, in person, for a few hours was wonderful!  And oddly enough - we never run out of things to talk about!

 
Our boys are close as well and they had special time together this week.  It's so fun to watch their friendship continue to grow even though we are all miles apart.

I was really amazed this time to see how much they had both changed in just a few months.  They are both growing so fast.  I see Jarod every day so I don't notice it too much.  But when the two of them got together this week - I don't know - I had deeper voiced teens in the house! LOL!!!

Jarod and Zander in March 2012

July 5, 2012

CRAZY!!!!!

One of the fun things that Emily and I did after lunch on Thursday was run to Hobby Lobby to pick up Russell's Fathers Day present - 

When Russell's dad would preach, he would create a piece of chalk art to go along with his sermon.  It would take him about 8 minutes to create it and Russell's mom would sing a song that went along with it as well.  He didn't keep any of them - he always gave them away so they are very rare!  

A few months ago, Russ ran into a lady in Green Cove at a funeral.  She asked Russ if he was Carl Franklin's son.  Upon further discussion, she asked him if he would be interested in a chalk drawing that his dad did at their church years ago.  Russ pounced on it and was soooo excited!  A few weeks later, she brought it by the church.

The frame was old and heavy so I took it to Hobby Lobby to have it re-framed and preserved. 

 I was so excited to pick it up yesterday.

"Haven of Rest"

Done in early 1980's at Buela Baptist Church in Middleburg

We are thrilled with the way it turned out!  Russ is going to hang it in his office.  I took it by to show Russell's parents yesterday and his dad was excited!  I haven't seen him smile so much about something!  He was so cute about it.  He gave me the name of it and the whole story behind it.  It was fun.  So very thankful that they saved this all these years and were willing to give it to Russ.  A great family heirloom.

Until next time.....

An Awesome 4th!

In my last post I mentioned that Emily and her clan were coming in town.  I've been a bit giddy!!!!  Today was the day!  I was up early and ready before all the other pokies in my house.

We were invited to spend the day with them at Emily's parents house.  We enjoyed our 4th of July with a wonderful cookout and a day of swimming!

Russ and Bruce

Jarod and Will

Jarod and Carter

 

 

Ollie!

Because flying through the air is THE BEST!!!!

Zander's going DOWN!!!!

Cannon Ball!!!!

It was so great to spend the day with everyone and catch up!  So thankful for these special friends - we all just picked up where we left off - as if we've never been apart.  It's hard to believe that it was a year ago that Emily was finally loading up the moving truck and moving to New Hampshire.  But God is good and except for distance, nothing has changed.  Thankful to be together again even if it is for a short time.

She and I do lunch tomorrow!  Girl time!!!!  Can't wait!!!!