The Great Church Debate

      "I never in a million years thought I would be doing this again. Many of you know, I've been VBS and Sunday School Coordinator at my church for a few years now. And I love it. I really do. But that's as far as my love for this church goes any more. A very wise woman told me that being busy in the church is just that, busy. It doesn't make you any more faithful. I want my children to grow up in church. In this day and age, there are negative influences all over. And I want my kids to have positive influences. I'm not a great Christian but I love Jesus and I'm trying. I want my children to have a great relationship with the Lord. And that's just not happening at our church. We're not getting spiritually fed. I've found that I've lost respect for my pastor (but that's a whole other story). I never thought I would have these feelings toward a person in his position. And it's become acceptable for me to take the kids to Sunday School and not even stay for the church service. It may be socially acceptable, nut I'm not ok with it. I want more from my self. I need accountability. Our church is dying and I've struggled for quite some time. I just don't know what to do... Should I stay and try to help rebuild it? Or do I take my kids somewhere else? Am I really going to be looking for a new church for my family again? Am I strong enough to ignore the stares, to not walk in to a new church and feel like you're crashing someone's family reunion?"

     That ran through my mind constantly a few weeks ago. I could barely see through my tears to write it. I decided to resign my positions. I did so with the intent of going back to church for the right reasons, not just because I was obligated to be there. I though, "I'll get up Sunday and sit in the pew and listen, take my kids down to Sunday School and not worry about if the teacher's showed up or if they have enough materials. I'm just going to be an ordinary church goer." After I resigned from my positions, a friend from church asked if I would like to try another church with her the next Sunday. What did I have to lose? So we went together and I left the kids at home because I didn't want to drag them around "church shopping". But I loved it there. It was so lively and upbeat. And even though folks there are struggling, they're praising God. It was such a refreshing change from what I am used to. One of the things that drew me to the church I've been at for 6 years, was the traditionalism. Every thing about it was just like I remembered church being from when I was a kid. So naturally, I thought, this is how its supposed to be. Nothing about this other church is "traditional". There is a full band instead of a choir, the pastor wears blue jeans. No body is judging you by what you're wearing or how much money you're giving. They're just glad you are there! And I haven't even gotten to the children's part yet. They're main focus is on growing Godly children. They know that our children are the focus. So instead of dividing up their resources into lots of little ministries they focus on the children's ministry. And the absolute best part... My KIDS LOVE IT!

      We will definitely miss our old church family. But it's time for us to move on. Of course, I've been asked repeatedly in the last week to come back to our old church. Right now, I just can't. Monkey is 10 now. I feel like the next 5 years are going to be crucial in his spiritual growth. I only get one shot at giving him the best. I've prayed about it. If I can take him somewhere that he wants to be at, where he enjoys learning about God, and building his relationship with God, then how could I not? And Banana is not far behind him. I want my children to have a relationship with God throughout their entire lives. And I NEED for them to know Him throughout their teen years. When they feel like they have no one else on earth, and they will feel that way, its teen tradition, I want them to think "I'm ok. I don't need anyone else on earth. I've got God on my side!"

     Although choosing to leave my church has been one of the most difficult decisions I've ever had to make, I'm 97% confident that I made the right decision. For my children and my self. Hubby even came with me one day. He said he didn't hate it, which was way better than anything he ever said about our other church. Keep praying for us. Maybe we'll settle in and this will be our new church home.

Thank you,

Hurry Up and Wait.

Hurry up and wait. This is seriously the motto of my life right now. I officially submitted all of the my requirements to become a licensed foster parent today. I can not express how excited I am! Now we just wait for our Foster Care Specialist to get our home study written and we will be licensed! I know a couple of people who are or have been foster parents and they've gotten their first placements within a few weeks of getting licensed. On one hand, I can not believe that we are potentially within a few weeks of filling our spare bedroom (which we have dubbed 'The Foster Room'). On the other hand, I'm thinking, "Call Me Already!" I'm more than ready for this.
I've been having dreams of a sweet toddler boy clinging to my shoulder. I can never remember his name, just that he needs me and I love him. Maybe it's my mind trying to prepare me for this exciting journey. It kinda reminded me of the vivid dreams you have when you're pregnant.
Aaah! I'm just so excited. I hate waiting. Now that everything on my end is all done, I'm ready for a placement.
In the mean time, I'll just be decorating the room and buying toys. Lol. Since we decided to accept children 4 and under, I've collected a nice little assortment of toys to fill the room. And I even made this cute little sign to hang in their room. I was trying my hand at some ombre style painting. I have a long way to go, but it still looks cute. I painted the dots with the eraser end of a pencil and cut the words out with my Cricut. Isn't it totally adorable?

Thanks for checking out my blog. Come back soon, I can't wait to share this journey with you.

I have been working on...

     Yesterday, I promised to reveal what else I've been working on. This "project" has been a long time dream of mine. It required training for both my husband and myself, many family discussions, interviews of my family, room redecorating, and modifications to our home. Do you think you know what it is yet? If you guessed Foster Care... You're right!
It has been such an emotional ride. But, we've now completed all of our class work. We are CPR, First Aid and AED trained. Our children have been interviewed, our home has been inspected and our friends and family have submitted reference letters. We are at the bottom of 4 home studies that our Foster Care Specialist is in the process of writing but when she finishes (hopefully soon), we will be licensed foster parents. Then we will just be waiting for placements. I would love to do sibling groups, but Mr.Random is a little more leery. He would prefer to start with one and see what happens. And he's probably right. Because it is an adjustment for our entire family, we may want to start off slowly, ease our way into it. I recently spoke with another foster mom in our area and she told me that when she started foster care, about 4 years ago, several of her couple friends became foster parents too, but have since quit. I always thought it was a lifetime commitment. I certainly intend for it to be for our family. At this point we have decided to accept children who are 4 and under in to our home. As our children get older, we may accept older children. Both Monkey and Banana are excited to have a baby and/or a toddler in our home. God really has blessed me with great children. I know they will big great foster siblings to anyone who comes in to our home. I can't wait to share more of this exciting journey with you all.

I can not wait to have a little person in this room!

Come back soon. I will be sharing details about this room and the decorations I've been working on for this.
Thanks for stopping by!

Crazy Busy

Aaaah! My life is so crazy right now.
Preschool is back in session. Yay! I have 2 classes again. My morning class has 11 students, 10 boys 1 girl. Seriously! 10 three year old boys doesn't take long to wear you out. My afternoon class is much more mellow with 7 girls and 3 boys. But both classes are a lot of fun. Last year, I had only 5 kids in one class and 7 in the other class. So to say that this year is much more challenging, is an understatement. However, I firmly believe that with greater challenge comes greater reward. I'm most excited about our Winter Wonderland program. I think it will be super exciting to have so many little voices singing. Not to say that I didn't enjoy my classes last year, I very much did. I'm just really excited to spend my days with such a fun, rambunctious, eager group of kids.
I also decided to take on another job at my church. Custodian. Well, another woman and I are splitting the duties. Last time our church lost a custodian, we went nearly 4 weeks without one. So Mrs.B and I decided to split the duties. The last custodian we had was less than stellar. Many duties had gone undone for quite a while. So we've spent the last week putting in extra hours to get our church looking beautiful again. Custodian is a much unappreciated job. Many, many props to housekeepers and custodians every where. It's hard work! And it's 7 days a week. I've been going in after the kids go to bed, that way I know all of the church activities are over plus I don't have to miss out on time with my kiddos. They're so busy, I feel like I hardly see them as it is.
About them being busy, Monkey has soccer on Monday and Wednesday, Taekwondo on Tuesday and Thursday. Banana has 2 dance classes on Wednesdays and Girl Scouts every other Monday. And oh yea, did I mention that I decided, at the very last minute, to be the Girl Scout leader. Because I'm just so bored... Ha.
I also have something very very exciting going on that has taken up quite a bit of time lately. The good news is that all of the work I had to do for that is over. Now we're just waiting. I know you're dying to know what it is. But... You're going to have to wait till tomorrow.

Image credit: Google Images

Thanks so much for stopping by. Come on back to see what I've been working so hard on.

Real Moms Can Work From Home Book and Prizes

If you could change your life for less than $5 would you?

It's true--you can stay home with your children and still earn money! Work-at-home businesses are on the rise, and Mandie Stevens has been living this life for almost ten years.

Do you need to pay for dance lessons for your kids? Do you want to pay off credit card debt? Or do you need full-time income? You can do it. Find out how to get started with this book.

Purchase on Amazon / Barnes and Noble / iBooks / Kobo

Amazon Review - This book has websites and gives help as to how to build your audience. For someone like me it has to be dumbed down enough for me to understand and I had no problem following her how to’s. Other how to books lose me, they offer so much information that after a while it all seems Chinese to me. This book was point on and she tells it to you straight, you have to put yourself out there if you want to get something out of it.

Amazon Review - It gives real life tips and advice on how you can get started including websites you can visit. This is not a get rich quick scheme, but honest to goodness ways you can start a business from the comfort of your own home. The author does not sugar coat anything by saying it's easy and will just fall into your lap. She lets you know you have to work for it, but shows that it can be achieved. The book includes her testimony as well as that of several others who have been successfully doing this for years. This book is the real deal.

Mandie Stevens has always been accused of living in her own world so she decided to put it to paper. When she isn’t writing you can catch her lounging on the beach reading. Mandie has penned both non-fiction and urban fantasy. She has ridiculously little feet and would be happy eating seafood every day.

Want a little extra help starting a blog? Check out this giveaway. OPEN WORLDWIDE. Must be 18+

Fill out the form below to enter to win.

Ends 10/5

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tawdry Kandle Does It Again!

Summer's almost over, but there's still time for #OneLastBeachRead. And you're in luck because the perfect way to end the summer is now live and available everywhere!

THE PATH

Abby Donavan came to the small beach community of Crystal Cove to start over. After a painful affair broke her heart and derailed her burgeoning career, taking over management for the just-opened bed-and-breakfast was the safe choice. In this sleepy town, Abby figured she could bury her memories and forget the pain.

When the chance to have her own hotel falls into her lap, though, she can’t resist the temptation. Making the old Riverside Inn into the showplace she’s always dreamed of running offers the second chance she never expected.

Abby didn’t expect another kind of second chance to land on her doorstep at the same time. Ryland Kent wants to help her bring the Riverside back to life, and his passion for restoration is irresistible. But as much as she wants to ignore it, she can’t help seeing another spark in his eyes . . . one that offers to reignite her own flame.

Sometimes the path to a happily-ever-after is anything but smooth.

Buy it now!

iBooks/Amazon/All Romance Ebooks/Nook/Google Play/Kobo/Smashwords

And join us here today at the HUGE release party, featuring both Tawdra and author Olivia Hardin!

 

[playlist type="video" ids="2758"]

If you haven't read the first two Crystal Cove Romances . . . now is the perfect time.

THE POSSE is free for a limited time only!

iBooks/Amazon/Google Play/Nook/Kobo

"It is rare for characters to stay with me for weeks or months, but these are etched in my mind and heart." Amazon review

 

 

And don't miss THE PLAN. Emmy and Cooper's story has both sizzle and heart.

iBooks/Amazon/Nook/Google Play/Kobo

"Real. That's all I can feel for this story. Real. Real life. Real love. Real emotion. Real characters. They stick with you from the first book, to this second one in the series." Amazon review

 

 

Tawdra Kandle writes romance, in just about all its forms. She loves unlikely pairings, strong women, sexy guys, hot love scenes and just enough conflict to make it interesting. Her books include YA paranormal romance, NA paranormal and contemporary romance, and adult contemporary and paramystery romance. She lives in central Florida with a husband, kids, sweet pup and too many cats. And yeah, she rocks purple hair.

Follow Tawdra: Facebook/Twitter/Tsu/Pinterest/Instagram/Website/Newsletter/Amazon

Medieval Times for 4! Do Not Miss This Deal

      So Medieval Times is having a big sale. Have you ever been there? I went with some ladies once, a couple of years ago. I had won some tickets over at Kingdom of Chaos, so my mom and both of my siter-in-laws and myself went. It was such a great time. I've been itching to go back and take the kids but we hadn't found the time. Now they have such a great deal going on, I'm going to have to make the time. Join me! Click on the picture and pick up your Family Four Pack today.

Seriously, this is what you get in your Four Pack:

• 4 Admission Tickets
• 4 Course Meal Fit For a King or Queen (each person gets this)
• 2 Rounds of select beverages (per person)
• 2 Hour ACTION PACKED SHOW
• Free Parking (Always)

That's only $32 per person! The tickets are good for shows all the way up till 9/30!You can't even get dinner and a movie that cheap anymore, let alone a live show and dinner experience. 

Hurry and get your tickets HERE, before time runs out!

And I almost forgot to mention this fun little gem-
This summer thru July 31^st Medieval Times is hosting Knight Training- where kids can go down into the arena and train with the knights. Sign up when you get your tickets!