A Quarantined Hike!!!

Soooooooooo i'm pretty much cool with everything being shutdown, except for church ANNNNND the mountains!!! If they stop me from hiking i'm going to be REALLY DEVESTATED!!! 

The AllTrails App made me agree to this statement, I was like, YEEEEEEESSS whatever it takes, just take me to the trails!!! 

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Soooooooooo I've been trying to wake up early enough to make it to the top of the mountain in time to see the sun rising, but so far I havn't been successful, I think I need to get up at 4:20 tomorrow-yeah, i'm crazy buuuuut I got to bed super early, like between 8 and 9:30 usually,

 anywayz, when I got to the top yesterday, there's like one more little hill that everyone runs up, there's no pretty view once you get to that hill, but there's a fence with a sign on it with a hand and your supposed to high-five it- then you've officially completed your workout hike!!! 

Soooooooo when I got to the top I see that the high-five hand has been crossed out, cuz of COVED19, I don't know why, buuuuut it really cracked me up!!! I was like, what if we just lysoled it??? 

Soooooooo I just 

Air-high-fived it!!! :D

I mean,  you gotta do what you gotta do to COMPLETE the hike ANNNNNND stay healthy!!

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Oh and WAAAAAIIIIITTTT...

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There's also a paw print lower for the dogs that hike to high-five, and theirs was crossed out too! That really busted me up!!! Ain't no dog gonna get sick...let's not mention that fact that their paws have been touching the ground the WHOLE hike!!!

Can dogs even get it??? 

Oh wait, it all started with a bat...soooooooo apparently so!!! 

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Oh and then they have this sign up with like COVED19 hiking guidelines, and the one that just cracked me up was, Make sure you wash your hands continuously with soap and water...

I'm like, YEEEEEEEEESSSS, because I don't know how many times I've gone up a mountain, seen a sink on the side and said, NOPE, not gonna wash my hands!!! AHAHAHAHAAHAAA!!! 

♥Mary Frances :)

Got Beaches???

Sooooooooo when we went to Seattle, we ended up spending a lot of time in Tacoma with friends from the Tacoma church. So the last day we had made plans to go hiking at Owen's beach park, which to me is literally amaaaaaaaaaaazing that you can go HIKING AT THE BEACH. Liiiiiiiike talk about combining the best of both worlds!!! 

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So we get out of our cars and are walking to the beach together and I'm just like, wow, I can't believe you just have this whole beach park right up the street that you can just go to anytime!!!

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As i'm exclaiming how awesome it is, my lovely friend Charelle, from The Inspired Prairie blog says,

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"What, you guys don't have beaches in Arizona?!"

I just busted up laughing!!! I'm liiiiiiike, Charelle, It's  ARIZONA!!! She's just like looking at me like, SO???? I'm like, ARIZONA IS A DESERT!!! Deserts do NOT have beaches...we have CACTUS AND DIRT!!! I'm rubbing off on you, your having a Mary Moment right now!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!

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Then her son informs her of the geography of Arizona and there's no coast line! And Charelle is like, wow, I didn't even know that and he's homeschooled, I'M HIS TEACHER!!!! LOLOL The whole thing was soooooo funny!!! It was literally one of my highlights of the trip!!! It was truly HILARIOUS!!! Good times, good times!!!

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Memories with friends before we were quarantined!!! 

More on the Seattle trip coming soon!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

P.S. I hope you do come check out our amaaaaazing dirt beaches this summer!!! We may not have waves, buuuuuuuuuuut, you can fry and egg on the sidewalk or bake cookies in your car when it's hot enough-Tacoma GIRRRRRRRL, your gonna fry!!!

Happy Monday!!!!

This is soooooooooooooooo TRUE!!! Soooooo the other day I'm in the middle of making a triple recipe of banana bread and everything is in the Kitchen Aide all perfectly mixed up and I have one more ingredient to add, BAKING SODA!!! I go to my little spice cabinet to get it out and realize I'm all out! So i'm in my apron but I just get into the car and drive to the grocery store around the corner.

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I go to the baking aisle, assuming this will a quick and speedy trip and am completely taken by surprise when I see that the whole baking soda section is COMPLETELY CLEARED OUT!!! I was floored!!! WHY IN THE WORLD ARE PEOPLE HOARDING BAKING SODA??? (Apparently there's 100 reasons to hoard it on Google!!! LOL) Three stores later, I realized I wasn't going to be buying any in the stores!!! yet I had a triple recipe of banana bread sitting at home!!! 

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Soooooo I sent out a mass text asking everyone if they had any baking soda I could use for my banana bread and in exchange I would give them a roll of TP!!! AHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!! Who'd ever thought we'd be paying with toilet paper...man the TPing days of my you...we had NO IDEA we were just throwing around GOLD!!! 

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Happy Monday! I pray you all are doing well-I hope to bring some smiles to you all this week! Sorry I was slacking last week, I thought I was going to be SOOOOOOOOOOO bored with this whole quarantine thing buuuuuuuuut I ended up being soooooooooooo BUSY!!! Have a good week and stay close to JESUS!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

Happy Sunday!!!

I am sooooooooooo thankful this Sunday that we were still able to have church!!! Things are changed up and different, BUUUUUUUUUT the presence of God is STILL THE SAME!!!

 I never realized just how blessed we were to have religious freedom! We always say we are thankful for it, and we are, but we still take it for granted because we've never experienced any kind of a hindrance on it... until now! However your having church, and through whatever means, BE THANKFUL for what  you have and forsake not the assembling of ourselves together!!!! Happy Sunday!!!! 

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"I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord." (Psalm 122:1)

♥Mary Frances :)

Happy Saturday!!!

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!! 

♥Mary Frances :)

Random dislike/love!!!

Have you ever just had a totally random dislike that just makes NO SENSE???

I HAVE TWO!!!

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1.Burgundy on men!!! Idk WHY I don't like it on men and it's not even because I think its effeminate, I just hate burgundy on men... BUUUUUUUT I looooove it on ME!!! I know, I'm soooo WIERD!!!

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2. CURLY HAIRED-MEN(WHEN I WAS A KID!) When I was a kid, I did NOT like to look at men with curly hair...I have NOOOOOOOOO idea WHY!!! But whenever Bishop Abbott would announce certain preachers that were coming, If they had curly hair I knew I was going to be soooooo disappointed!!! I would even try and fall asleep under the chair so I wouldn't have to look at them when they preached!!! I have NO CLUE WHY!!! YET, I myself have ALWAYS WANTED CURLY HAIR!!! Once again, I know...I"M WEIRD!!! Hee, hee!!!

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What are your random dislikes???? Maryfranceswriting@gmail.com

♥Mary Frances :)

P.S. I'm TOTALLY cool with men that have curly hair now...LOVE IT!!! I don't want any men straightening their hair before they see me!!! BAHAHAAA!!! Really, curly hair IS AWESOME!!!! buuuuuuuuuuut NOT soooooooo much the burgundy...you can't help it if God gave you curly hair, BUUUUUT YOU CAN CHOOSE NOT TO WEAR BURGUNDY!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!

Adventures of THE ITALIAN GIRL HOODY!!!

Soooooooo on the way to Seattle last week, im wearing my Italian girl hoody at the airport last night, and cant figure out WHY everyone is giving me odd looks!!! Then I remembered, The Corona Virus is highest IN ITALY!!!

Ahahahahahaaa

#StillProudToBeItalian
#ItalianLivesMatter

 ♥Mary Frances :)

The rest of the world...AND ME!!!

Soooooooo have you ever heard the argument:

 DID ADAM HAVE A BELLY BUTTON???? 

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Some people say he did, some people say he didn't cuz he wasn't born, Ive heard people argue this out foreverrrr…. 

ANNNNNND THERE'S ME...

While the rest of the world is wondering if he had a belly button, 

I'm wondering WHO POTTY TRAINED HIM???? 

Think about it you guys!!! Did God potty train Adam and then he potty trained Eve??? Or maybe he wasn't even potty trained until God made Eve!!!! Maybe that was part of her job as his help meet, First thing you gotta help your husband with is getting him potty trained!!! Yes, I really wonder this!!!! Annnnnnnd before you say I'm crazy, YOU KNOW YOUR WONDERING NOW TOO!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

Think about it!!!

"And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." (Deuteronomy 6:5)

♥Mary Frances :)

Happy Monday!!!

Be smart and LOVE PEOPLE!!!!
♥Mary Frances :)

Californians VS Texans!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

Buuuuuuuuuut...

♥Mary Frances :)

Seattle Bound!!!

Tonight we leave for Seattle...

annnnnnnnnd NOOOOO...

I'm NOT scared about Corona Virus!!!! 

I've done homeless ministry in south Phoenix...

annnnnnd after THAT...

I don't think i'll ever be scared of anything again...EVERRRR!!!

 AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA!!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

P.S. Buuuuut we are bringing Lysol and hand sanitizer!!! ;)

They say I shop too much, buuuuuuuuut...

Soooooooooo I'm pretty much the queen of AMAZON shopping, as you may remember from this post HERE and there MAY be some people in my life that think I shop too much, BUUUUUUUUUUUUT, the other day I was looking in my Amazon shopping cart and it was EMPTY, with over 450 things saved for later...

Annnnnnnnnnd I was like, Okaaaaaaay, instead of focusing on all the things I HAVE bought, why don't we try to be MORE POSITIVE...

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Look at all the things, 

I HAVEN'T BOUGHT!!! Hee, hee!!!;)

♥Mary Frances :)
P.S. Did you know that AMAZON will allow you to give people an allowance on it??? If you would like to contribute to mine, please feel free to do so HERE!!!;)

My official diagnosis!!!

Soooooooo if you know my nephew Odin, he very freely tells everyone that he had Autism, and he will then ask you, what you have!!! Hi, I'm Odin, I have Autism and so-so-and-so has Downs Syndrome, what do you have?! Before anyone can get offended I just shrug my shoulders and say, heeeeeeeyyyy we're ALL SPECIAL, some of us just MORE THAN OTHERS!!! ;))))) 

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Well in the past, O has asked me what I have and i'm always like, IDK O, you tell me, WHAT DOES AUNT MARY HAVE???

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Well the other day, Odin officially gave me my diagnosis of WHAT I HAVE and it's soooooooo fitting!!! So he's sitting in the hallway playing and he says something to me and I say, Ok seriously SOOOOO RANDOM! He says, no it wasn't! I'm like, YES IT WAS!!! He's like, No aunt Mary, I'm not random you are! I'm like, NO, you are!!! He says, 

NOOOOO Aunt Mary, I have AUTISM, 

YOU HAVE RANDOM!!!! 

 When he said that I just busted up laughing because it is literally THE MOST ACCURATE diagnosis of me. I am soooooooooo random!!!! We could go in conversation anywhere from, outreach and lost souls, to I wonder who potty trained Adam and Eve???? Then on to, OMW! last night I dreamed it was raining fluffy puppies!!!! 

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Sooooooooo there you guys have it,

I, MARY FRANCES GINTY 

OF CLASSIC MARY MOMENTS,

 

 HAVE RANDOM!!!

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Soooooooooooo what do YOU have????;)

♥Mary Frances :)

Happy Monday!!!

Fist Bump it!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

(Isn't this soooooo adorable!?1?)

“This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24

Guys are DUMB!!! (or NOT???;)

Sooooo a few weeks ago, my sister and I met up with an old friend that we haven't seen in YEARS!!! After eating and catching up, of course we all got around to exchanging our, NOPE! Not talking to anyone or it didn't workout with WHOEVER stories...and we summed it up with WHATEVERRRRR...Guys are DUMB!!!! (Ok really not man haters over here, its just the easiest way to sum up singleness!!!! HAHA!!!) 

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I'm like, yup! Guys are dumb! and then we all just say it to each other, GUYS are dumb! Then my friend turns to Maryjo and she says, you hear that MJ, GUYS ARE DUMB!!!

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All of the sudden THIS LITTLE VOICE pops into the conversation,

 HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYY, 

GUYS ARE NOT DUMB!!!! 

OOOOOOOOOOOPS!!!

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He had been sooooooo quiet and well behaved, We had forgotten all about THE LITTLE O!!! He was just looking at us all in horror, clearly offended!!!! That's not very nice to say!!!! You don't say guys are DUMB?! Ugh your sooooooo RIGHT ODIE!!! Boys are NOT DUMB and we shouldn't say that!!! Hee, hee!!!! 

IF ONLY ALL GUYS 

WERE AS COOL AS ODIE!!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

Seattle Bound!!!

Sooooooooo come March 13th, my sister, MJ, Odin and myself are flying out to Seattle to see the sights, explore the city and try lots of good food and drinks!!! On my list I have:

Snoqualmie Falls, 

Mount Rainier, 

Ruston Way Waterfront, 

Wings over Washington, 

Selfie Museum, (No clue who's idea that was;)

 Ducks of Seattle, 

The gum wall, (Must have picture here, blowing a HUUUUUGE bubble!!!)

Chihuly Garden and glass, (I read in the reviews this place is sooooo beautiful they actually got tears in their eyes...I'll let you all know IF I start crying!!! HA!!!;)

Waterfall Garden, 

Pike Market, 

Starbucks Reserve, (I see they have canolis there!)

 Space Needle, 

The Seattle Great Wheel, 

Freemont Troll, 

Rachel the pig, 

Olympic Sculpture Park

Skyview Observatory

The First Starbucks. 

Does anyone else have any sights that I just shouldn't miss??? I'm  not really into museums unless its something really amazing or intriguing, i'm more into action sights, natural beauty, shopping and food...jus sayin!!!

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NOW for the food and drink places:

Pacific Southern 

(Meeting up with some old friends here!!! Woooohoooo!!! It's been YEARS!!!)

20 OZ TEA

The Crumpet Shop (IF only so I can finally know what it means in the song, Little Miss Muffett sat on her Tuffet, eating her crumpets and whey!)

Fat's Fried Chicken And Waffles(4.5 stars on yelp!)

Pie Bar

Bakery Nouveau

Le Panier French Bakery

Lady Yum

Storyville Coffee Company

Right now i'm really into macarons, boba and pretty latte art!!! IF anyone has any suggestions for must sees, or eats that i'm missing, puleeeeeeeeeeeeze let me know!!!! Charelle, from The Inspired Prairie blog says the only foods she can recall her state being known for is Almond Roca and Johnny seasoning, if anyone thinks of something else, please let me know!!! You know how I am, I want to experience everything native to where I go!!! (Aside from their pot!!! HA!!!) Maryfranceswriting@gmail.com

Weeeeeeeeeeeellllll I realize this is a HUGE agenda...buuuuuuuut...IF your going anywhere with me...do NOT expect to sit around and relax...unless your ok with me just going off on my own, cuz I sooooooooo will!!! I'll even get up early to go out exploring while everyone else sleeps in....I just like to enjoy and explore it all!!! 

Now the big question IS: 

What city is crazier THE BAY OR SEATTLE???? 

We shall see, WE SHALL SEE!!! 

Annoying is NOT bad!

Sooooooooo the other day I was watching little O and he says to me, Aunt Mary, Sister is SO annoying!!! Don't you think she is annoying Auntie?! I said, ODIN, that is not very nice to say, we do NOT just say that about people! He's like, But she IS annoying!!! I'm like, even IF you think she is annoying, you shouldn't say it! Calling someone annoying isn't a very nice thing to say!!! He looks at me shocked and he says, But Aunt Mary, annoying is NOT a bad word, it's a good word! I'm like, its just not nice to say about someone! He's like, buuuuuuuuut it IS a VERY nice thing to say!!! I know it IS BECAUSE...

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 SISTER SAYS 

 

I'M ANNOYING ALL THE TIME!!!

I was like WOW MJ, WOOOOOOOOOOWWWW!!! She's like, WELL, HE IS!!! And O is like, see, it IS a NICE WORD AUNT MARY!!! I'm like FORGET IT!!! I GIVE UP!!! You all just on and be annoyingly adorbs together!!! AHAHAHAHAAA!!! #Siblinglove
♥Mary Frances :)

Happy Monday!!!

When Mondays come...

SLURP IT UP...

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd have a good day anyway!!!

This is the day that the Lord has made, I WILL rejoice and be glad in it!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

♥Mary Frances :)

Fork on the menu!!!

Sooooooooo a few weeks or so ago we went out to eat and when the food came I went to pick up my fork to eat buuuuuut when I reached for it, it didn't go into my hand so I started to reach for it again buuuuut as I did, I REALIZED WHY the fork hadn't come up THE FIRST TIME, at the same time EVERYONE else realized why as well...

MARY,

THAT FORK IS A PICTURE

ON THE MENU!!!

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

Why you shouldn't wear hearing AIDS!!!

I've been reas the "Mitford" series by Jan Karon, if you've never read them I HIGHLY recommend them!!! They're the adventures of a preacher, his wife, his adopted son and his big O dog!!! I loooooooove these books and will write MORE about them at another time, BUUUUT to find out WHY you shouldn't wear hearing aids...

Read the part that is circled in RED!!!

And THAT my friends IS WHY you should NOT everrrrr wear HEARING AIDS...

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"There's AIDS ENOUGH IN THIS WORLD!!!"

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

Why can't we figure out God???

I was talking to one of my friends one time, and we were discussing how sometimes we just can't understand God. We don't get WHY he does things a certain way or WHY he allows certain things to happen. We just have to trust him and know that he is looking out for us...And I started off in the discussion pretty theological "...the foolishness of God is wiser than men..." (1 Corinthians 1:25) I'm like you know, we just don't understand the way God works...Sometimes he's JUST HARD TO FIGURE OUT!!! Then without thinking about it, it just came to me, I'm like, buuuuuuuuuut THEN AGAIN that makes PERFECT SENSE...
AFTER ALL...

HE'S MALE!!!
*ba-dum-cha

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! 

Then I seriously just cracked myself up!!! For like five minutes straight!!! I laughed and laughed and laughed about that!!! I even patted myself on the back! Good one Mary! GOOD ONE!!!

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Heeeeeey men just take it as a compliment if we females can't figure you guys out...its a GODLY TRAIT!!! Annnnnnnd if we CAN figure you out...that probably means your TOO MUCH LIKE US!!! Go gargle some gravel!!!! AHAHAHAHA!!!

♥Mary Frances :)
And NO i'm NOT confused about THE DOCTRINE!!! I know that God is a spirit, buuuuut Jesus, who IS GOD manifested in the flesh, , is a man! Furthermore, every time God is referred to in the Bible, it is ALWAYS in a male connotation...NEVER FEMALE!!!

What kind of candy???

So I always like to have a treat to give the kids when they get off the van and go home at the end of the night, its kinda a threat to them to behave on the way home.

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 Weeeeeeelllll the kids LOOOOOVE Mexican candy, they've requested it many times, therefore, the last several weeks I've been buying the big O bulk bags from Food City and they've been VERY pleased with this!!! Well one night in the van, they were asking me what the treat was this week and I said, CANDY!!!

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 They were like, Mexican candy??? I'm like, YUP!!! They're like, AGAIN??? Its ALWAYS Mexican candy don't you have anything else? I'm like, Nooooo...they're like griping about it...Soooooooo I'm like, OMW, you guys, I just remembered, I DID BRING ANOTHER KIND OF CANDY!!!!

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They're like, YOU DID??? I'm like, YES!!! I don't IF you guys have ever heard of it before buuuuuuuuut its called...

NO CANDY!!!!

AHAHAHAHAHAHA

Sooooooo tonight you have a choice,  you can either have, MEXICAN CANDY or NO CANDY...Whichever one you want!!! Bahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!

Good one Mary!

GOOD ONE!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

I'm NOBODY!!!

I recently heard a story of a queen, maybe the queen of England, when she was a child, she was out and about in the city and someone recognized her and not wanting to be wrong about who they thought she was, they kept asking her, 

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"Who are you?" 

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Trying to get her to say that she was indeed royalty. Finally, the little princess looked at the person questioning her, she squared her shoulders, threw her head back, looked them in the eye, and she said...

 "I'm NOBODY

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuut 

MY DADDY is THE KING!!!

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As Christians, we have to have the humility to know we are nobodies,

 with the pride of knowing, who our Father is!!!

"And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." (Romans 8:17)

♥Mary Frances :)

Happy Monday!!!

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeellllll this'll PREACH!!!

♥Mary Frances :)
















This week take the time to SPEAK THE TRUTH...IN LOVE!!!

HAPPY MONDAY!!!! 

The easiest part of writing...

This past year, Denae Abbott wrote a brand new Christmas play for our church to produce, "The Gospel According to Luke" Of course Denae did an amazing job as writer and director of the play, buuuuuuuuuuuut of course every Christmas Drama, comes with it's DRAMA!!! HAHA!!! Which usually comes from the ones acting out the play. 

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One Sunday morning, Denae and I were talking about it, having previously written a Christmas play together and I myself NEVER having the desire to ever direct a play again. (I'm NOT a director!!!) So we're talking about and at the same time we came to the conclusion, IT's not the writing part of the play that's hard, that's EASY!!!!  IT'S THE GETTING EVERYONE IN THE PLAY TO DO WHAT WE WROTE THATS HARD!!! The easiest part, IS the writing!!! 

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Now, if your not a writer, you may see that differently, buuuuut if you are a writer, writing is just a natural part of who you are. Although, you may occasionally have a writer's block, something that I myself have never really struggled with, if you are a writer, writing is simply a creative way of expressing yourself. To me, writing is like creating a picture but with words instead of paint. To me, writing is not a hassle or a chore, it's part of who I am, my passion. When I don't write, it's never for lack of inspiration but a matter of time or balancing out my life with other responsibilities and hobby. However, It's not hard for me to write, it's easy. Yes, the hardest part of writing a play is not writing it, it's getting the players to cooperate in doing what you wrote. 

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And that got me to thinking, God is the writer of our life stories. The Bible says in Hebrews 12:2 that we should look unto "Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith." God has already written each and every one of our life stories and I don't believe it was hard for him to do that. Writing our stories was the easy part, it's getting US to cooperate with His writing that is THE HARD PART. As one preacher said one year at a Heritage youth conference, "If you want God's will for your life, it's easy, just stay in His will." If you want a beautiful life story, it's simple, let the writer of your life, WRITE! 

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We sit here below and we fret and we worry and we try to figure it all out, yet God already has it all written. Before we were ever even born, God had written our life stories. However, in the process of us fulfilling His will, we get frustrated or mad or sad or sometimes just bored so we meddle or we try and liven things up in God's plan. But it's already been written, we just need to trust in the writer of our lives and know that his ways are better than ours. And if you have stepped out of the writers plans for your life, it's not hard for the Lord to rewrite that part, if you'll only step back in and begin to cooperate again with the Author and Finisher of our faith. His mercies are new every morning. Writing our stories wasn't hard for the Lord, it was so easy for Him to write out beautiful stories for each and every one of us. HE has great things in store for us, for our lives. 

Just trust the writer.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)