Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Don't be ________AND LAZY!!!

Sooooooooo a lot of the kids I pick up have gotten really lazy about coming on Sunday mornings because it means, WAKING UP EARLY, where as coming on Wednesday nights, they're already up. Soooooooooooo a few weeks ago, when I was dropping them off, I asked one of the girls, Lola, are you going to come on Sunday morning???
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Soooooooooooo she's like, IDK...I'll probably be sleeping!!! Soooooooooo I'm like, GIRRRRRRL, don't be LAZY!!! Sooooooooo she just kinda smiles and I'm like, YOU KNOW what MY MOM (Who was her Bible class teacher when she was a baby) would say to me growing up when I didn't want to do something? She's like, WHAT? I'm like, she'd say,
I'm like, WEEEEEEEELLLL...
She just looks at me all confused, because she's like REALLY, REALLY SKINNY!!! Like literally this long, straight stick!!! LOL I'm like, weeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllll...
In YOUR CASE...
DON'T BE SKINNY AND LAZY!!! 
AHAHAHAAAA!!!!
♥Mary Frances :)
Mom's advice here

Monday, May 28, 2018

How to get stronger...

Have you ever tried to
physically become stronger?

 Although I'm not an expert, I have spent some time dabbling in woman's weight lifting. Physically speaking, I'm a pretty strong person to begin with, BUUUUUT, no matter HOW strong you may be, if you want to become stronger, you don't get there by starting with your goal. 
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In other words, when I was weight lifting, I started off with being able to press about 60 pounds over my head, with my person trainer spotting me for safety precautions. However, if my goal was to be able to bench press 100 pounds, I didn't get there by just picking up 100 pounds and start pressing it. I made small changes, adding on 2-5 pounds weekly, slowly but surely getting stronger with each weight added on to eventually reach my goal.
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Now for a woman, I am naturally stronger than most, but not as strong most men. Physically speaking, we are all made differently, men naturally have a tendency to be physically stronger than woman, but we ALL have the potential to become a physically stronger person, IF we work on it. 
Spiritually speaking, it works THE SAME way. Some of us are naturally just a stronger person than others. One of the strongest people I know was my mom. She was such an emotionally strong person. When she decided that she was going to leave behind everything she had once religiously embraced, she never looked back. She didn't care what anyone thought or said about her, her mind was made up and that was that. No matter what came her way, she just gritted her teeth and kept walking, she was a VERY STRONG PERSON. 
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However, NOT all of us are naturally strong like my mom was. God made us all different. We are not all the same, some of us are just naturally a spiritually weaker person, YET, just because we have this tendency, does NOT mean that we don't have the potential to become a spiritually stronger person. Built inside each and everyone of us, is the capacity to become spiritually stronger.
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How can we spiritually become stronger?
Spiritual exercise is how we spiritually become stronger. Spiritual strength comes from seeking after God. We seek after God through prayer and studying His word. Yet, just like physical strength building, we don't get to our goal, by starting with our goal. We reach our big goals spiritually, by staying consistent with the small changes we make, working towards our ultimate goal. 
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At the Bible college I attended quite a few years ago, there was a class I took on prayer. Our instructor taught us that everything in life has a beginning and that includes our prayer lives. If you want to pray an hour a day, you don't have to start off with that goal, you can start with something small and add on. You can start off with praying for 5 minutes every day, CONSISTENTLY, for a month, then the next month add on another 5 minutes and start praying for 10 minutes a day. Slowly but surely, you will spiritually begin to have a strong prayer life.
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OR if you don't want to set the timer, you could turn on some good Christian music and say, ok, I'm going to start off with praying through one whole song on this CD, then if I get lost in the spirit and end up feeling to pray longer, I won't become distracted by a buzzing timer. The same thing goes with reading the Bible, you don't have to start off with reading THE WHOLE Bible in ONE DAY. But everyday, CONSISTENTLY read a little bit of your Bible and eventually you'll have read it all the way through. It doesn't matter where you start out spiritually, you have the potential to become stronger.
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EXCUSES
Well, I'm just not a strong person you say and that may be true, some of are just naturally emotionally and spiritually weaker individuals, BUT the question isn't, are you strong? The question is: ARE YOU DOING ANYTHING to make yourself stronger??? If your thinking, well I'll NEVER be as strong as So and so, that's ok, God is NOT expecting you to be as strong as them, BUUUUUUT, he is expecting you be the strongest person YOU can possibly be! 
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Don't be lazy, 
START YOUR SPIRITUAL
STRENGTH BUILDING TODAY!!! 
"And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.For if these things be in you, and abound, they make [you that ye shall] neither [be] barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1:5-8)
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♥Mary Frances :)

Saturday, May 26, 2018

Changes on Classic Mary Moments...

With life being so busy and with focusing on writing a book, I no longer have time to update my blog DAILY. Yes, I'm WRITING my first book. I am soooooooooo excited about it, I think you all are going to LOVE IT!!! It's something I have wanted to do for years but never had specific and clear direction on how to do it.
At the beginning of the year I once again started feeling really strongly towards writing it and then combined with a message one of the men preached at our church about goals and dreams, I felt like it was time to really push forward with it. I began to really think and pray about it, I didn't even know WHERE to start, so I talked to a very ORGANIZED friend, Courtney Thaler, and she said, MAKE AN OUTLINE...I was like, WOW, I NEVERRRRR would have thought of that...BAHAHAHAHAAA!!!
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Once I started on my outline, I used my informative speech outline from my public speaking text book for a guide line, and EVERYTHING just became and began to fall in to place. Then my book intro became clear and I think I OFFICIALLY started writing the book in February. I was waiting to talk with my pastor about it all before I announced it, buuuuuuuuuut, that's done now, soooooo I figure it's time I tell you all, I'M WRITING A BOOK!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHH!!! 
It will still be a WHILE before publication and you all being able to read it, buuuuut PART 1 is almost done. I will then send that out to my "team" and get there in put, on things that are clear, unclear, boring, things I need to add, take out, etc...and while their doing that, I'm going to start PART 2! The goal is to have Part 2 done by the end of the summer. (There's 5 parts, sooooo yeah, it's gonna be a WHILE. Then my plan is to hire someone to professionally edit the book...YES, I NOW I NEED THAT...lol...there's the whole book and cover design, publication and advertising process....buuuuut I've take the first steps AND I'M WRITING IT!!!
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With that in mind, I want you all to know that Classic Mary Moments will NOT be forgotten. This is still my way of expressing my writing and challenging myself to weekly do that and not led the writing pen get dried out. HOWEVER, I don't like to be flaky and post a lot sometimes and then not at all for a while, consistency and quality over quantity is vital for success. I will be doing more concentrated and focused writing for you all 3 days a week. 

The new Classic Mary Moments Schedule will look like this:
Mondays: Devotionals- Something to start the week off right. 

Wednesdays: Humor- That middle of the week laugh or brain booster to push through to the weekend. 

Fridays: Life- updates, weight loss, announcements, events, trips, book or restaurant reviews, Financial WiseDUMB!
*Also, I am a very festive person so holiday greetings on HOLLA-DAYS!!! 
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I would like to eventually do a monthly podcast as well because I also very much enjoy public speaking and want to start working on that more. I need HELP with figuring this out, soooooooo IF anyone out there knows how, feel free to HELP A SISTA OUT!!! 
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I've also updated and changed around my ABOUT ME so go check that out, I feel like it's more accurate and organized. I've changed and added some new Page tabs but a lot of them aren't filled yet and will let you know more as they are.  
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SOOOOOOO QUESTIONS:
1. What do you think my book is about??? 
  -Do you think it's fiction or non-fiction?
  -If it's fiction, do you think it's a mystery, adventure or romance?
  -For teens, young adults, children or ANYONE???
I'll reveal MORE of the details SOON but for now I'm curious to know what you all think it would be about!!! Email me Maryfranceswriting@gmail.com OR text IF you have my number!!!
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2. I started a FAQ's tab where I am going to respond to FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTOINS, if you have something your super curious about or just dying to know about me or know of a misconceived conception of me, hit me up with your question and I'll probably respond to on the FAQs page! Maryfranceswriting@gmail.com
♥Mary Frances :)

Friday, May 25, 2018

Odin's Adoption!!!!

Soooooooo it was a VERY HYPERRRR 3-hour ride to Kingman for Odin's adoption!!! I don't think he really knew for sure WHAT was going to happen, buuuuuuuuuut he knew that his last name was going to be GINTY now, annnnnnnnnnd he was VERY EXCITED about that!!!
ODIN DAVID GINTY!!!
All these people here for his adoption, and actually there were more coming in, there were some people that literally, we had NO IDEA who they were. There were A LOT of people that had been on the case while he was still a ward of the case in Kingman, that were just soooooo EXCITED to see him being adopted! I could hear people all over whispering about how they couldn't believe how well he talked now...Literally when my sister got him all he did was make noises, SCREAM AND CRY!!! 
Waiting for it all to get started!!!
He was so excited, he knew EVERYONE was there FOR HIM and he was TRYING to say hi to EVERYONE!!! AHAHAAA!!!
Heeeeeeeeeey! LOOK AT ME!!! I'm soooooooo CUUUUUTE ANNNNND HANDSOME AND I KNOW IT!!!!!!!!
Annnnnnnnnd we all rose when the judge walked in...
T being sworn in...
Odin getting bored during his adoption!!!
Still looking at EVERYONE!!!
Annnnnnnnnnnnnd HE'S ADOPTED!!!
Officially and legally, ODIN DAVID GINTY!!!
T and my dad!
Odin was outta these pics cuz he was OFF to talk to EVERYONE at this point!!! LOL
The lawyer, Duncan Rose, that really fought LOOOOOONG ANNNNND HARD for Odin to be adopted by T! God definitely used him in this process...He was also quite funny at times too...LOL
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With Pastor and Sister Abbott!!!!

The WHOLE GINTY KLAN!!!!!
HOPEFULLY, more Ginty's to come in the future!!!
ANNNNNNNNNND
OUR LITTLE MAN!!!!
Celebrating at Cracker Barrel!!!


My sister chose the middle name DAVID for Odin because his middle name given by his bio parents was Atom, as in AFTER THE ATOM bomb...yeah, he was born with drugs in his system... his first name was Odin after a mythological god. She started claiming the scripture in 1 Samuel, " And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands." So she made his middle name after David in the Bible to represent that there is a God that is BIGGER than any false god's of this world OR THE ATOM BOMB! It's also after our Pastor Abbott and our Bishop Abbott, they're first name's are both David. So overall it was just the perfect fit ANNNNNND God really did fight this battle!!! 
Adoption party is TONIGHT!!!
Pics of that NEXT FRIDAY!!! 

♥Mary Frances :)

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

What the Italians did for the Ethiopians...

"Did you know???..."
Soooooooo IF YOUR ITALIAN and you ever happen to be BEST FRIENDS WITH AN ETHIOPIAN, you'll find out these RANDOM bits of trivia about your Italian Heritage, that you never really cared to know before. 
Liiiiiiiiike for example, your just going about your day, minding your own business, being proud of your Italian heritage, and you hear, "YOU GUYS TRIED TO COLONIZE US!!!" Oh ummm...We did??? "Tried, you guys, TRIED to colonize us, but did NOT succeed!"
Yes, it's TRUE, according to WIKIPEDIA, I am ashamed to say, that us Italians, DID indeed TRY to colonize the Ethiopians. " in 1896, Ethiopia defeated the Italian colonial army in the Battle of Adwa. This victory signaled the decline of European colonialism in Black Africa." Ethiopia is the ONLY African country that has NEVER been colonized. 
"...Weeeeeeeeeeelllll NOW YOU DO, annnnnnnnnd don't you FORGET IT!!!" (AIO BTV quote;)
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Then she goes on to tell me that the Italian invasion is the reason WHY Italian food is actually quite well known in Ethiopia. Plus, many of the Italians stayed and married amongst the Ethiopian people and there are actually quite a lot of Ethiopian-Italians. Also, many Ethiopians, her mom included, know how to make Italian food, sometimes made as separate dishes and sometimes integrated in with Ethiopian spices and dishes. Once again, according to WIKIPEDIA, it's called Italian Eritrean Cuisine. 
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I'm like, sooooooo...
we didn't colonize them,
BUUUUUUUUUUT,
We DID teach
them how WE cook!!!
That's an Italian for you!!!
Liiiiiiike,(Get ready for my amazing rendition of an Italian accent...bahahaaaa)OH, you don't-a want-a us to-a take-a over your-a country, eh?! Weeeeeelllll-a, how about-a some-a lasagna instead-a, EH?! AHAHAHAHAAAA!!! 
♥Mary Frances :)

Monday, May 21, 2018

It's NOT about THE GIFT!!!

One morning, I woke up with one thought rolling over and over through my mind, It's NOT about THE GIFT, its about THE GIVER of the gift!!! I just couldn't get the thought out of my mind as I started my day...
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 Its NOT  ABOUT THE GIFT!!! Think about it: When a girl bakes a guy cookies, she's REALLY NOT wanting him to focus on THE COOKIES! Yes, she wants him to enjoy them, buuuuuut WHAT she is really wanting, is to see his eyes fill with admiration for her. She wants him to APPRECIATE HER for doing this for him. What she IS wanting is for him to think, MAAAAAN that girrrrrl is one GOOOOOOOD baker! What she is REALLY hoping for, is that he'll think, WOW, I sure would like to have a girl like this in MY LIFE!!! 

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies
She doesn't want to give him the cookies and then he sits there, and admires the cookies. Liiiiiiiiike, Wow Cookies, you sure are GOOOOOD!!! I'm glad I have you cookies! Mmmmm....chocolate chip cookies, you really know how to hit the spot in my stomach! Thank you chocolate chip cookies for just being cookies annnnnd furthermore for just being mine...HOW do you think a girl would feel if a guy she liked responded that way to her cookies???
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 Do you think she would like it if he admired and enjoyed the cookies, buuuuuuuuuut NEVERRR focused  on HER, the baker, the creator, the GIVER of the cookies, buuuuut just the cookies?? NO, I speak for all girls that can cook or bake at this very moment, NO SHE WOULD NOT LIKE IT!!!
If a guy responded that way she would feel disapointed, she would feel let down, perhaps even SAD, because, its REALLY NOT about THE COOKIES, its about her, THE GIVER of the cookies!!!

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Now lets apply this to ourselves spiritually. So often it seems that GOD will give us a gift, he'll give us a talent and we get soooooo FOCUSED on our ability that God has bestowed upon us, that we FORGET what its REALLY all about!!! Its REALLY all about HIM!!! Its really all about GOD, THE GIVER of our gift! How do you think God feels if he gives us an ability and all we can seem to focus on is our gift. Ooooo God gave me this gift to write, but all I can do is focus on my gift. God didn't give my an ability to write to bring focus to myself, when I write a story, a testimony, a devotional, the purpose is NOT to bring attention to ME!!! He gave me this gift to GLORIFY HIM!!! Its just another way, another avenue, for God to use, to turn hearts towards him!!! Its NOT about ME, its all about HIM!!!

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The moment a guy gives a girl a gift and she starts paying more attention to the gift, then to him, it's a FAILURE!!!  He didn't buy you that expensive tablet so that you could spend all your time communicating with other people, he bought it for you so you could communicate with him!!!! You stay so focused on the gift and NOT him and he is going to wish he had NEVERRRR even gotten it for you. 

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It applies to us the SAME way!!! You get so busy, so focused on the gift, on your talent on your ability that you don't even have time to spend with the one that gave it to you. Whatever your talent is, God wants it to draw you CLOSER to Him, NOT away from him. He says, Mary I gave you an ability to write, I want you to seek ME about what you should write about. I want YOU to talk to ME about this gift that I have given to you. Whatever, it is that God has given you, singing, speaking, decorating, God wants you to talk to HIM about it!

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The biggest mistake we can make is when we forget that our gift is all about God. Lucifer, AKA: the devil, was originally the highest most beautiful, most talented angel, HOWEVER, he began to focus on HIMSELF and NOT his creator. The Bible says, "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit". (Isaiah 14:12-13)

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Lucifer's problem was the "I" problem!!! He said, I, I, I!!! Or ME, ME, ME!!! And God cast him DOWN!!! Down, down, DOWN!!! I personally remember a time in my own life when I wrote something and most of the credit went to another person. I KNEW what had been MY writing, MY ability, MY talent, MY inspiration, MY work,  and it was starting to really bother me. The credit going to another person wasn't intentionally or on purpose, it just happened that way and I believe that's because God was trying to teach me something. He reminded me of the moment he had even given me the thought and how that it had all come together and when he showed me the lives that were being touched, I realized that it REALLY didn't matter WHO got credit, because it wasn't really ABOUT ME!!! God showed me, that EVEN tho I may not have gotten credit, He STILL used ME, to turn hearts TOWARD HIM!!! I realized that it didn't matter if I got the credit, BECAUSE IT REALLY WASN'T ABOUT ME!!! It was about HIM!!!


You better be careful about remembering where your gift came from and WHY you have it!!! The moment you begin to forget, IF God can NOT humble you, He will cast you down like he did with Lucifer. You have to remember: He didn't give you a music ability for everyone's eyes to focus on YOU, he did it so that you could use it help usher in the presence of God in a service. When you sing, its to GLORIFY HIM! God didn't bless you with a car to just show it off and race your friends, he gave it to you to get to CHURCH and to bring people with you too!!! If you can make people laugh its so that people can see the joy of the Lord flowing forth from your heart! When you speak, its to turn eyes toward HIM!!! Its all about HIM!!!

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 When a guy gives a girl a gift, he wants her to be looking at him, NOT the gift! As you unwrapped that gift from him, he was WAITING to hear that squeal of delight as you saw what he got for you and after you squealed, he was waiting for your eyes to turn their focus on him. He was HOPING to see you look at him in AW!!! WOW! you got this FOR ME???Its complete music to his ears as he hears you say, THANK YOU!!! You are THE BEST boyfriend/fiance/husband in the whole entire world! annnnnd I'm the most blessed girl on the face of this earth to have you in my life!!! YUP, thats what he's wanting to hear!!! Its NOT about the gift, its about THE GIVER of the gift!!!! 

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God is THE SAME WAY!!! Remember we were made in HIS image, in HIS likeness...When he gives us something, when he blesses us, its because he wants to see us turn our focus to Him, to see us in AW of HIM!!! WOW GOD!!! You gave this to ME??? You did this for ME God??? He longs to hear us say, OH your sooooo GOOOD to me God!!! To think, that YOU God, the creator of this universe, would take the time to think, to care about me, to give me this gift???? Thats AMAZING!!!  Oh yes thats what God wants from us!!! Our undivided attention, our complete admiration, adoration and devotion!!! Whatever it is that you have, no matter how great or how small, REMEMBER...

Keep your eyes on the giver of the gift, 
blue-present

NOT THE GIFT!
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, 
and cometh down from the Father of lights..."
(James 1:17)

♥Mary Frances :)

Thursday, May 17, 2018

Which RECIPE???

 Soooooooooo I was making my German Chocolate Cake about monthish or so ago for my sis in laws birthday, buuuuuuuuuuuuut, I hadn't made one in year or so, so when I was going through my cook book looking for the recipe, I realized that I ACTUALLY had several different recipes for German Chocolate cake in my book that I had printed out. 
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I was like, OH GREAT, how am I supposed to remember WHICH one is my tried and true, GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE  RECIPE???
Soooooooooo i'm like look at all three recipes, trying to compare ingredients, directions and REMEMBER, when all of the sudden I see something that makes it VERY CLEAR which recipe is THE ONE!!! 
It would HAVE TO BE THE WITH THE...
CHOCOLATE SMUDEGES
ALL OVER IT!!!!!!!!!
I'm telling you guys, that's the key to knowing which recipe is a GOOD ONE, look for the one with smudges, stains, grease, saliva, and CRUMBS ALL OVER IT!!!! (Maybe even BITE MARKS;)
♥Mary Frances :)