Time in the Word – and Basketball

Time in the Word this morning – and it was a little struggle because I couldn’t get my mind off of game 7. 🏀 So I ended up praying that the Golden State Warriors will have a sweet home victory against the Cavaliers in spite of Lebron being – Lebron. 😬
King David defeated Goliath (1 Samuel 17), and Abraham believed the Lord (Genesis 15:6)

The latter verse is actually what my time in the Word is about on this beautiful Saturday morning while I sent my husband to wash the cars – and it also happens to be the memory verse for my Sunday School Kids last week. Oh, and I have a really sweet Sunday School blooper/story that I have been wanting to write about and I will tell you the best ever excuse from not being able to write it yet – NO TIME. 😛
But back to the Word…” Abraham believed the Lord…” Just when I thought we are on the right track that God had somehow, all of a sudden, allowed some more of life’s stop signs, and detours, and changes, and more changes redirecting your footsteps to something that you do not and cannot know yet. And the only word left to speak for me from the past week was – wow. And so today, while preparing the rocks we collected from the river bank for our Sunday School Kids’ Fathers’ day craft for tomorrow – the lesson asked me to review our memory verse. I read it aloud more than once, and then another, and it felt like the words came off of the handout and danced in a wave kind of motion right in front of my very eyes. I felt comforted. I had tears. I felt peace. 😌Peace that comes from believing that God knows what He is doing – and that whatever He does is perfect. 

Abraham obeyed God because he believed in Him. And God blessed him in the end by giving him his son back. Obedience brings blessings. 👍🏼 I have seen this so many times. And still sometimes, I tend to forget🤔. But thankful this morning, for a timely reminder through Abraham’s obedience and faith. 😌💖
Go Warriors! I told you, can’t get it off still – and can’t wait till game 7 is over. No more overthinking please. Happy weekend y’all! 😘

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Aunt Pat

Aunt Pat! 😄

Gino’s aunt, Aunt Pat, is a happy aunt😄. We took her out earlier today to eat and to just spend time with her on this beautiful day. She has been forgetting things too quickly lately. She forgets my name and Gino’s like every 3-5 minutes and we had to re-introduce our names and tell her who we are, again and again – yes, every 5 minutes or so. Whenever she realizes who we are, her face lights up in excitement and says, “Oh yeah, Gino and Mona! How are you guys? It’s so nice to see you. It’s been what, 2-3 years”? We had to remind her we were just with her yesterday, and then she realizes and says, “Oh yes of course, I did not forget that”! 😉
And then she calls us different names again, so we had to start over again and kind of like do an F5 key or click the restart button😌. That is pretty much how we spent the whole 2 hours that we were with her. And I loved it the whole time💖. Because I love beginnings. I love introductions. I love F5’s and restarts. She reminds me to never lose joy and passion in knowing or discovering something new and to not be afraid to start over again 😌💖. With the whole Franco family grieving for the loss of uncle Frank, her cluelessness deviates us a little bit from such an overwhelming sadness to a hope for new beginnings. 😌💞
She is precious and we love her and we are praying that even when she forgets our names – she will always know in her heart, what her mind can not remind her, that she is precious and that we love her. When we took her back to the home, she told us we are her family and that she will never forget us. I just nodded – because I will cry if I try to say something and ruin the beautiful time we just shared😌. And I watched her and my husband held hands together as they walk away. 💖

Uncle Frank

We were sitting at a dear friend’s wake last Wednesday evening when we learned that Gino’s uncle, uncle Frank, passed away. Our already grieving hearts turned even heavier to receive such news. I froze for a minute after my sister-in-law and I talked over the phone about it. Interestingly, my husband was just telling me Monday to not make any plans this Saturday because we are going to spend time with him in the hospital where he was confined. He planned to play more of uncle Frank’s favorite music and just grab some lunch around the hospital area. 

Uncle Frank holds a special place in our hearts. Him and aunt Connie. They were one of Gino’s family who welcomed me with open arms and made me feel so at home. They have very pleasant personalities and there is never a dull moment with them. I also appreciate how they were there for Gino when he got sick last year to help In taking him to his Doctors’ appointments. They were almost like 2nd parents to Gino. 
Uncle Frank also served in the US Navy and was stationed in the Philippines in the 1960’s . He has stories about my country more than I do! And I love that he regarded me like his own – almost making me feel and claim like I am his long lost daughter 😌. 💖 I will never forget him and his gentle countenance and so this is my loss too. When Gino briefly shared the gospel to him last Saturday and when asked if he wanted to invite Jesus in his heart – he said yes. Gino prayed with him which makes it hard to feel too sad because we know he is with Jesus now. But its still a loss and it hurts to say goodbye – because he was a good man and we will greatly miss him. 😌💖