It's been a long hard road

Well, I doubt that anyone even missed me but I have been gone for a while. Even if you didn't miss me you can look at the date of the last post and see it has been almost 2 years since I have posted on my blog. It has been a rough 2 years for me and I guess I should have been blogging through the whole thing, but I didn't. Let me try to catch you up on a few things....

My husband left me and our 2 children. He had been acting funny and I tried and tried to work things out with him, but on December 31, 2014 he left and did not come back. I found out in March or April that he had in fact been cheating on me. He was 44 at the time and she was 22....yes, you read that right! He had been showing all the signs of a mid-life crisis so it makes sense. I can see his "thrill" of a much younger woman. What I cannot seem to grasp is....WHAT IN THE WORLD DOES SHE WANT WITH AN OLD MAN?!?!? Anyway, I am trying to work past the bitterness so I will move on from that.

What hurts more than him cheating on me is the fact that he has not had much to do with our kids since he left. On a few occasions I tried calling him because our son needed him. I took our son to the hospital, to the doctor because he wanted to kill himself. All he really needed was his dad but his dad was not there. On April 22nd our son was in a bad wreck. I called his dad 3 times and he would not answer the phone. His son could have died and he would not have known because he did not want to talk to me. Sad, huh! Moving on....

Our daughter, who just turned 16 on April 9th, is pregnant. I am sad that she is going to miss out on being a "kid" but I can't say that I am not excited about being a grandma!

I've written about these things with my kids because I truly believe that these things happened because of the separation of their dad and me. They both went looking some way to fill the void that he left them with. I think I have been a good mom....at least I have tried my best to the best mom I can.  I think it is important for dads to be a part of their children's' lives. I LOVE the movie "Courageous". At the beginning of the movie the sheriff stands in front of his deputies and gives some statistics.......

As the deputy sheriffs finish their morning briefing in Sherwood Pictures’ new film Courageous, the sheriff announces one last item.
I received an email, he tells them, and I want you to know about it. The violent gang members, run-aways, high school dropouts, and teens in prison—the sorts of kids who get into trouble with the law—have something in common: “Most of them are from fatherless homes.”
“When a father is absent,” he goes on, “kids are five times more likely to commit suicide or use drugs. They’re twenty times more likely to wind up in prison. So tonight after you clock out,” he adds, “go home and love your families.”

If you have not seen the movie, then you have GOT to watch it!! It is awesome. What is sad, is my ex watched the movie with us AND he agreed with the statistics! See, I didn't mention that HE is a deputy sheriff! So he deals with kids that have to grow up without a dad. The statistics are there and they are true! So if you are a man reading this, and you have kids, please be a dad to them.  It is not about any money that you spend on them, but it is all about time that you spend with them. They need it!

I will be posting more. In fact, I have a couple of books I will be reviewing and I will have some giveaways too. And did I mention I will be a grandma! So of course I will be posting some updates on that as well.

Allstate's Good Hands for the Good Life

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Allstate for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

You know how Allstate has the slogan "You're in good hands with Allstate"? Well, they also want to remind everyone about the Allstate Good Life.

I just turned 36 on the 24th of May. I know a lot of people will say that is very young, while other, like my children, will tell me that I am old. For me, I am glad that I have made it to see another year. Over the years I have seen many of my friends die at young very young ages. My best friend was killed in a car wreck at the age of 25, leaving behind 2 small children.

So eleven years later, as I turn 36, I think about how blessed I am to have been here for these 36 years. I have been married for 15 1/2 years, I have a step-daughter and son-in-law, a son that is 14 and a daughter that is 13.  My family does not always get along, but we are family and we love each other.

After my best friend died, I really learned how to appreciate the small things in life. I don't live in a nasty house, but I don't stress if it is not perfect. I enjoy the good times with my family. I work on making memories and not worries.  Now, that does not mean that we are always having fun; I do still have a full time job that I work, the kids go to school, my husband is a deputy sheriff, and I do still have the responsibilities of a household. But I try to not take my time with my family for granted.

Recently, my son went down to the river with a friend of his. They had been going down there for a while with no problems, but this time it had rained really hard for several days.  I told my son to be home no later than 8:00 - he has a habit of being "on the way home" at  the time I want him home. So at 8:30 I was really mad. Especially considering the fact that I called his phone, I texted him and he did not answer anything. The river is about a mile from my house, so I jumped in my van and took off. Thankfully, my husband installed the Life360 app on all of our phones - it is an app that will tell you where someone is. So when I get to the river I look on the Life360 map and go to the area that it shows he is at. I did not see him, but saw a truck with a man in it. Needless to say I wanted to ask the man if he had seen my son but I was afraid, so I turned and walked off. I went down towards the bridge and as I looked into the river a panic came over me. The current was so strong in the river that I was really afraid something had happened to my son. Now, my husband is a deputy sheriff but this particular week he was in class an hour and a half away...but thankfully I still have "friends" on the Sheriff's Department. I called a friend and she gave me her husband's number - he is on the Sheriff's Dept but I did not have his number. I was almost hyperventilating while I talked to both of them so they came down to help me find my son. I almost called 911 but I knew they would think I was crazy because he is a 14 year old boy that was only 30 minutes late getting home. During all this time all I could do was cry and pray & pray and cry. It was getting dark and the darker it got the more scared I got.

Let me go a little bit. It was a Wednesday night and we had been in revival all week. I was so extremely tired on Wednesday that I decided to stay home Wednesday night from church. The last time I was tired and "skipped" church on a Wednesday night, which was in January, my son (yes the same one) broke his foot and wound up in the hospital. I am pretty sure God is trying to tell me something.

Well, we looked and I was just about to call 911 when I look up and see this bicycle coming towards me. At first I thought it was the other boy but I saw that it was my son - the time was 9:15 p.m. After yelling at him that he was grounded for the rest of his life, I fell to the ground and cried and thanked God for bringing my son back to me. He told us that him and his friend went into the woods and could not find their way out. That is understandable but my question was "Where is your cell phone?" He had left it - right where we were looking for him - because he didn't want it to get wet. I wanted to kill him but I was so glad that he was alive that I couldn't even be mad any more.

I don't wish that feeling on anyone ever, but I tell you that something happening like that will cause more appreciation for your children. I know my son was upset after he saw that I was really afraid that he was dead somewhere in the river. He has told me more than ever that he loves me and I tell him.

I am thankful everyday that God gave me my children and I do not ever want to take for granted that I think I will always have them. I want to make the best of each and every day and enjoy my family as long as I can. I also found out just this weekend that I am going to be a grandma. I am so excited!! Ok, if you were paying attention you know that I just turned 36...I have a step-daughter and son in law that are making me a grandma! I plan to celebrate the Good Life that God has given me and I hope that you will do the same thing.

Do you have any good life stories to share? Please share in the comments section below.

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Ring the Bell - DVD review/giveaway

"Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

 

About Ring the Bell:Ring The Bell shares the story of a slick, big city sports agent Rob Decker who seems to have it all. But on his latest mission to sign a high school baseball superstar, Rob becomes stranded in a small town where the simplicity of life—and the faith of the people—stand in stark contrast to his own fast-paced, win-at-all-costs mindset. Torn between these two worlds, will Rob have the courage to let faith transform his life? This heartwarming story of redemption is sure to entertain and inspire the whole family.

Ring The Bell features a host of well-known Christian music artists, such as Mark Hall along with his band Casting Crowns, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Matthew West, all who play a role in this inspirational drama. Several former and current Major League Baseball all-stars are also featured in the film: ESPN analysts John Kruk and Rick Sutcliffe (a former Cy Young Award winner), along with Ben Zobrist.
This family-friendly movie was produced by Mark Miller, Beach Street Records' founder and Casting Crowns’ producer. Miller, who is also the lead singer and founder of country music group Sawyer Brown, co-wrote the script with Thomas Weber and Weber directed the production. 

My Thoughts:
This is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time! In fact, this movie was chosen as our family movie night movie at church and everyone said it was the best movie we have ever watched at church. At the end of the movie I was asking another lady why they started cutting onions during the movie, as we both began to wipe our eyes.

We always have to humble ourselves before God can work in our lives. And sometimes He will allow us to be put into a situation that will cause us to become humble. The person that has everything, has no reason to feel like he needs God. As my pastor has said before, If we are never sick we will not know that God can heal us.

I will not give away this movie because I truly feel that anyone that watches it will be blessed! So I am going to go ahead with the giveaway. If you would like to win your own copy of Ring the Bell, then enter through the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

fysiko - review

Disclaimer: I received a free sample of fysiko and will be compensated for my review. All opinions are 100% mine.

Fysiko Eyelash Growth Serum is great product for anyone who is looking to enhance quantity and length of eyelashes and eyebrows, fysiko lashes.

I will be trying this product out for 16 weeks and will be doing updates throughout that time. Here are my before pictures...

 

 

 As you can see, I have blonde hair so it is hard to see my eyelashes. I am hoping that with the fysiko, I can make my eyelashes look bold and beautiful! Stay tuned to my updates and final review and in the meantime check out http://fysikolashes.com.

This is Our Time - movie review/giveaway

 



About This Is Our Time

The movie tells the interwoven stories of Luke (T.J. Dalrymple) and Alé (Erin Bethea), who marry right after school and move to India to serve as missionaries for Embrace A Village, a ministry that cares for those afflicted with leprosy and their families; aspiring financier Catherine (Kate Cobb), who joins a prestigious financial institution determined to make an impact on corporate America; Ryder (Matthew Florida), who lands an impressive job in social media and can’t wait to use the powerful medium for a greater good; and Ethan (Shawn-Caulin Young,) seemingly the odd man out, who struggles to find his God-given-purpose and feels sidelined by God.

“What they all come to learn is that it never really was their time,” Arnold said. “It always was, always is, God’s time.”

 

My Thoughts

There are times in our lives when we feel like we have everything worked out. We know exactly what we need to do, where we need to go, and we just know that we have our life worked out. But then, something happens....

 

There is a country song that says "Some times I thank God for unanswered prayers." There are times we can look back on those situations that we thought we had all planned out, and we can say Thank God things turned out differently. We have all dated someone that we thought was "the one", but when we get married to the "Real One", we look back and realize God had someone better in mind. It is hard when we are in those situations - the break-up from the love of our life that we thought we were gonna marry - but as we look back we realize God's plan.

 

That is what is going on in this movie. This group of friends has graduated from college, and for the most part they "know" what they are going to do. As they set out on their journeys, they soon find out that their plans are not always what God has planned.

 

This is a great movie for anyone that is struggling with trying to find out what calling God has on their life.  "We often think of God's calling as something for us to do, but, in reality, God's calling is something for us to be!"

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

"Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Dailybreak

Dailybreak: I tried Dailybreak.com through Smiley360! You can join the fun and win rewards at http://bit.ly/O3cxhb #Dailybreakmission

Take a break and play a game...everyone needs break!

Disclaimer: Ireceived a free sample courtesy of Smiley360.