Suzanne Griffin

Have you heard this expression? I don't remember where my kids heard it but it's great. A Popcorn Prayer is a prayer that just pops to mind and you explode it up to God. Someone comes to mind, "God give them peace through this ordeal." Or when conflicts arise, "God please give me wisdom with this child." In Psalms 70 David starts with "MAKE HASTE O GOD!" This Psalm is short and to the point. David was in need and didn't have time to say much. In Matthew 14:30 Peter cries out the shortest prayer in the Bible, "Lord save me!" And Jesus immediately reached out a hand and saved him. There are several prayers in the Bible that teach us how to pray and why. The prayer of Jabez , The Lord's Prayer, A.C.T.S. and several of these little Popcorn Prayers. So if a need arises quickly know that you can send it on just a quickly, it doesn't always have to be formal, it just always has to be heartfelt.

Brian is a constant source of entertainment for us.When we were at my folks for the 4 th of the July, this kid wore me out. My mom had given him a can of red spray paint to paint a chair outside. Red looks like blood so since it was the 4 th , and his friend Manix was over, he sprayed Manix's tummy to look like they got hurt. These two boys together were just a stew of trouble waiting to be discovered. Brian would hand Manix a firecracker and light it and Manix would throw it. Then the other boys uncle came and picked them up and said he heard something in the back seat and turned around in time to catch Manix and Brian trying to light a fire cracker in the back seat of the pickup. They were going to through it out the window. Thank you LORD for protecting those two. One day my dad watched Brian for me, for just a little while for me to run to the store. When I got home my dad asked, "Did you get any green paint?" I told him, "No. Was I suppose to?" Then i...

All the crazy dreams I had last night might be contributed to the fact that I stayed up til almost 2am then was up again with the little man at 4am and spent the rest of the night in the recliner. Allen left early this morning so when I awoke confused by the sound of a lawn mower in our yard, I assumed our neighbors were fed up with our lack of mowing skills. But as my eyes focused I glanced out the window and then to the clock. It was 8:47am. It was not our neighbors, but rather a friend. A blessing. Our lawn mower has been broke for a couple of weeks, more like several, and Allen without complaining has been weed eating the entire yard. Right before I was awoken, in my dream, I was having a discussion with some lady that was being extremely rude (don't know where this came from ) but I said, "We are Christians." And to my surprise to replied, "So am I." I remember feeling angered and told her that just believing in God and being a Christian, I believe, are 2 d...

With all the recent tabloids and news coverage of Michael Jackson, we watched part of a documentary on him recently. We saw part of the funeral and discussed about him. I'll save my soapbox and our devotions with the kids over this until later. But Gabby asked, "How did he go from being a black man to a white woman?"

"Would you rather be pasty white and thin, or chunky and tan?" Was the question proposed. Um, what if you are neither combination but rather a mix of the two less desirable? Pasty white and chunky. That's me. So does that mean I'm not beautiful? Guess it depends on who is doing the judging. I'm speaking tomorrow night for the MUMS ministry and finding myself confused over wording and decided to type it out here. I'm a much better writer than speaker. They should have wrote on the flier, "Suzanne is speaking, come at your own risk." But oh no, there is a nice little resume sorts of my past events. Oh the pressure is on. This is the 1st meeting of the year. I pray that I set a fun tone for the meetings for the rest of the year rather than me being the only one there from now on. I also pray that beyond my own fears of making a fool or nuisance out of myself that I'll keep the goal in mind before me and that the women that come will leave changed in...

Doing a little shameless advertising here. I have taken the 1st 2 courses of the Wilton Cake Decorating Classes at Hobby Lobby. I'm very glad I got this opportunity. I have really enjoyed myself. I took the classes because I have quite a few cakes to make over the course of time with 4 kids and I love the flavor of homemade cakes. I'm looking forward to starting course 3 in September. Since this is something that I seem to be somewhat OK at and thoroughly enjoy, I thought I would throw it out there that I am open for business, unofficially of course. This is for friends and family and just word of mouth recommendations . I DO NOT have a kitchen license and really do not know the rules and regulations for this yet. Here are some pictures of some of my cakes and my new little venture: Sugar and Spice

I know I pick on Allen quite a bit, but trust me when I say he can take it and it's all in good spirit. We have always had fun in the bantering back and forth between us. He is such a good man in heart. Yesterday in the busyiness of the day I forgot to order a quarter panel glass for a vehicle. I hadn't made this mistake yet. I really couldn't believe I did it. It was a big deal with the order to begin with. The family called, it was their primary vehicle, he was a pastor, we were trying to be accommodating to get it done today so Allen was even going to go do the work at 7am. It ended up being an insurance job and I had all the paperwork in order but at 7 o'clock last night I realized that there would be no panel showing up on the truck last night. I was sick. I felt like I had let the family down, they could have went somewhere else and gotten it done today. But Allen without criticizing or even a hint of condemnation, spoke with our glass driver at midnight and ha...

Makensie : Mom, what's the other name for Bigfoot that sounds like a fruit? Me: A Sasquatch? Makensie : Ya. ------------------------------- Brian and his friend were having a serious conversation Brian: When I grow up I'm going to be Batman. Matthew: What?! Batman isn't real! Brian: Oh. So what are you going to be? Matthew: A Pirate. ------------------------------------ A couple of weeks ago I was driving by the Fayetteville Mall. We don't go to the mall, not because we are boycotting or anything, it just doesn't happen. I said, "There's the Mall." I was looking out the left window and I heard the girls in the back, "oh...clothes...shoes...purses...yeah, the MALL" and as I looked into the rear view mirror, I realized they were gazing out the right window oogling the large dentist office. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gabby: Some day if I ever have to live in a van... ------------------------------...

I have not written for a while. Just from lack of time and trying to organize my thoughts. I have a lot to share, but couldn't figure out how to say it without it sounding like a " look at me " post. So I'll start with the denial from the publication. Although they were very kind and encouraging, this one is not a go. I am filling the Elementary Coordinator for the next two years, unless I get impeached before then, for our homeschool group. I'm really enjoying this so far. I like event planning. When I worked at the state headquarters for Kansas Farm Bureau, it was one event after the other. Then when I worked for LaZBoy it was a lot of the same. This stuff comes easily for me. People. Get togethers. Parties. It is good timing. I will have 3 in elementary this year. We have 30 new families that joined CHESS this year. I am guessing we will have around 120 families total, maybe more. My heart is to welcome these new families in and hopefully for t...