Truisms about Men and Women

I don't do this very often, but ...

A friend sent me this via email. I am not sure of the original source.


TRUISMS about MEN AND WOMEN and our differences to ponder:

BATHROOMS
A man has six items in his bathroom: a toothbrush, comb, shaving cream,
razor, a bar of soap, and a towel from the Holiday Inn.
The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 337. A man
would not be able to identify most of these items.

CATS
Women love cats.
Men say they love cats, but when women aren't looking, men kick cats.

FUTURE
A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.

MONEY
A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he wants.
A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't want.

MARRIAGE
A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.
A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change but she does.

ARGUMENTS
A woman has the last word in any argument.
Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEKEND
Any married man should forget his mistakes. There's no use in two people
remembering the same thing.

Just someone else's thoughts,

Frank

Merry Christmas from the Sansone family

Merry Christmas from the Sansone family,

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:11)

With all of the great things of which Christmas reminds us, the greatest would have to be the reminder that God sent His Son to be our Savior. I recently read a quote that helped to capture the importance of this truth.

If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator;
If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist;
If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist;
If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer;
But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior.

The year 2008 has been a busy year for the Sansone family. We have all grown a little older and have started some new adventures and we are thankful to God for His working in us and through us and for our family and friends who support us, pray for us, and love us.

One of the new adventures we are experiencing this year is the homeschooling of the Josiah and Christina. Having the three kids at home all the time is a blessing and a challenge. Josiah and Chrissy like homeschooling, but also miss being around their friends at school. We are using the Hard Drive/DVDs from BJU Press for the homeschooling, so the teaching load is not bad, just trying to keep everyone on schedule - especially with Missy still working part-time at PRMC.

We were able to enjoy some special times this year. In August, Christina was baptized by her daddy at a special baptism service that we held in a church that we borrowed for the service. We also enjoyed an extended visit by Grandma Cheek for a few weeks in August. It was great to have Frank's mom here for his birthday this year and it worked out to have her visit extended a little bit so that she could still be here for Christina's baptism. We also enjoyed some visits to Assateague Island to see the wild horses roaming the island and to Ocean City to spend some time on the boardwalk. Missy and the children made a couple of extended visits to Ohio, including Rebekah staying for almost a month with Mom Mom and Grandpa Lewis and Great-Grandma Marken. (While Mommy, Josiah and Chrissy were with her for part of the time, Daddy missed her greatly.)

Part of the reason Rebekah was in Ohio for so long was that the rest of the family was able to go to The Wilds Christian Camp in North Carolina for a week. It had been a few years since we have had the opportunity to go down there. This year, we had enough teens and juniors to justify a trip as a church and traveled down for a great week.

We also were able to enjoy a great week at Tri-State Bible Camp for the Annual Conference of the FFBC. We always love the week of Annual Conference. The opportunity to see some friends and fellow-laborers in ministry is one that we look forward to each year.

As we celebrated the birth of our Savior, we rejoice in God's goodness to us for another year and look forward to what God is going to do in and through us in the next year. We pray that this year and this season has been a time of blessing and reflection upon the King of Kings. May God grant you a prosperous new year, as well.

In Christ,


Frank and Missy Sansone
Josiah, Christina, and Rebekah

My Thoughts on a Glorious Concert

My family and I recently enjoyed a great concert with the Bob Jones University Symphonic Band. I wrote this post the next day, but I have not had the right computer connected to the internet since then to post this article.

Recently, on a Tuesday night, my family and I had the privilege of attending a concert by the Bob Jones University Symphonic Band at Faith Baptist Church in Salisbury. We had a great time as we were able to enjoy the majestic sounds of the band as they played such great numbers as Crown Him with Many Crowns, Like a River Glorious, How Great Thou Art, and The King of Love My Shepherd Is. The music was excellent and filled the auditorium. It was also neat at some points to be able to sing with the symphonic band, although the nature of the band in the setting was such that you could sing as loud as you desired and no one was probably going to hear you (a good thing for those surrounding me.)

In addition to the great music, conductor Dan Turner did an excellent job of both keeping the evening very balanced and interesting. In the early beginning section, the music featured a selection of patriotic numbers such as This is My Country and God Bless America. During this time, Dr. Turner kept things light-hearted as he took some time to help educate the listeners by going through and introducing all the different instruments and having the band members demonstrate the various instruments. The whole presentation of the various instruments was done in such a way that it was enjoyable - tidbits were included, the few seconds of each instrument playing were generally of things funny and/or familiar (the Flintstones, Mario, etc.). The tidbits about the instruments were also a mix of interest and humor. For instance, he explained the way that a clarinet makes its sound and talked about the reed that is used, which is only grown in a place in France. He also talked about the fact that if you stretched out the French Horn (I think) it would be 18 feet long - although he commented on it with humor to this effect: "If you were to take the French Horn and connect it to the bus and drive the bus so that it stretched out the instrument, that would probably be a good thing - and it would reach about 18 feet." (Not an exact quote, but close.)

When the group moved towards the sacred numbers, an appropriate change in tone took place and explanations regarding some of the truths of the messages of the songs were given. At times we were encouraged to read the words in the hymn book as the band played the song so that we could get a fuller effect of the message being played. It was very well done and very appropriately done.

My children liked it so much that my nine-year old daughter used her hard-earned money to buy a CD which she has played which she has regularly played as she went to bed since then -and they begged me to bring them back to the school the next day as the BJU Symphonic Band was going to give another concert for Faith Baptist Academy on Wednesday morning. I let them talk me into it and we went and the band played a completely different selection of music and did another wonderful job. They even introduced all of the instruments again, but even that varied in a lot of ways from the presentation the night before to keep up interest of those (like us) who were there for both concerts.

It was a great night and a great morning. Thank you, BJU for your willingness to send out a team like this to be a blessing and encouragement. Thank you, Faith Baptist Church, for you ability to and willingness to host such a group. We enjoyed it very much.

Just my thoughts,

Frank

Homeschooling

My wife and I have often thought about homeschooling, but have always "chickened out." Well, as the school year approaches, we are again thinking about homeschooling. We like the current school where our children attend, so it is not something against them, but we are thinking of making the switch this year.

We have a 6th grader, 4th grader, and a 4 year old. We are thinking of using the BJU Hard Drive Distance Learning option for this year, but are still thinking. I recognize that some hardcore homeschooling families will probably think this is a cop-out, but in our situation we are thinking this may be a way to see how we like educating them at home without overwhelming us. It looks Missy will still have to work some - even with not having the expense of Christian School - so I would be involved with this as well. (Of course, I would still like to be involved even if the Lord somehow provided in such a way that Missy did not have to work at all.)

Anyway, I am not looking for a big debate about homeschooling. I am aware of many positives and negatives from having worked with a number of homeschooling families over the years. I am more interested in hearing about the following things:

1. Is anyone familiar enough with the BJU Hard Drive system to offer some thoughts regarding it? (Also, we have heard that you can get a good deal by going to one of the "hotel meetings." The closest one to us is about three hours away - are the deals enough to make such a trip worth it?)

2. Any thoughts or advice for a family thinking of making the move in our situation?

3. One of the reasons we are considering this move is to give some more focused attention to one of our children who is struggling academically. In doing so, we are also trying to decide if it is a better option to have her stay in the grade she would be in if she stayed at the school and work extra with her to shore up the weak areas or if we should have her repeat the grade she just completed.

4. At Hardingville, we had a large church with a number of opportunities outside of school for the children to have interaction with others. I believe the homeschoolers at HBC who were involved with King's Kids and Youth Group got "the best of both worlds" in regards to time at home and interaction. Our little church does not yet have these options. Should this be a concern?

Anyway, I would love to hear some input.

Thanks,

Frank

Father's Day Cards banned in Scottish Schools

Since Father's Day has already past, this story may be a little outdated, but as I only saw the article recently, I could not comment on it any earlier :).

It seems as though a number of schools in Scotland banned the children from making cards for Father's Day.

The Telegraph reports:

Thousands of primary pupils were prevented from making Father's Day cards at school for fear of embarrassing classmates who live with single mothers and lesbians.

The politically correct policy was quietly adopted at schools "in the interests of sensitivity" over the growing number of lone-parent and same-sex households.

The Telegraph article is located here.

Another article about this is found here.

While I understand the desire to be sensitive to children, this seems to be a little overboard.

Just my thoughts,

Frank

Some Thoughts for Mothers

Kind of tired, but I thought I could put up these items that I found in relation to Mother's Day - bookmark them for next year.

I Corinthians 13 for Mothers (by Jim Fowler)

If I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in its place, but have not love, I am a housekeeper, not a homemaker.

If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorative achievements, but have not love, my children learn cleanliness, not godliness.

If I scream at my children for every infraction, and fault them for every mess they make, but have not love, my children become people-pleasers, not obedient children.

Love leaves the dust in search of a child’s laugh.

Love smiles at the tiny fingerprints on a newly cleaned window.

Love wipes away the tears before it wipes up the spilled milk.

Love picks up the child before it picks up the toys.

Love accepts the fact that I am the ever-present “mommy,” the taxi-driver to every childhood event, the counselor when my children fail or are hurt.

Love crawls with the baby, walks with the toddler, and runs with the child,
then stands aside to let the youth walk into adulthood.

Before I became a mother I took glory in my house of perfection.
Now I glory in God’s perfection of my child.

All the projections I had for my house and my children have faded away into insignificance, And what remain are the memories of my kids.

Now there abides in my home scratches on most of the furniture, dishes with missing place settings, and bedroom walls full of stickers, posters and markings,

But the greatest of all is the Love that permeates my relationships with my children.


A Special Breakfast

One Mother's Day morning, a mother was awaken by her two children who came into her room and ordered her to remain in bed and not to get up. The children then ran down the stairs to the kitchen and before long, the mother started to hear the "cling" and the "clang" of cooking utensils.

Thinking how nice this was, she lay in bed in anticipation of a special breakfast in bed from her two adorable children. The smell of bacon wafted up to her room and intensified her anticipation as she waited. And waited. And waited. And worried.

Finally, the children called her to come downstairs. She got up and went down to the kitchen only to find my two kids sitting at the table and finishing off a couple of plates of bacon and eggs.

"As a surprise for Mother's Day," one explained, "we decided to cook our own breakfast."

Just some other people's thoughts,

Frank

Some quick thoughts

I know it has been awhile since I have written on here. I am hoping for some upcoming articles on the National Leadership Conference and some comments on the 9 Marks E-Journal regarding "What Can We Learn from Fundamentalists?" and the surrounding discussion (if I plan this right, everything useful will have already been said and I can just link to it:) ). In the meantime, I did want to make a few quick comments.

1. As many of you are aware (especially if you read this post), this week was supposed to be a week of Special Meetings at Fellowship Baptist Church of Salisbury with Evangelist Mark Kittrell. Unfortunately, Mr. Kittrell's mom has experienced some serious medical issues and the Kittrell's needed to go to Florida to see her. Please pray for her and for the family as the next couple of weeks could be a very difficult time.

2. Moments with the Book is sponsoring a "Million Tract March", with the goal of spreading One Million Gospel tracts during the month of March - especially in the week leading up to Easter/Resurrection Sunday. In order to help accommodate that goal, they are offering some free tracts to those who go to their website and sign-up for them. Check them out at the Million Tract March.

3. Take a minute to read this from Andrew Naselli - Childlike Faith About Heaven. The article discusses the reaction of the classmates of a 5-year old girl who was tragically killed.

Just some quick thoughts for now,

Frank

I'm Back - and some questions for Fundamentalists

I know things have been a little quiet here. I am looking forward to the new year.

I had a great Christmas with my in-laws in Ohio, but I found their internet service to be somewhere between unreliable and nonexistant.

We did get a good chance to visit with some relatives and it was nice to see Mom Mom, Grandpa, and Great-Grandma, as well as Missy's Aunt Bev and Uncle Bob and Aunt Rosella and to see Mark and Keith and their families.

Josiah and I took advantage of the trip to Ohio to take a day and visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. It was a good trip and some good father-son time as we drove the 2 1/2 hours from the in-laws and visited the Hall of Fame. I had visited it once before, but my previous visit was with a non-football fan, so it was nice to be able to visit with my son. I will probably post a little more about that visit a little bit later.

I discovered that Fundamentalist uber-blogger Don Johnson has moved migrated over to his own domain (his new blog is called, An Oxgoad, eh? and has made an interesting post in which he asks some questions of Fundamentalists (based on some questions asked of some leaders in Evangelicalism by Touchstone magazine).

I will probably not have time to answer the questions until after the New Year, but I wanted to put these out here for others to think on as well - as Pastor Johnson has done.

How do you define “Fundamentalist” in a way that distinguishes Fundamentalists from other believing Christians? And has this definition changed over the last several years?
Has Fundamentalism matured since the 1950s, and if so in what ways?
Has Fundamentalism lost anything in the process of maturing (if it did)?
Are there any fundamental differences within the Fundamentalist movement today, and do you think they will deepen into permanent divisions, or even have already? How might they be healed?
What does your movement, speaking generally, fail to see that it ought to see?
What would you say to a Fundamentalist tempted to become Catholic or Orthodox?
What has Fundamentalist to offer the wider world that it will find nowhere else?
What else would you like to say?

Take some time and think about how you might answer these questions and then post about it (if you have a blog) and let me know about your post.

Don has already made a post in which he answers the questions - On the State of Fundamentalism .

Super Deacon and occassional blogger Andy Efting over at Unsearchable Riches has also posted his response, entitled, A Fundamentalist Answer the Touchstone Questions

True Love

I ran across this story recently:

In an effort to crack down on shoplifting at their store, a store recently declared that it would prosecute fully anyone who got caught shoplifting from their store.

Soon, an elderly woman who had been married for 40 years was discovered to be shoplifting. Not wanting to go against their newly stated policy, the store decided to go after this elderly woman and to make sure she went to trial and jail for her crimes.

The day of the trial came and the elderly lady went before the judge. The judge look at the elderly lady and felt compassion on her, but knew he must do his job. He asked her,"What did you steal?"

She replied: "A can of peaches".

The judge asked her why she had stolen them and she replied that she was hungry.

The judge then asked her how many peaches were in the can.

She replied, "6".

The judge then said, "I will give you 6 days in jail."

As the judge began to formally render his sentencing, the woman's husband of 40 years stood up and asked the judge if he could say something.

The crowd in the courtroom all stopped what they were doing to listen intently to what this man was going to say.

The judge asked, "What is it that you want to say?"

The husband then replied "She also stole a can of peas."

Just someone else's thoughts.

Frank

Some Thoughts on Fathers

With this week being Father's Day and our "Father-Son Camp-Out" last night for Fellowship Baptist Church, I have been thinking a lot about fathers this week, as I am sure many others have been as well.

It does not come as much of a surprise to anyone who looks around to see that we no longer live in a "Father Knows Best" society. In fact, just the opposite is usually true today. It is very rare to see a father portrayed in the media as someone who knows anything - and this has been going on for years. Television has portrayed fathers as inept for years. Whether it is Homer Simpson or Al Bundy or Tim Taylor, the television father is often a goofball who can't quite get anything right.

Not only are fathers portrayed as inept by the media, they are also portrayed as irrelevant. From the Murphy Brown episode of the eighties (and yes, Virginia, Dan Quayle was right) to the "couples" like Rosie and her pal being promoted as good parenting to the repeated celebrity adoptions by single mothers, the role of the father in these situations is seen as unnecessary. Other than supplying a necessary physical ingredient, the father is often out of the picture.

It is not just the media, however, that indicates a lack of importance of the father. A new term has risen up around these parts that underscores the seeming irrelevance of the continued involvement of fathers in the life of a child in today's society - "baby-daddy." When I first heard the term, I thought the person was just talking fast and was speaking about the baby's daddy. However, I have heard the expression a number of times since then and the best that I can understand this new term is a noun that refers to the person who physically fathered the child. It is often used in the context as an expression that marks out the fact that this is not the husband or even the (current) boyfriend, but was the one who "fathered" the child. In some ways, perhaps this is actually a better term, since "father" should be referred to one who actually has more to do with the child's life than providing seed. (Anyone else out there in a place that uses this expression? I did hear it in passing one day on a television show, so maybe it is a more national thing than I think.) The usage of this term and the promiscous relationships that are represented by this again show that an involved father is not part of today's view of fathers.

When you look at the life and ministry and message of Jesus Christ, however, you see that He had a much different picture of fathers. The term "Father" was a term that He frequently used. It was with the phrase "Our Father which art in Heaven" (Matthew 6:9) that He taught His disciples to address God in the Lord's Prayer. It was by this term that He challenged the disciples to be perfect "even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48)." It was by this term that He reminded us that "your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things" (Matthew 6:18) and that "how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Matthew 7:11).

Not only did Christ often use "Father" to refer to God the Father, He also often expressed positive expectations of human fathers. In the parable of the Prodigal Son, the father is eager to forgive. In the teaching on prayer, he shows that he expects that fathers will give good things to their children when He asks "If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone?" (Luke 11:11)

When you stop to consider the Biblical picture of a father (best seen by the Perfect Father), some of the things you will find is that in the Bible a father is to be given honor (Ex. 20, Eph. 6), a father is expected to discipline out of love (Heb 12), a father gives good gifts (Matt 7, Luke 11), a father pardons (Luke 15), a father comforts (2 Cor 1:3) and much more.

We need to get back to a Biblical picture of fathers (and The Father), rather than allow ourselves to be caught up with the world's way of thinking about fathers.

A Father's Day Poem

Below is a poem I wrote for Father's Day a couple of years ago. I printed this and put it on some wooden bookmarks and gave them out for Father's Day at church. I think I have posted this before.


A Father's Day Poem

I must be careful
as I live as father,
Love my dear children,
not count them a bother.

Teach them truth
in the way that I live
Show them God's wisdom
in the teaching I give.

Walking in Christ
as I walk before them.
Pointing them always,
always toward Him.

And this is my prayer,
as I pray all my days,
That they live for Christ,
both now and always.

Just my thoughts,

Frank

Thursday begins a new adventure

On Thursday, I do something I have not done in a long time. I re-enter the secular work-force.

I am not resigning from beign Pastor or anything like that, but, with the expense of the new church building, our church was in need of making some difficult choices if we wanted to balance our books this year.

So, in our January meeting, I took a 20% pay decrease to help us get things back on track. So far, it has worked out pretty well from the standpoint of the church, but for the last few weeks, I have been trying to find a part-time job that I could work around my church responsibilities and around my wife's job. (Missy is a labor and delivery nurse at PRMC.)

Last week I was hired to work overnight stocking at Wal-Mart. I am pretty sure that fellow blogger and very poor NCAA Tournament participant Scott Bothwell also works overnight at Wal-Mart if I remember correctly.

Anyway, on Thursday I have my orientation. I think I actually start working some time next week. The job is a temporary assignment (the store is hiring for a 90--day remodeling project) and I am not sure what our situation will be when the temporary assignment is completed. (They indicated that they will likely hire some of the temporary hires for more permanent positions after the remodeling, but I don't know if I will be chosen for this or if I will need it still at that time.)

I expect I will be trying to streamline some processes in my life over the next few weeks, but I also figure that there are 416 employees at the Wal-Mart that I have not yet met, so "a great door and effectual is opened unto me."

I do not know what the policies are regarding blogging and the job, but orientation is on Thursday and I will probably find out then. If you think about it in the next few days, pray for me and my family as we make this adjustment.

Just my thoughts,

Frank

2006 Family Christmas Letter

Dear Family and Friends,

"I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." So proclaimed the angel to the shepherds on the night of the birth of Jesus. As we reflect on this season, we are again thankful for the "good tidings" - the good news of God's gift of Jesus Christ to pay the price of our sins.

2006 has been a busy year for the Sansone family, but we are thankful for what God is doing in and through us and we are thankful to family and friends who support us, pray for us and love us.

On the family front, Josiah turned 10 in November and is in 4th grade, Christina turned 7 in April and is in 2ndgrade, and Rebekah turned two last January and is growing like a weed. (We won't bother to mention how old Missy and Frank are, but will hint that Missy will be having a new first digit next year that many would use to indicate she is no longer young.)

We are thankful for our children and enjoy watching them grow and learn - although we wish there was a way to slow down the process at times. It is hard to believe how quickly the time flies. Josiah and Christina are taking piano lessons - and Chrissy tries to teach Daddy what she has learned. Josiah has been playing soccer this year and Daddy has been his coach. We had a good outdoor season (we finished 8-4 and Josiah led the team in assists) and we are three games into our indoor season.

Missy is still working as a labor and delivery nurse at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury. She has also learned how to quilt and is working on her first quilt. In addition to serving as Pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church, Frank enjoys coaching Josiah and working on things on the computer. He has a personal blog (http://athinkingmansthoughts.blogspot.com) that he posts on regularly and a Pastoral blog for our church and a blog called Soccer Scribbles that he maintains for the soccer team. He also wrote an article on The Da Vinci Code that got published as an FFBC Spotlight article and distributed to many churches around the country.

On the ministry front, this has been a very busy year. In the beginning of the year, we were able to purchase a building and move out of our location next to the Red Door Sub Shop. In April, we celebrated God's provision for a new building with our Building Dedication Service. We also changed our name from Messiah Baptist Fellowship to Fellowship Baptist Church and began many new adventures, including our first Father-Son Camp Out, our first Vacation Bible School, Baptisms down at the Nanticoke River, and our first Youth Activities. In October, we began Sunday School and God has been working greatly through the Sunday School ministry.

In November, Frank's Mom was very sick and in ICU in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. God preserved her in a situation where both the heart and lung doctors thought she would not make it. I know that many of you prayed for her during this time, and we greatly appreciate your prayers for Frank's Mom. While the visit to Illinois was not for a fun purpose, Frank did enjoy seeing some family members that he has not seen in a long time.

As we celebrated the birth of our Savior, we rejoice in God's goodness to us for another year and look forward to what God is going to do in and through us in the next year. We pray that this year and this season has been a time of blessing and reflection upon the King of Kings. May God grant you a prosperous new year, as well.

In Christ,


Pastor Frank and Missy Sansone
Josiah, Christina, and Rebekah

Update on my mom's health

As many of you are aware, my mom is currently in critical condition at St. Mary's Good Samaritan Hospital in Mount Vernon, Illionis. I am in Illinois with her and do not have good internet access. Below is the latest update in a series of updates that we (as a family) have been sending out to other family and friends.

Hello friends and family,

This is Frank Sansone. My brother Mike has been sending out the email updates regarding the medical situation of my mom, Sharon Kay Cheek, but Mike and Sue had to leave to get back to Colorado where he is undergoing a test for some heart problems he is having, so I will now be providing the updates.

We appreciate all your prayers as Mom has been making good progress today. She was able to get off of the ventilator (which Mike mentioned in a previous post) and is breathing well without the ventilator. She is still mostly sleeping, but we have seen some responses.

Just before Mike left, when he went in for one last time before leaving for Colorado, it looked as though she looked at him and smiled. This was soon after his last update that he sent out.

At about 2100 CST (9:00 p.m.), Aunt Linda came into the ICU waiting room and said that mom was starting to wake up some more.

Kelly, Rhonda and I hustled into the room to see her. She was moving around a little and we started to talk to her. She opened her eyes while we were talking to her. After that, she did something awesome. For years, we as a family have had a code - an unspoken way to say "I love you". It is not much of a code, but for years, we would squeeze each others hand or arm three times to say "I love you." I told my mom if she understood me to blink her eyes three times to say "I love you" knowing she would understand the significance of that in our family if she could understand. Then, as Kelly, Rhonda, and I watched, she blinked her eyes three times!!! We were ecstatic.

She still is not responding much, but this was a major encouragement. She still needs to rest more and we are hoping that in the morning, more of the sedative will have worn off and she will be able to respond more consistently.

In Christ,

Frank Sansone

P.S. Please pray for Mike and Sue as they travel most of the night and as he gets his heart tested tomorrow. Also, pray for Linda as she flies back out to Virginia tomorrow.

We appreciate all you prayers and ask you to continue to pray.

(I posted some additional information on this thread on Sharper Iron, for those who want to catch up a little regarding this request.)

On My Son's Tenth Birthday

Yesterday, we celebrated my son's 10th birthday (his birthday is today). It seems hard to believe that Josiah is 10 years old already. We had pizza and a birthday cake that mommy made to look like a soccer ball. Josiah got a lot of nice cards - including one from Mom Mom with a sweet poem about Josiah (I would post it if I were home and had the poem with me - maybe Missy can post it for me sometime this week).

For presents, Josiah got a desk for him to be able to study in his room (instead of trying to study at the kitchen table while there are all kinds of distractions around him). Missy picked up the desk at Goodwill and stripped it and painted. It looks really nice. She did a great job on the desk and he jumped up and down when he saw it. We also got him a number of things to go with the desk (desk lamp, pencils, pens, etc.) and a gift card to Staples so that he could pick out other desk supplies that he wanted. The other major gift that we got him was a Philadelphia Eagles Replica Helmet. He loved it.

As I am on a plane this morning on my way to Illinois to see my mom in the hospital, I have to be away from Josiah on his birthday. The following part is for him.

Dear Josiah,

I love you, bud. I am sorry that I have to be away on your birthday. Please continue to pray for Gramma Big Hug. I will see you soon.

It is hard to imagine that you are already 10 years old. That is a decade! You have been growing up soo nicely. You have outgrown "lizards and sharks" and while it makes me sad to think that you are getting older, I also realize that it is a good thing that you are growing and it is neat to see that growth in your life. You are a good boy and it is good to see you grow up in your maturity and physically, but it is even better to see you grow spiritually. This has been a big year. I love to see your sermon notes after a sermon at church. You usually do such a good job of paying attention. It is neat that Mrs. Tarr is going to let you take notes in chapel now, as well.

It was a blessing for me to be able to Baptize you this year. It was appropriate to me that you were the first one for me to Baptize as Pastor before baptizing the others. I love your zeal for God and your desire to see your friends come.

It has been a lot of fun coaching you and your team in soccer. You have turned into a really good soccer player. I appreciate the fact that you look for your teammates and pass the ball well. You led our team in assissts this year and probably could have scored more goals yourself if you had wanted to be selfish. I am gladfor what that shows about your understanding of the game, but I am even more glad for what that shows about your understnading of life. Life is not about what we can do or the glory we can get for ourselves. It is about loving and serving God first, and loving and serving others.

I wish I was there today so that I could sit next to you with your new Eagles helmet and your Eagles shirt and we could watch the Eagles cream the Tennesse Titans and yell E-A-G-L-E-S, Eagles. (Much to Mommy's chagrin :) ). I wish I could be there tonight and pray with you and kiss you "North, South, East & West."

You be good for Mommy this week and grow up to love and honor God with all of your life.

Love,

Daddy

Missy, Chrissy, and Beka, I love you, too and miss you already. Please keep praying for Gramma Big Hug. I'll talk to you after I can get my phone charged again.

Just my thougthts,

Frank

A Poem from Carol Lewis

Last week, as we prepared to leave for our Vacation to Williamsburg, my mother-in-law wrote a poem for us to leave for our guests while we were gone. (Pastor and Mrs. Terry Smith stayed in our house for the weekend as he came down to preach to the folks at Fellowship Baptist Church while we were away.)

If you have small children (in particular), perhaps you may appreciate this poem from my mother-in-law.

You might find some tiny handprints upon my window panes
and probably on the rug there are many sorts of stains.
There even just might be a toy not in the proper place.
Most of the time, I am afraid, that's usually the case

I really could spend all my time to make this house superb.
My garden could be beautiful and full of growing herbs.
I could work here in my house and capture every speck of dust
and if my children touch a thing, I could make an awful fuss

But I think that while I dust, and sweep, and keep ahead of dirt
the Lord would want me to remember, each tugging at my skirt
For He's the one who blessed me with each hungry little face
and I have my loving home because of His amazing grace

So if you find a sock inside of something other than a shoe
or if there is a jelly stain upon my carpet too
I probably was outside that day enjoying God's little gifts
six healthy pairs of hands and feet ..three faces I can kiss.

May I always make the time to show them all of God's great love,
to pray with them on bended knee, to Jesus up above
To lead them to a greater life that someday we will share
within a perfect heavenly home, beautiful and fair.

Sometimes the house takes second place, tis not always spic & span
but I pray that in our home is seen the working of God's hand.

*Written by Carol Lewis (Missy's Mom) - July 6, 2006

Happy Birthday to my Big Girl

Today is the birthday of my oldest daughter, Christina Ruth Sansone. She turns seven today, but we already had her birthday party on Saturday.

Happy Birthday, Christina. I hope that you have had a good birthday today and that you enjoyed having a "school birthday" as well. It hardly seems possible that you are already seven years old. How big you have gotten to be!

I love you, big girl. I love your sensitive spirit. You have always been a quiet and sweet girl. Even when you were young, you managed to find ways to entertain yourself and have fun all on your own. I remember when you were young we could sit you on a blanket with a couple of toys and you would stay there and play with them - we could never get your brother to do that! (And you know we can't get Beka to do that!)

I remember when you came up with your own version of "lizards and sharks" - you were much more relational with them - they had to be friends and do things together, rather than attack each other. Your love for others and your desire to help them is an encouragement to me - how many other little girls do you know who are willing to clean up their brother's room without him even asking? I guarantee you, not many!

I know this last year or so of transition has not been easy for you. You miss your old friends a lot, not just the children, but the older ones like the teen girls who babysat you back in NJ. Hopefully we can visit some of them again soon.

You are growing up soo big. You do a really good job at helping out (when you want to) and you have a very nice singing voice that I love to hear when Mommy plays for you before church on Wednesday nights. I can't believe that you are growing up so fast. A big part of me wants to just stop things so that you and Josiah and Rebekah can always be my little children. Please keep your love for God primary and keep your love for your family and others strong.

I love you, big girl. I pray for you and I hope you have a good birthday.

Love,

Daddy

File under Family_, Personal_

Sansone Family Annotated Links

For those of you who have not made it over to my family sight (I am guessing that would be most of you), on that site I have my Sansone Family Annotated Links, which has some resources that you may find helpful.

This is a work in progress, but I think it is off to a good start, at least.

As always, notice the disclaimer that I have on the top of the page.

Just my thoughts,

Frank

Happy Birthday to my best bud!

Saturday is the 9th birthday of my eldest and only son, Josiah Steven.

It is hard to believe that it has already been nine years since the Lord brought this precious child into our lives. Looking at some old pictures earlier this week brought me to tears as I thought of how quickly time is passing. My precious little baby boy is growing up into a nice young man. We don't play "lizards and sharks" anymore and it has been a long time since I rocked you to sleep or played "yes, no" as we drove down the road. It won't be too long before my little boy is a man and I wonder where all the time has went.

It seems like only yesterday that we were waiting for you to be born - briefly thinking we had lost you. Watching with prayer and fear as they cut mommy open so you could be born. It seems like only yesterday that we lived in that little upstairs apartment in Moorestown and worried about your heavy little footsteps disturbing our not-so-friendly downstairs neighbors. It seems like only yesterday that you used to stand at the fence and yell across the street to "D.J." wanting him to come over and play when we lived in Mt. Holly. It seems like only yesteday we were headed to VBS at Heritage and you surprised me by being able to spell B-I-B-L-E as a not-quite three year old.

The time has flown over these last few years. You have started school and done well - making your daddy proud of your behavior as well as your academics. You have done your best as you played soccer, and basketball, and baseball. I remember riding in Grandma Big Truck's semi from Illinois so that I could be there to coach your first intramural soccer game and watching as you saw me show up when we weren't sure we were going to make it.

The thing that I have enjoyed probably most of all the last couple of years is seeing you mature in your walk with Christ. Sitting in the living room in Hardingville as your responded to the Gospel. Praying with you at bedtime and seeing you burdened for your friends and others. Having conversations about what you want to do when you grow up and hearing you answer our neighbor boy's questions about God by quoting a catechism that was the exact answer to the question he had asked. Even having conversations like tonight about the sin that your daddy was involved in at your age and how God has spared you from experiencing the same things in your life.

I love you, Josiah. You are my best bud. I pray that you will continue to live up to your names. Josiah - the boy king who served God from a youth and Steven - the man of God who served God unto death.

Happy Birthday, son, I love you.

Dad