*The Seed*

A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together. He said, 'It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you. 'The young executives were Shocked,but the boss continued. 'I am going to give each one of you a SEED today- one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO.

'One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Every day, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure. Six months went by -- still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however. He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - He so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful -- in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him! When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives. Jim just tried to hide in the back. 'My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown,' said the CEO. 'Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!' All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, 'The CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!' When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed - Jim told him the story. The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, 'Behold your next Chief Executive Officer! His name is Jim!' Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed.'How could he be the new CEO?' the others said. Then the CEO said, 'One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow. All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!'*

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust*
If you plant goodness, you will reap friends*
If you plant humility, you will reap greatness*
If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment*
If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective*
If you plant hard work, you will reap success*
If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation*
If you plant faith in God , you will reap a harvest
So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.
(Author Unknown, but so good I had to share it. Thanks Aunt Peggy for passing this on to me.)

What are you planting today? I had a very interesting day at work, it will be interesting to see the harvest that comes from it.

How things can change just by talking...

I find it interesting that our perspective or one's interpretation of a situation can change so quickly just by talking about it. Why do we as women avoid confrontation, avoid conversations that aren't going to be easy and fun? I had a great talk w/ my BFF yesterday, we hadn't talked in a while and I felt very disjointed, stressed and wondering where I was headed. You have to understand that my BFF is also my business partner. We have a very unique friendship b/c our relationship started out as a business relationship, and we've grown to BFF's. So it can make for a challenging friendship. She brought up a very interesting point yesterday... why can men say it like it is to each other, speak frankly and not be afraid to hurt each others feelings (yes, men do have feelings!), get it all out in the open, and then have lunch together and act like nothing ever happened? We women are afraid to do it... why? What's holding us back, for me it's I hate confrontation. There is this underlying fear associated with it in my subconscious. So how to I kill that fear, or concur it without jeopardizing my friendships or relationships that are so dear and important in my life. I am very glad to say that b/c of the conversation I had yesterday, I feel more confident in our friendship, secure in our business relationship and am moving forward. Hey BFF, thanks for pushing me to talk and forcing these issues on the table.

This is what we did after yard work today! Men and their toys... each other! Here is Seth cutting Caleb's hair, thankfully Dad had his watchful eye on them so no one lost an ear. Poor Caleb's in the background. Look what Seth did to him... payback Seth, just wait! Look Dad, I'm giving Seth a MOHAWK! Ain't he cute... He didn't keep it though, he kept a tuft of hair on the back of his head. I couldn't take pictures... it's tooo painful! I am praying it's shaved off by morning though.

I made this small layout in honor of my mom's friend, Mary Abraham. She was killed in Continental Flight 3407 on February 12, 2009. She was an avid motorcyclist and a member of Motor Maids. She will be greatly missed, but will forever ride on the streets of gold...

Angels in the Outfield

What a beautiful snow angel made by my Junior. I love this, it reminds me of the fun snow should be and the washing that it brings the earth.

Doodle Bug... she's well

Every time I see this pix, I smile, seriously I laugh. This is soooo Katie!
I just had to share, just another zany moment in the Francis house.

Mark's Home

I know I have fallen off of the earth, but in reality I've been enjoying my family. Mark surprised the kids (well everyone really) and came home from Iraq 2 months early. He arrived home Thursday, February 5th. It was an amazing feeling to drive to the base to pick him up. We've spent the weekend playing the Wii, hanging out, eating dinner with friends and family and just being together. It's been.... honestly words can't describe it. I will try to get back on the computer later and post some photos that we've taken.

My computer did crash the day before Mark got home and I am still retrieving data off of my old hard-drive and so far have lost a lot of email addresses and snail mail address (to include phone numbers)! So if you are reading this, please email me all your information so I can reenter it into my outlook.