I subscribe to an awesome blog - my creative departure -She just posted this and I thought I would pass it along. She is an amazing crafter; a mommy and wife and this post hit home with me and I just had to post it here for you. Check her out at -
My creative departure
Love More~
So I found this free print that can be downloaded here. She has it in many different colors but since I am in a V-day kinda mood I went for the red 
I painted an old frame white and rolled some fabric flowers to add to the border. It looks cute and all but what I really love is that it serves as a reminder to me: there is always more love to give. You can’t over-love your husband, your children, your extended family and friends. I get all sorts of nostalgic whenever I go to the rougher parts of town as it reminds me of my childhood. I remember that as a child there were nights when we had to roll out of bed onto the ground to stay safe from the gunfire blasting outside our windows. I remember the morning we woke up to a dead man on our front lawn…and yet, a part of me misses those days. We had nothing and yet we had everything. I didn’t wear name-brand clothing, my dad drove an old Ford that was all green except for the hood which was cream-colored. We would go to my hometown of Long Beach often and 9 times out of 10 the old Ford would break down on the Grapevine and we would have to sit for hours before someone could come and get us. As a child I didn’t know we were poor. It wasn’t until about age 11 when my mother finally graduated nursing school and started working as an RN that I realized there was a difference. A difference in the neighborhood we lived in, the stores we shopped at, the food we ate, the types of people at the school. The one thing that has always been a constant in my life is my parents love for me and belief in me. All of this just to say that as I was driving through my old childood streets and kids were running around barefoot while parents sat on the stoops of their tiny run-down homes I felt a pang. A longing for those days, a time when life was simpler. When you don’t have money you don’t have a lot of “things” to keep you distracted. I now live in a middle-class neighborhood, renting a home from my parents. We are not rich by any means of the word and live paycheck to paycheck (sound familiar?) It’s hard to not get stressed about money…but as I drove home that day this thought popped into my head: More money = more distractions. The kids don’t have tv’s in their rooms (and they never will) we don’t have internet on our phones (and we never will) I am distracted by the internet enough when I am home, I don’t need it available at my fingertips every minute of the day. Having money is not what life is about. Yeah, you need it to survive but you don’t need insane amounts of it to be happy. We don’t need to buy our children everything they want just to show them how much we care. Our time and undivided attention is the most valuable thing we can give each other. Don’t make money the center of your world, it will disappoint you everytime. There is a reason it is called, “the root of all evil.” Whenever you are in doubt of what to do for your children or your spouse…simply put: Just love more
I painted an old frame white and rolled some fabric flowers to add to the border. It looks cute and all but what I really love is that it serves as a reminder to me: there is always more love to give. You can’t over-love your husband, your children, your extended family and friends. I get all sorts of nostalgic whenever I go to the rougher parts of town as it reminds me of my childhood. I remember that as a child there were nights when we had to roll out of bed onto the ground to stay safe from the gunfire blasting outside our windows. I remember the morning we woke up to a dead man on our front lawn…and yet, a part of me misses those days. We had nothing and yet we had everything. I didn’t wear name-brand clothing, my dad drove an old Ford that was all green except for the hood which was cream-colored. We would go to my hometown of Long Beach often and 9 times out of 10 the old Ford would break down on the Grapevine and we would have to sit for hours before someone could come and get us. As a child I didn’t know we were poor. It wasn’t until about age 11 when my mother finally graduated nursing school and started working as an RN that I realized there was a difference. A difference in the neighborhood we lived in, the stores we shopped at, the food we ate, the types of people at the school. The one thing that has always been a constant in my life is my parents love for me and belief in me. All of this just to say that as I was driving through my old childood streets and kids were running around barefoot while parents sat on the stoops of their tiny run-down homes I felt a pang. A longing for those days, a time when life was simpler. When you don’t have money you don’t have a lot of “things” to keep you distracted. I now live in a middle-class neighborhood, renting a home from my parents. We are not rich by any means of the word and live paycheck to paycheck (sound familiar?) It’s hard to not get stressed about money…but as I drove home that day this thought popped into my head: More money = more distractions. The kids don’t have tv’s in their rooms (and they never will) we don’t have internet on our phones (and we never will) I am distracted by the internet enough when I am home, I don’t need it available at my fingertips every minute of the day. Having money is not what life is about. Yeah, you need it to survive but you don’t need insane amounts of it to be happy. We don’t need to buy our children everything they want just to show them how much we care. Our time and undivided attention is the most valuable thing we can give each other. Don’t make money the center of your world, it will disappoint you everytime. There is a reason it is called, “the root of all evil.” Whenever you are in doubt of what to do for your children or your spouse…simply put: Just love more 
~Chris
Isn't that the truth!?!? Thanks Chris for this post.
1 comments:
Thank You so much Stephanie for sharing this and linking it back to me...Chris
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