Just need to laugh today:

** Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

** If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

** It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.

** The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and a leaky tire.

** Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just pretty much leave me alone.

** No one is listening until you fart.



** If GH can stand for P as in Hiccough
If OUGH stands for O as in Dough
If PHTH stands for T as in Phthisis
If EIGH stands for A as in Neighbor
If TTE stands for T as in Gazette
If EAU stands for O as in Plateau
The right way to spell POTATO should be: GHOUGHPHTHEIGHTTEEAU


Thanks for laughing with me today. :) :)

Ahhhhhh summer days....

Well, some of you know my family's story and all we've been going through these past few months. The more I grow and the Lord leads, I realize I need to just rest in Him and laugh a little bit. SAw this clip and I'm glad I'm not the only one who's gone through this kinda of time.

Sea World

We had a wonderful time a few weeks ago at Sea World. My parents came down for the weekend and my best friend Christy and her nephew came along as well. It was nice to have my mom and dad down that weekend and we had so much fun. My mom rented this little scooter thing (it's hard for her to walk around much) and it was quite a adventure to get through the crowds. Some folks were nice about it and some treated her like those on the highway that want to quickly get around a big rig and cut them off in the process. Nevertheless, we had a good time (Jeff high jacked the scooter at one point and was goofing around on it. Hehehehehhee)



We saw the newer Shamu show "Believe"and it was pretty good. Jeff Ethan and I sat down real close in the "soak zone" hoping to get soaked (it was stinkin hot that day) and believe it or not, not ONE OUNCE OF WATER ON US! How it happened I am still clueless.



The sea otter show was cute and so was the Pet's Rule one. It's kinda cool on the Pet's Rule on cause those animals are all from shelters and all. It's nice to see them being loved.


The dolphin show was cool too. I think it's so neat seeing how they can jump out of the water and move like they do. At the dolphin area (where you can feed hem and all) there was a dolphin playing football with the crowd - never seen that before. He would get it and toss it out to the crowd and when the threw it back he would throw it back out. Everyone was all "What a talented dolphin" and I just kept thinking "Maybe he doesn't want the dang football in his pool and you all keep throwing it back in at him. Silly people."





We had a lot of fun and by the time the end of the day came we had our fill and were ready for home. Thanks mom and dad for coming down. Thanks Christy and Z for enjoying the fun with us all. :)

Lowry Family Vacation

This last weekend me, my husband and 2 boys went on our first ever Lowry Family Vacation. Now we have been on lot's of vacations but none with just us 4. We had been wanting to do something that wasn't the norm and would promote family unity

(didn't want the kids somewhere and us in another place ya know). So we decided to visit our near by city San Diego. I know we live here but we haven't gone to a lot of it's attractions. :)

Our first day we spent at the San Diego Zoo. It was a blast. I had kinda wondered with all the hills and tons of walking the boys would get tired and start complaining but not one negative peep out of them. We saw everything from Elephants to Okapi's (God's left-over animal...hehehehehehe) I kept hearing all day how great an idea it was from my boys and how much they loved it.

My husband reserved us a place at the Motel 6 in Carlsbad. This one had a pool and I know we live near by, but we wanted the reality of a vacation for my boys so a hotel stay was in order. :) The room was small and beds were hard, but again, the boys loved it. That made it not so bad for me so see them just filled with excitement.

Sunday we spent at Legoland. Now, if you know my boys this is like Mecca for them (I can't begin to tell you how many Lego's they have.....it's crazy) We started the day over at the Jr. Master Builder area where at the first weekend of every month they have a contest where anyone can come and build something (they give a theme for each month - August was Mars Landing) and then the Master Builders for Legoland come and judge and pick a winner. They had so much fun using their imaginations building. Hopefully they will win something (we're waiting to hear still)

Then we bounded over to some rides and such. We drug Garret onto a roller coaster thingy (he's not the roller coaster type AT ALL). We didn't give him a choice in the matter knowing it really wasn't that scary and he needed to overcome some fears. :) After that was over, Garret was looking forward to the next roller coaster. Guess he overcame his fear just fine. :)

Ethan was in awe of all the amazing lego statues and buildings in Miniland. We so enjoyed it we decided to go back on Monday as well (it was kinda nice not trying to cramp it all in one day). On Monday we went to the Castle and Knight's area and rode another roller coaster at Garret's request. We all rode it once but the boys rode it by themselves a second time. After that we all headed over to the Pirates Cove area where we did the pirate boat ride twice (got soaked) and the boys spend some time in the water park area getting REALLY soaked. :)

Then by the afternoon we were all done and drove the boys up to my parents to stay for the week (ahhh, summer vacations...) I miss them terribly but I'm glad we had such an awesome weekend. They were great and because there weren't any major attitudes, it makes me want to do it even more. The Lord was so good to give us this time together as a family. :)

OH how I hate crutches. My heart goes out to all those who have to use those darn things. Last week, July 16th at karate I hurt my foot/ankle pretty bad while sparring. Went to the doctor the next day and they relieved my mind telling me my foot wasn't broken. However, the news they did give me wasn't really good either. I had torn ligaments in the top of my foot and around my ankle. They put me in a splint and gave me crutches and sent me on my merry way. I work upstairs....I live upstairs.....crutches WE'RE NOT MADE FOR STAIRS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was going to miss out on all the fun stuff - softball, karate, etc. But, complaining wasn't going to change anything really so with the help of my best friend and my family, I made it through. All this time though, I kept praying that the Lord would heal me. I believe God at ALL of His word and I wasn't understanding why the Lord wouldn't heal me.

Saturday morning I was so frustrated with my condition. My arms were sore, my back was sore, my foot just ached. I cried out to God "Why won't you heal me??" And He actually answered - " How can I when you keep putting the brace back on?" "Oh" I said (yeah...full of comments now I am.....). "Take a step and know, KNOW IN YOUR HEART not just your mind that I am your healer." So, I did. I took it all off...I as I was about to step down on my bad foot, I caught myself still expecting the pain "I'm sorry Lord" I said "I really want to have the faith...." My foot didn't hurt. I took another step...no pain. :) I realized just then that yes, out Lord is a healer. He does so not just to make us feel better, but to bring Him glory and for the building up in the believers and to bring in the un-believers. Hallelujah! Thank you Lord for touching me and making me whole again!

I saw one of my softball team mates the next day. He asked about my foot (cause Friday night at the game I was on crutches now, I'm totally walking normal). He's not a Christian however, his wife and other family members are. He asked e "How are you so special that God would heal you and not all the other sad people dying of cancer?" I told him, "I'm just as special as they are in the Lord's eyes. I don't know why God chose to heal me but I do know that He did and I'm to proclaim it wherever I go." He looked at me with disbelieve but, I know in my heart what the Lord did. I didn't have answers to why God doesn't heal everyone, and I never will. But I do know this, that God is a healer and our situations don't change who God is. We may never understand why He does certain things, but He is God Almighty and it IS for us to trust Him.

So I write this blog as a testament to God's greatness and to encourage all who read it - don't try to figure God out, cause you won't. But trust in His word and know the our Lord is the same yesterday, today and forever. All those promises in there are for us and for today. He is a mighty MIGHTY God.

Egypt 2007!!!!!!!

Hello everyone! Just wanted to update you all a bit on what's happening. Last year, I went to Ecuador (God told me like 1 month before the trip was leaving - craziness!) and God was so faithful. It was an awesome, amazing time and the fruit of the labor is still growing (200 members now in a church that had 12 when we went there - PLUS they're starting another church down in a remote village!)
God has put on my heart Egypt for this year. When I heard one of the leaders that is heading up the trip talk about it, I got so excited! We're doing things a little bit differently down there. Where in Ecuador we did home to home evangelism, in Egypt we will be holding conferences with the nationals there, teaching them basic Biblical truths. This will secure them stronger and stronger in God and to give them a firm foundation to be able to share with the people of Egypt. We will be ministering to men, women (holding women only conferences), family's and young people. Our strategy there will be to equip them on many levels to reach the people of Egypt, leaving the evangelize part to the nationals there. Their culture requires much time and trust to see transitions to Christ.
The people there not only want to reach and see Egypt changed, but their plans are to go into the surrounding Muslim countries. As things are getting more and more desperate in Iran and Iraq, the equipping we are doing in Egypt will reach them as well. Please join me in reaching Egypt. I am leaving November 9th of this year and need your help to get there. The cost is much greater than I have answers to ($3000) but just as God through you helped get me to Ecuador within 3 weeks, I know he can do even greater things through us for Egypt. You can give online at:

www.e3partners.org/e3mission

Or you can give to :

e3 Partners
Attn: Franny Lowry
16787 Bernardo Center Dr. 7
San Diego, CA 92128

With all donations please put my name (Franny Lowry) and my trip code EG07D (you'll need this information for online donations as well) Thank you so much in advance for partnering with me. :)

So proud of my son. When we first moved down here it was so hard on him. The Lord moved us suddenly and it was hard for him to adjust. As adults we have a better understanding (well, sometimes we do) of the Lord's working in our lives. Finally, after almost 2 years my little guys are adjusting. Due to my work schedule increasing I started having them attend the Boys and Girls club after school. This is where they have formed some of their greatest (and worst) friendships. My oldest son Ethan really enjoys it and has been allowed to use his creativity in many ways. He drew a large picture of a pirate ship and won many local awards. Also, he wrote a small short screenplay based off the Pirates of the Caribbean which he and my youngest along with a few of their friends performed at the Boys and Girls club and also at the local fair where we live. The Club had awards for all the things they did there and Ethan received one for Performing Arts.

I really am proud of my little guys and I'm thankful to my God who has helped them grow so much in the last year and a half. Honestly, we've all grown the most from this move, together as a family. We're closer now together than we ever have been. God is a good, amazing AWESOME God and I just wanted to brag on Him and my kiddies a bit. Thanks for stopping by! :)

P.S - Check out my husbands new blog (it's over in my web favorites under From Grey to White") THANKS!

So much has been happening in my life. I kinda mentioned it in my last post but sadly, I can't give details over a blog. I ask all that read this to pray for the following things.

• Wisdom - The Lord says when you ask of this He will give it freely

Ephesians 1:16-18

16"I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit[a] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,"

• Guidance - I want the Lord to go before me in all things and straighten the paths before me.
  

Isaiah 42:16

16"And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them."

• Pray for our pastors - We forget that they are human as well and the devil prowls around them like lion to devour. Hold your pastors high in prayer for their protection.

1 Peter 5:8-9

8"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings."

• Strength - To stand in the face of adversity. The accuser is out to get all of us. Remember always who you are in Christ. He has set the value for you when He sent His son Jesus in our place for our sins. Don't let the devil accuse of your past, that's been covered under the blood of Christ.

Psalm 103:11-13

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him

I love the way the Message translation puts this next verse:

John 3:16 (The Message)

16-18"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

This now leads me to the last part of this blog. I want to encourage all that read this that we need to be spiritually alert. We need to be careful of perceptions and how we can look at something and think it's truth but, until we communicate with one another, we could be buying into a lie and not even realizing it. This can cause terrible destruction in the family of God and to His children. Here's a little snip it from a daily email I get. I pray it encourages you this day. Pray for your Pastor, pray for your church family. Don't let the devil deceive you into perceptions that you believe to be true - seek after the truth with the Lord and with others.

Perception Is Not Reality

TGIF Today God Is First, by Os Hillman

"The lions may roar and growl, yet the teeth of the great lions are broken." - Job 4:10

In the advertising business we often say that "perception is reality" for the person who views our advertising message. It does not matter whether the audience believes the message to be true, only that they perceive it to be true. Their actions will be the same whether they believe it or only perceive it.

The enemy of our souls is very good at this game. He may bring on us what we perceive to be true when it is a lie. It may appear that there is no way around a situation. He may bring great fear on us. When we buy into his lie, we believe only what we have chosen to perceive to be true. It usually has no basis of truth. Such was the case when Peter looked on the waters during a night boat journey with the other disciples. At first glance, he and the disciples screamed with fear, thinking that what they saw was a ghost. It was actually Jesus.

Satan's name means "accuser." He travels to and fro to accuse the brethren. He brings an impressive front to all he does, yet behind that front is a weak, toothless lion with a destination that has already been prepared in the great abyss. He knows his destination, but he wants to bring as many with him as possible; so he often has a big roar, but little bite.

The next time some event comes into your life that creates fear and trembling, first determine the source. Look past the emotions and evaluate the situation in light of God's Word. Perception is not always reality.

OH MY! A month has almost gone by. I apologize to all those who read this, I totally slacked. Well, as some of you know, a lot has been going on. Those that know, please continue to pray.

For all others, here's a few things that have taken place over the last month. My oldest son Ethan is in honor band (he pl ayes the trombone) and they played at a competition thingy the middle of May at a Jr. High near Knott's Berry Farm. The band did great and Ethan had such a great time.

I am so proud of him. Not only cause he's improved in his playing but mostly, cause he stuck it out this year. He has in the past, been known for really wanting to do something then about half way through it, looses interest and drops out of stuff. I don't want this to be a permanent trend in life for him so seeing this really encouraged me. This wasn't the only thing this year for him, he also started and completed soccer. Way to go Ethan! :)

After his band performance we hopped over to Knott's Berry Farm and spent the day. It was kinda nice cause my mom and dad came out to see Ethan and we got a chance to spend the whole day together. I guess it had been awhile since they had been to Knott's Berry Farm. It was mother's day weekend so we all went over to Mrs. Knott's Chicken for lunch to celebrate. It was a great day and wonderful weekend. :)

Ok, ok, WAAAAYY too long between posts I know. I'm sorry. So much going on in life I forget to write about it while I'm living it. I have some great things to post too.

Just had my 31st birthday about a week and a half ago. It was the most awesomest day (if that's not a word, it is now.) It started off with my bestest friend picking me up for work as she always does, then going to breakfast at St Tropez bistro and bakery in RB. That was an unexpected treat! I had the best french toast ever made out of a croissant! AMAZING!

Then, after breakfast we started back towards work.....then drove right past it! SWEET! Christy then informed me we were spending the morning at a day spa having massages and facials. Massages!!!! I was so excited until I realized I hadn't shaved my legs in about a week and a half. So, we made a put stop at CVS, got some supplies and took care of it in a local bathroom (thanks for being the look out Christy!) Hehehehehehehehehehehe

After our morning of pampering, we headed off to the beach where I took an awesome nap (didn't mean to but, it all worked out). It was the perfect day for that too - bright sun, light cool breeze.

We hurried back then to get ready for my husband Jeff's plans for the evening. I knew we were going to Red Lobster and some other stuff but had no clue what the other stuff was. :) After we ate at Red Lobster, I was standing outside cause I needed some fresh air (ate too much, felt a little sick) a limo pulls up behind me. Jeff was all "I didn't know it was prom season already" and I was like "I guess maybe it is". Then the limo driver walks up to Jeff and asks if he's ready. THE LIMO WAS FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!! I never had a limo for me. I have been in one other one (hummer limo) for my brother in laws wedding but never one for ME! MEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEEEEE!!!!! (Can you tell I was happy?)

So he drove us downtown, and I'm still not knowing where we're going. La lalalala...still don't know. Finally, we pull up to this place where people are standing outside and I'm like "Is this it?" and I still had not idea what "it" was...til I finally stepped out of the limo and saw the sign on the building "Comedy - Josh Blue performing" SWEET!!!! As my 7 year old son would say, "Wicked Sick!" I was totally excited! Excited for a lot of reasons. #1, I think Josh is very funny and I supported him through last comic standing. And the even more reason, #2, because my husband had totally planned the whole thing. This means a lot to me cause he never has. You see, our marriage for the last 11 years hasn't been as healthy like it should've been. But now, that night was proof that things are better, and getting better. God has so transformed my husband and now, he showed me that I'm worth something to him. I was worth all this planning and scheming, all the behind the scenes that he worked on to make sure I had an awesome wonderful birthday.

Thank you so much Jeffrey for all your planning. I felt so special that night, felt like a queen for an evening. It was wonderful. Thank you Christy for getting me out of work for the day and surprising me with so much that day. It was the best. :)

We're going to the zoo zoo zoo...How about you you you... :)

It's my birthday this coming weekend so this last weekend for my birthday my bestest friend ever Christy took me out for the day to celebrate ME! :)

We started our day off right...with a yummy donut for breakfast (oh, on special celebration days, diets ARE NOT allowed.) :) After, we drover down to Balboa Park area where all the museums are and such. I went and saw my first IMAX movie. It was on the coral reefs and how in certain areas they are dying. There was such amazing footage though. Beautiful fish and reefs and sharks! It was so cool. I am now inspired to go scuba diving. :)

After we headed over to the San Diego Zoo. But before we did that we made a stop at the car for lunch. That was so yummy! My husband made us peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwiches. They were oozers.



Onto the zoo. It was SO MUCH FUN! We saw just about everything...no, we did see everything. :) The funny part was I wanted to go see the Orangutan. There were 2 right by the glass and everyone was all gathered around. I inched my way forward to try and get some pictures and as I got up close, I noticed something a little odd. One of them was laying on the ground and the other towards the feet of the other. The one by the feet raised up the foot of the one laying on their back. Now, I'm thinking "How cute! He's playing with the others foot" and at the moment, it turned interesting. He moved the foot out of the way and mounted the other. OH MY GOSH! Had to turn away quickly, it kinda grossed me out. What's with this! Are they like exhibitionist or something! But what disturbed me most was all the parents letting their kids get up close on it and watch and all the perverts around snapping photo's like it was the president! Goodness people, that's just wrong. (the picture below was BEFORE I knew what was going on and BEFORE anything had really taken place. Just so you know. :) )

The rest of the zoo was awesome. Saw the Panda's, Koalas (they're my fav), elephants, and all kinds of other animals. Towards the end of our day we went over the where all the kitty's are (VERY BIG KITTY'S) and went over to the snow leopard's area. What a treat! They were not only out but right up against the cage are RIGHT IN FRONT OF US! They were so close I could've reach in and touched one...but the sign said not to or a band aid will appear on my finger. :) Such a beautiful cat with big fluffy tails. It was great.

After the zoo I met up with my husband and boys for dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. YUMMY!!! Got my meal free. No, not cause it was my birthday...it was because at the very last bite of my scampi I noticed something in the juices...a foil wrapper thingy. I showed it to the manager just to let them know about it and to watch out for that kind of stuff and they took my meal off the bill for us. SWEET! :)

Then we parted ways and Christy and I went over to Extraordinary Deserts. If you have never been, you need to go. They specialize in pretty, elegant deserts with yummy in mind. They look beautiful and still with every bite, pure bliss. Christy had the Chocolate Raspberry cake (so thick and rich...she let me have a bite...mmmmmmmmmm) and I chose the Apple Croistini...something like that. Mine was a baked light a crispy pastry thingy with warm custard apple filling on the inside. It was delicious!

Ahhhh, the night came to a close. It was such a wonderful, WONDERFUL day. I like these kinds of gifts cause a shirt will wear, cards will fade, but the memories from this day I can keep forever. Thank you so much Christy for a great birthday present and wonderful memories. :)