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Kicking the Fridge

/ Sara Lynn Payne / 1 Comment

Kicking the Fridge

A friend emailed me this week and invited me to an online event on Friday night. I told her that I would love to be there, but Brian was going to be a men’s camping retreat with church so I was going to be on my own with the four kids. I said that I would be there, barring any unforeseen chaos.

I actually used the word “chaos” in my email to her. I learned a lesson this week.

Don’t use “chaos” in reference to something you are hoping doesn’t happen with three boys and a foster daughter. I also shouldn’t play the song “I Lived” by OneRepublic as it has the line “With every broken bone I swear I lived.” It’s only setting myself up for failure.

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Thoughtful Reads: The Jesus Creed, Loving God and Loving Others

/ Sara Lynn Payne / Leave a comment

Thoughful Reads The Jesus Creed

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I’m sorry for the absence of a post last week. My computer had other plans. I actually had everything written out and ready to go when my computer turned off. I turned it on again. It decided it didn’t like the position of the power cord and shut down again. And again.

And I gave up.

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Between a Rock and a Hard Place: the Dark Truth Why CPS is So “Ugly”

/ Sara Lynn Payne / 12 Comments

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

It seems like it has become trendy to complain about CPS. You’ve probably seen the stories of parents ending up in the crosshairs of CPS because their 11-year-old was playing outside by himself for an hour and a half while his parents were caught in traffic. Or the mom who was on Dr. Phil insisting that CPS had wrongly taken her baby and the truth was that he was just sick…

I made the mistake of reading the comments on these articles and it was…well, ugly.

People were bashing Child Protective Services, saying they are just causing trauma by removing kids, and they shouldn’t be allowed to do it anymore. People ask why CPS wouldn’t comment and why aren’t they answerable for cases gone wrong and insisting that the whole system needs to be done away with.

“The system is broken.”

I’m sure you’ve heard the sentiment – or even felt it yourself.

There are two competing narratives going on regarding CPS and foster care.

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Postively Postive

/ Sara Lynn Payne / 4 Comments

Positively Positive

This week, I have to confess I got kind of annoyed with a sign. Yep. A Sign.

And all this offending sign said was, “Smile!”

I was taking out two of the boys to McDonald’s just to hang out when I was confronted by said sign at the register. Maybe I was just a little tired, but it seemed funny being told just to randomly smile by a sign that clearly had no self-awareness. I suppose that the management wanted to reinforce that McDonald’s was a happy place to be, but it’s symptomatic of an interesting trend.

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Grace

/ Sara Lynn Payne / 1 Comment

UG Car Accident

I am alive. My husband is alive. My kids are all alive.

I am so incredibly thankful right now.

Usually the first Monday of the month I post about one of my favorite influential books, but Saturday changed things. We were going to a music festival downtown when an elderly lady tried to make a left turn. Right in front of us.

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More Than We Can Handle

/ Sara Lynn Payne / 11 Comments

UG Broken Lukey

We had an incident this week that involved an attempt to throw a five-pound hand weight up to the top bunk bed. I now have one very remorseful son with bad aim and another extremely forgiving son with a broken foot. To be completely honest, I am actually surprised that we’ve made it this long before having a broken bone. Having three boys means injuries are par for the course.

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Just a Little Scared

/ Sara Lynn Payne / 1 Comment

UG Ready to Jump

When I was a little kid, I loved to swim. Before I swam competitively though, there was a certain amount of fear mixed in. My parents did a good job of teaching me to have a healthy fear and respect water. I had a near drowning experience that made me realize the fine line between fun and danger (just so you know, it is never a good idea to fall asleep while hanging on the pool wall during your swim lessons as a 4 year old).

Some fear is healthy. Living in fear is not nor is the absence of fear.

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