Greetings and Welcome!
My goal is to share encouragement, grace, and hope from God's Word, and to brighten your day. Mission trips abroad have enlarged my heart and reminded me once again that regardless of our skin color or location we all need a savior, and His name is Jesus. I pray that my articles will lift your spirits and point you to the One who loves you most.
Fran's newest book
Hope on the Way: Devotions To Go
by Fran Sandin
Do you enjoy traveling? Or like reading about it?
Fran and her husband, Jim, have traveled extensively through the years. In HOPE on the WAY, Fran will take you from Texas to Michigan, Italy, Norway, Ukraine, New Zealand, and beyond as she shares her personal hope-filled stories of God’s powerful hand at work. Several stories include testimonies of folks she met on the way. Throughout the book you will glimpse the faithfulness of God in seasons of both heartache and joy. As you reflect on each encounter, you are reminded to look for HIS moving in your own life. Everyone needs hope and Fran makes it clear where to find it.
Also available on Amazon (print and Kindle) and Barnes & Noble.
Fran Caffey Sandin with Benji Cole from CBS Radio - CITI OF BOOKS: October 17, 2023
Click to Read Fran's Guest Post On Tammy Kennington's Blog Site
Listen to Fran's interview on A Time To Dream Podcast Scroll down to the 10-8-2020 podcast.
Listen to Fran’s January 4, 2020 live radio interview with Nancy Solari, CEO of Living Full Out, Inc. Nancy lives in Oregon, is blind, and after participating in a communications career, started her own show to assist others in overcoming various life challenges. The interview includes commercials and a couple of call-in’s to Nancy in her capacity as a Life Coach before Fran’s interview begins.
https://www.spreaker.com/user/livingfullout/learn-how-managing-loss-can-enhance-your
Read Fran's 9/9/2018 Devotional on ARISE Devos website
Read Fran's 8/26/2018 Devotional on ARISE Daily Devos website
Read Fran's 7/14/2018 Devotional on ARISE Daily Devos website
Click to listen to Fran's interview with Carol Graham's Never Give Up Hope Blogspot
Click to read Fran's interview with Smashwords.com
Click to listen to Fran’s interview with Benji Cole of CBS Radio
Click to listen to Fran’s interview with Nancy Solari
You are welcome to download a free copy of:
- What Hope Can Do - by Fran Sandin
- 7 Tips For A Lasting Marriage - by Fran Sandin
- So What Happens Next? - Tract written by Steve Sandin
- Walking Through the Fire (a grief recovery article)
- Ten Days of Encouragement (for anyone who is depressed)
- Ten Ways to Say "I Care" (to encourage grieving mothers)
- The Russian version of See You Later, Jeffrey
May God bless you in your journey of faith.
Warmly,
Fran
Fire in My Soul
By Fran Sandin
Have you ever argued with God? Was it about something you wanted or didn’t want? Or did you feel completely inadequate for the task God called you to do? Yes, yes, and yes.
When the Lord prompted me to write a book, the contention began.
Me? Write a book? But Lord, I am NOT a writer?
His still, small, voice responded, "I AM."
But Lord, I don’t know how to write a book.
Softly he replied, "I do."
Despite a life brimming with part-time work as a nurse at my physician-husband’s office, mother of two grade school children, church organist, volunteer worker, plus other responsibilities, I finally relented and said, "Lord, if You want me to write a book, hold my hand, guide me, and I will try." Together we began.
Our youngest child, Jeffrey, had died suddenly from bacterial meningitis, and for two years, the Lord ministered His grace and love according to 2 Corinthians 1: 3-4 TLB:
What a wonderful God we have—he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of every mercy, and the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does he do this? So that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God has given us."
After Jeffrey’s death, I searched for a book that would answer my lingering questions. Does God really answer prayer? Is God punishing me? How can I conquer fear (afraid for my other children)? Will I ever get over this? How could God possibly use our experience for good? I felt that other grieving parents were asking similar questions. Since I didn’t locate a book that addressed my concerns, I asked the Lord to be my divine counselor, and through deeper study of the Bible, sermons, radio messages, the words of friends, and lots of prayer, the Lord provided answers that calmed my troubled heart. So, beginning from a simple outline, I set out to write the book I could not find with the goal of helping others.
I spent one day a week at our nearby lake cabin writing and crying. After four years, I finished the first draft. At the public library I checked out a book explaining how to submit a manuscript. Unfortunately, I did not explore which publishing houses to query. As a result, I sent my story out over a period of years, and it was returned every time. Finally, a friend suggested I attend a Christian Writer’s Conference.
My husband accompanied me to my first conference where I met an editor at Tyndale House. She liked my manuscript, gave me some suggestions, and I felt encouraged for the first time. I rewrote the account and took it the following year.
My devotional reading the morning I left for the conference was from Isaiah 46: 11 (Amplified Bible) " Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, be assured I will do it." Peace flooded my soul. The same editor liked what I had done, and on the 27th submission, eleven years after I began writing, See You Later, Jeffrey, was published by Tyndale House. Some have asked me, "How could you keep submitting after so many disappointments?” I confessed, “ The Lord wouldn’t let me quit. It was like a fire in my soul."
A few years later, when Tyndale allowed the book to go out of print, I had the copyright and Tyndale’s permission to print additional copies. As a result, a pastor in East Germany, who ministered to Russians, read my book. He requested and, with my permission, translated it into Russian.
Fast forward to 2010 and 2012. My husband and I accompanied an evangelistic team to the Ukraine both years, and we had the privilege of handing out a total of 4,000 free copies in Russian.
My tears had reached across the ocean to connect with grieving families there to share the comfort, joy, and hope, that only Jesus can give. To God be the Glory, Great Things He has Done!