Christmas 2010

My boys LOVED their Poppa C! They were his side kicks. He got them hooked on Kentucky basketball, introduced them to pork rinds, tried to get them to drink tomato juice, and told them how to plant, weed, and harvest a garden.

Poppa bought Isaac his first bass guitar and couldn’t wait to hear him play his first “real” notes on it. He let Creed spend countless, wasted hours in front of the television, just so he could get out of doing anything…

He was their Poppa.

He had nicknames for the younger grandgirls. Stinkpots 1, 2, and 3. He loved to tease each and every one of them and they ate it up.

It’s been a few weeks now since Poppa C passed away. Needless to say, the kids were crushed. Everyone’s lives have changed, but the change is different for the younger ones. No one will ever understand death, but explaining it to a child, impossible. It’s an unquenchable curiosity. The answer is never right or enough.

My boys were honorary pallbearers. They dressed in their very best suits, combed their hair over in the way that Poppa had so many times before, and walked behind the casket like little men. He would have been so proud of them.

Questions and comments still come everyday. “Momma, why did Poppa have to die?”, “I miss Poppa.”, “I wish Poppa didn’t die.”… I don’t always know what to say. The other day, Creed, my eight year old son, said, “Mom, if I call Poppa’s cell phone, will he answer it?”… That is how hard it has been on them. He just wanted to talk to his Poppa.

Our children do have the peace of knowing that Poppa C is in Heaven. He was a Christian man who shared the faith of Jesus Christ every where he went and with anyone. They know that they will see him again when we all get to Heaven.

The post The Kids & Poppa C appeared first on Raising Sticky Hands To Heaven.

The great thing is, if we have Jesus, not only do we have good news, but we have the greatest news!! And if we aren’t sharing that news, we are not doing our job. Now get out there and spread the wonderful gospel of Jesus. Put on your dancin’ shoes cause you’ve got good, good news!

Good, Good News
by Gaither Vocal Band

I woke up Monday morning and I walked out on the lawn
My eyes were barely open and my mouth begin to yawn
Picked up the daily paper, every single headline said
That this whole world is full of trouble and I wished I’d stayed in bed
Sometimes the bad that’s goin’ on’s enough to bring you down

Turned on my television and began to flip on through
All one hundred channels, hbo and pay-per-view
Not one message had a meaning that was good in any ways
Just before I wrote the whole world off, I heard the father say
“don’t forget what I have promised, you can overcome it all”

I’ll spread this talk all over town ’bout the peace and joy I found in you
(good news, good, good news)
This story is about to break and blessed are the feet that take the truth
(good news, good, good news)
I’m slippin’ on my dancin’ shoes ’cause I’ve got good, good news

Well my knees began to shakin’ and my heart began to beat
And a funny new sensation worked its way into my feet
The spirit of glad tidings came from somewhere deep inside
And holdin’ back the flood was just like holdin’ back the tide
I couldn’t help but circulate to ev’ry one I know

The post Good, Good News – Song Of The Week appeared first on Raising Sticky Hands To Heaven.

Which for the last few years makes me think of this song:

Everything is a waiting game. I try to stash every element into little slots in tiny boxes to make it fit temporarily until I have a chance to perfect it later.

Problem is “temporary fixes” have been in place since last summer. 9 months isn’t temporary. I mean, HELLO, life is created in 9 months. You can’t get much more permanent than that!

It’s been one thing after another. Illnesses, events, projects, blah blah blah. I love my life, I do, but I am tired of playing catch up. Catch up with what? My own self made tasks. Stress that I’M causing. I need FREEDOM! Freedom to be creative. Freedom to live.

I’m so busy trying to catch up that I lack spontaneity. I don’t even like my writing lately. (Not that I ever do, but more so that usual.) It’s poor and not well thought out, just thrown together. My sweet adoring husband even mentioned it to me the other day. It’s that bad.

So, today I’m throwing out all of the lists reorganizing my priorities. (I can’t throw out the lists! Have you gone mad?)

If it wasn’t done before today, it’s going on a “when I have time” list. Everything upcoming? I’m giving myself set time each week for crafting, sewing, and other creative endeavors. What gets done, gets done. What doesn’t, doesn’t. More time will be set aside for writing in a notebook when the mood hits instead of late at night, exhausted, trying to type what I think I remember I wanted to write before the kids fell asleep.

Do I feel liberated by making this move? Absolutely! God never intended me to feel such guilt over something so silly as, “Oh, but I said I was going to do this last week… to myself… and I never even told anyone… but I’m ashamed!” Nope. My heavenly Father wants me to live FREE and enjoy His creation and these beautiful children He gave me!

Am I scared? You betcha!

Wow, I feel so much better though. FREEEEEEEEDOM!

How about you? Did you ever set such high expectations up for yourself that when you finally gave in and fell, it felt good?

Be sure to check out all the other letter F posts at Ben and Me!

The post F is For Freedom appeared first on Raising Sticky Hands To Heaven.