Lessons from My Family

Changes…..

I have learned many things in my fifty-two years of life. Most of them have been hard lessons because of my stubbornness and my "I can do it myself" attitude.

 Life is short. I learned that lesson too well when my beautiful sister-in-law was reassigned to her heavenly calling last year.

Being a teacher is more like being a missionary than I could have ever imagined. Some days hugs and listening ears are needed more than any curriculum could be. Too bad Raleigh doesn't have an EOG for that!

Falling in love happens at many stages of life, and the lucky ones fall in love with the same person over and over again. I am blessed to have done this!!! 28 plus years now! As I watch myself age and I see the changes in my precious husband, I am glad that he has tolerated me as well as I have tolerated him. We have faced our hardest trials in the past three years, and we have had to totally depend on God's grace to see us through. I am so happy we are seeing this trial through together.

Children grow up and leave. That is the way it is supposed to be. It hurts and it worries us, but it is all part of God's perfect plan for our children's lives.

 My oldest daughter is moving her little family to North Dakota this summer to be with her husband. I am proud of her for wanting to stand by her man, and I am so thankful God blessed her with a provider who loves her so much. But the distance between my daughter and me, my grandson and me, my unborn grandchild and me…..hurts.

My son has been sentenced to time at the Department of Corrections in Raleigh, N.C. I don't think I have ever experienced a hurt that ran this deep. His greater sentence is dependance on substances that are destroying his body and his mind. I feel helpless and scared, but I take comfort in knowing my Heavenly Father loves him even more than I do….and I trust Him to keep His promise of bringing up a child in the way he should go. We did that, God is faithful, now, for a son who will receive……

My baby girl is 19 going on 35! She is my faithful companion and partner in every crime. We have such a great time together. Both of my girls love spending time together and even include their old Mom lol! I am so proud of the young lady she is. She will begin her second year of college in the fall, and I have no doubt she will have an amazing future.

I understand why they call it "Grand" child because there has never been anything grander. When I hear him say, "LaLa" my heart explodes and I would give him anything, take him anywhere or lay down my life on the spot. He has been so much fun, and as he develops his personality, I know he is going to keep us on our toes and give his teachers the same heck his dad gave me when he was in the 7th grade, lol! (Love you Cade!)

There truly is no place like home! The older I get, the more I crave the quietness, the clutter, the familiarity of home. I love going places and meeting people, learning new things, and trying new things, but nothing can compare to the peace I feel when I walk through my front door after my adventure and I am finally home.

I get more like my mother every day. I never thought I would. I wish I enjoyed cleaning and organizing as much as she does, that part didn't stick. The part that did was the amazing love and sacrifice she has always had for me and my brother and now my children and grandchild. God has blessed me with parents who are always there for me. They call every day to check on me. They send food, carry off garbage, feed my animals when I'm gone.

But most of all they are ALWAYS there. They laugh with me, cry with me, hold me and lift me up to God who can wipe away my tears and calm my weary soul.

As I face life's many changes, I realize how blessed I am. Without these changes, there would not be the appreciation, or the wisdom, or peace or desire for a relationship with those who make my life complete. And a God who will never be surprised at a change, but always there to see me through!

Happy Birthday Cam!!!!

March 22, 2013 my world changed….for the better. 

I became LaLa to the most amazing grandson in the entire universe….

He is my sunshine on a cloudy day….

He's my laughter when tears cloud my eyes….

He's my hope when I feel hopeless…

My smile when I don't feel like smiling….

What keeps me going when I feel like giving up….

He is my heart…. I love you Camden Tripp Adams!

Let the Madness of March Begin!!!!

This weekend we celebrated my beautiful niece Eve's upcoming wedding to Mitch Odom. Great time spent with family and friends. Hoping Eve and Mitch have an amazing life together.

Then Sunday, we celebrated our oldest daughter Cassidy's 27th birthday! As you can see, beauty runs in the family! We are so blessed to have them in our lives. The older I get, the more important my family becomes. I hope I never get past the joy that family brings. Thank you Lord for a loving family.

Had an amazing weekend in Nashville, Tennessee!

For CHRISTmas, my husband paid for a writing conference that was to be held on my birthday weekend in Nashville at the Hyatt Place in Brentwood/Nashville. (I had told him I wanted an agent for Christmas, lol!) So this past weekend, Clancy and I went to the Music City for a little learning and a lot of fun!

The conference was great! Learn so much and made lots of contacts! New friends, new instructor, met some agents and came home ready to write! and feeling more positive about the publishing world as well.

I have learned that if you want something bad enough, and you are willing to work for it, and have the patience to wait, and wait, and wait, but always keep moving forward, good things will happen. It takes the perfect book, the perfect agent, the perfect mood and the perfect time, and the perfect market all falling in to place! But it will happen if you never give up!

"Shake It Off"

I'm visiting my daughter and we are sitting at the table over a cup of coffee discussing our stressful days when my grandson, Cam comes over and gets my cell phone and starts chanting, "It off! It off!"

"Do you want me to turn my phone off?"

"He wants to hear his song," Cassidy explains…

So the three of us, 

and his puppy "Honor" aka "Ony" jam out to Taylor Swift's, "Shake It Off!" Out of the mouths of babes!

No matter what is happening in life, no matter how tired, or sad, or mad, a person may be…"Shake It Off!" and dance!

Enjoy the simple things with the people you love. God gives us valleys so that we can enjoy the mountain tops!

Ps. 118:24 "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it!"

Some lessons take longer to learn. They even cause us to question why? They hurt us so badly that we wish we could just stop the pain, go away and never come back. We don’t think we can bear to learn more because of the suffering we feel. I mean what lesson can we learn from a child who has become a drug addict? The child we raised in a Christian home filled with love. Where did we go wrong? Will we be able to live through this period in our lives, or will it be the death of us? Will it be the death of him?

So many questions, where do we look for the answers? The only place I find answers to this pain is on my knees before a Mighty, Loving God. My Heavenly Father has the answers. He patiently hears my cries and wipes away my tears. He whispers peace and gives me rest. He sends friends into my life that will show me unconditional love and understanding even when I am unloveable, and I don’t make sense.

Can anyone cause us more pain than our children? I think not!

We read in Psalms 56:8,”Thou tellest my wanderings, put thou my tears into thy bottle…” Can you imagine?

God has my tears in a bottle! He knows all about my dreams, my hopes, my fears, and my disappointments. He cares that much for me. What hope in a world of hopelessness!

Not only my tears, but your tears, our children’s tears. He cares for each one of us. He allows me to see the tears of others and the opportunity to wipe their tears with my words, my actions. When I forget about my own hurts and disappointments long enough to see the needs of others, the Lord uses me to dry someone else’s tears. In doing so, He eases my pain.

Dear Lord,

Help me to trust you more! Help me to see the hurt in others and lend a hand in their healing by sharing you. Help me to learn that you are always there, and you will never put more of a burden on me than I can stand. Help me to understand you see the big picture and nothing takes you by surprise.

In Your Precious and Holy Name,

Amen

Heartstrings has been transformed to Lessons From My Family. I'm sure that your family is like mine, and there is always something you thought you knew that you didn't really know and your family leads you kicking and screaming into reality.

I mean, I am an eighties girl at heart, and I like it there. But my adult children are continually introducing me to "new age" or 2014-15 music, styles, trends that I find myself drawn to. In my opinion the eighties are making a comeback…just sayin'!

Stayed tuned as I trudge into the future with my family and share the journey!

Happy Halloween!!!

My Little Pumpkin is getting ready for Halloween!

Thanks to Maria Shook for the amazing pics!

Cam enjoyed picking out his pumpkin at Darnell's Farm almost as much as he enjoyed his "bapple"

It was a blessing to have all three of my children at Clancy's graduation!!!!!

When I consider your heavens,

the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which you have set in place,

what is mankind that you are mindful of them,

human beings that you care for them?

You have made them a little lower than the angels 

and crowned them with glory and honor.

You made them rulers over the works of your hands;

you put everything under their feet:

all flocks and herds, 

and the animals of the wild,

the birds in the sky,

and the fish in the sea,

all that swim the paths of the sea.

Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalm 8:3-9

This is MY FATHER I am talking about...

WOW, I hope I can spend 2014 in awe of how blessed I am to be HIS Daughter!!!!!!

God is Good...All the Time!

December 27, 2013

My two daughters, Cassidy and Clancy, my grandson Cam, my son Brody and I are on a trip this Christmas Break. We are traveling to Memphis, Tennessee to see Graceland at Christmas. The trip was planned for the whole family in the beginning, but with our men folk sometimes work happens and so my husband Eddie and my son-in-law Cade couldn't make the trip. We were all disappointed that they couldn't come along, but we determined to make this a wonderful trip. We all need a little R and R and a lot of family time.

I am so thankful that God allowed us to spend this time together. A mother and her children. Yes, I know my children are grown for the most part, but they will always be my babies. I miss them so much,  and now we have little Cam to enjoy. It has been so much fun just spending time together- laughing, and just breathing the same air as my children. I feel complete. 

2013 has been a trying year for all of us. Cassidy delivered Cam in March and then graduated with a M.A. from WCU in April. She started her first adult job in July, and she has faced the challenge of balancing work and family. Brody has gotten his life on track and is living in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. I miss him so much, but I am excited that he is figuring everything out on his own and my prayer is that God will use him for His Glory and bless him with an abundant life full of blessings! Clancy is a senior in High School and she just finished her senior project, which began last school year in May and ended with her presentation on December 19. She is busy filling out college applications and searching for scholarships. We have our heart set on University of Tennessee...now to find the scholarships to make it happen.

Such blessings....my children tug at my heartstrings like nothing else ever will.

Whatever you need...God says, I AM that.

When God commanded Moses to lead His people out of Egypt, Moses said, "If I go to the people and tell them that the God of their ancestors has sent me, they won't believe me. They will ask, 'Which God are you talking about: What is his name? Then what shall I tell them?" God answered and said, "Just tell them, 'I AM has sent me to you'" (Exodus 3:13-14).

He is ALL THINGS AT ALL TIMES! Lord of the Universe, Healer, Deliverer, Savior, Mighty God, Counselor, Father, Prince of Peace....No one can fill His shoes! 

What a comfort to know He has our back and our best interest at heart!

Christmas Countdown!!!

A bible reading for each night of December until Christmas!
December 1: 1John 1:1-5
December 2: Isaiah 9:2-7
December 3: Isaiah 11:1-10
December 4: Jeremiah 33: 14-16
December 5: Luke 1: 5-10
December 6: Luke 1: 11-17
December 7: Luke 1: 18-25
December 8: Luke 1: 26-38
December 9: Matthew 1: 18-21
December 10: Matthew 1:22-26
December 11: Luke 1:39-45
December 12: Luke 1:46-56
December 13: Luke 2:1-5
December 14: Luke 2:6-7
December 15: Luke 2:8-12
December 16: Luke 2:13-14
December 17: Luke 2:15-18
December 18: Luke 2: 19-20
December 19: Micah 5: 2-5
December 20: Matthew 2: 1-2
December 21: Matthew 2: 3-6
December 22: Matthew 2: 7-8
December 23: Matthew 2: 9-12
December 24: John 1:14


Loved watching Cam and his Uncle Brody playing a tune on the guitar. Brody celebrated his 24th birthday during the Thanksgiving holidays!!!! Happy Birthday to an amazing son. I wish you many, many more.....

What I am Thankful for......

As we prepare our menus and send out our invitations to a family meal prepared by all those we love, we take time out of our busy lives to ponder on what we are most thankful for. I find myself busy, busy, busy, with school, house cleaning, shopping, searching for that recipe I haven't used since last Thanksgiving....and I have to stop and think of what I am truly thankful for in my life.

I am beyond blessed! I thank the Lord! I praise Him for blessing me with my husband, my children (that includes son-in-law Cade), my grandchild, my parents, my mother-in-law, my brother Todd and sister Karen, my sister Kaye and brother Daniel, and all of our nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews....my church family...most of all my relationship with my Savior. My job, all the wonderful children I am blessed to know and teach, and all they teach me :) My home, I am not a wonderful housekeeper as anyone who knows me can share, but our home is a place where we love and play together, we share home-cooked meals and sit in front of the television and watch movies and ballgames together, we argue over dancing with the stars and american idols favorites, we decorate for each holiday, we sit on the deck on late summer evenings and listen to Elvis and talk until the sunsets, we watch the snow fall from the family room and drink hot chocolate in front of the fire. 

So many blessing in just the little things....this year for Thanksgiving we will be traveling to Knoxville, Tennessee for our meal. We will leave on Tuesday and come home on Friday evening. My mother-in-law owns a home there, and we will be going there with all the family to celebrate the holiday. This year, one of my children cannot make it home, so we are going to him for the holiday :) He will celebrate his twenty-fourth birthday on Tuesday the 26th! We will spend his birthday with him and then  get to spend a few days with him and be with him for Thanksgiving. 

This Thanksgiving is a very special one. It doesn't matter where we are as long as we are together. Family is what matters. In this past year, we have welcomed a beautiful, healthy grandson. We have watched Cassidy graduate college with a master's degree and begin her career. We have helped Clancy with her Senior project, research papers, college applications and scholarships. We have witnessed Brody fight the battle of his life, and we have prayed and dug in our heels, joining in his fight, loving, praying, crying and finally surrendering him to God and God's will for his life, and we have seen him experience peace and hope for the first time in a very long time.

Eddie and I have grown closer. Many times hardships can cause families to fall apart, and I praise the Lord that He has allowed us to hold on to each other through these times and strengthen each other. We have not agreed a lot of the times, but we have respected each other and one another's feelings when these disagreements came along. Bottom line, we love our children and we want the best for them. They are a part of both of us, and now of all times we need to draw strength from each other and from the Lord.

I feel so blessed! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. May you count your blessings and enjoy the love of family and friends.

Latresa :)



Weekend Road Trip!

On November 9th, my daughters, my grandson and I headed to Shelby, North Carolina in search of Lisa Marie Presley! If you know me, you know I have an obsession for all things Presley....so when the opportunity arose to see the Princess of Rock and Roll, I jumped at the chance!

She put on an amazing show and she is a beautiful young lady! Her concert was sponsored by World Vision and her mission is to provide children all over the world with clean water, clothing, immunization, food and basic needs. What an amazing cause from someone in a position to influence so many. Proceeds from the concert go to World Vision !

Her deep voice and songs sung from the heart make her a unique artist who should be respected not for her legacy, but for her talent and genuineness. 

Something to Think About!

            This past week as I studied my lesson for our youth Sunday school class, I read something that brought peace. Our lesson was about the ascension of Jesus and the history of the early church. When Jesus ascended, he told those who were there to go and spread the gospel to everyone in the world.

            Shortly after, Christians faced persecution-beatings, stonings, death for their faith in Jesus. The words that stuck with me were that in the suffering….Jesus’ wonderful plan was carried out.

            I am in a spiritual battle in my life right now. I am experiencing total dependence on Jesus for a situation in my family. I am trusting Him to lead me through this suffering and bring about His wonderful plan as a result. What do people who do not have that assurance do? How do they endure the suffering without the promise?

            Thank you Lord for your promises!

            Thank you Lord for your peace amid the storms of life!

            Thank you that we know how the story ends!

God still answers prayer!

Before

After

Makeover!

On Saturday, my daughters took me to Marietta, Georgia for a haircut. I didn’t plan the trip. It was to a very nice salon where my girls go, and I usually tag along for the fun stuff minus the haircut. They kind of ganged up on me and told me I was due a new “do”. They were tired of my ponytail, and my long strands of chaos.

It has actually been a while since I have felt the desire to care what my hair looks like. I actually haven’t had a haircut in over a year. I haven’t had a desire to take an interest in myself at all in quite a while. But it was important to my beautiful daughters that I fix up a bit, so I agreed.

I let them pick my hairstyle and sat down in the chair and let the hairdresser work her magic. I have to say that I was very pleased with the result. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our circumstances that we neglect ourselves. I think this is especially true for mothers. Even though me kids are 25, 23 and 17, they are still my world in lots of ways.

When one of my children suffers, I want to fix the situation and take the badness away from them. But this is an instance when I can’t do that. Even though I have spent the last two years of my life trying, I cannot “fix” this situation. I continually turn it over to the LORD. Then, when the next opportunity arises, I try to help the LORD out! I am there with open arms giving my LORD a hand. When will I realize HE doesn’t need my help? When will I realize that HE is perfect and HIS ways are perfect and HE has this…. HE has promised me that if I bring up my children to know HIM and raise them in HIS CHURCH….bringing them up in the way they should go….when they are old they will not depart from HIM. He truly has this.

And last Friday night at a revival service, the singers were singing a song, “GOD still answers prayers”. I went to the altar and I gave my situation to my heavenly FATHER. I left it there. Not only did I get an outward makeover this weekend, I got an inward makeover. And that’s the best kind of makeover ever.

Stay tuned and watch God answer my prayers!