Just do as she says...

Jessica was trying very hard to get Fall pictures of the children. Have you ever tried to get three children under five years of age to stay in one place much less smile at the same time? To say the least, everyone was getting stressed. The more she tried to instruct them, the less cooperation she would get.

Feeling a little desperate himself, Mason (the oldest) tells his younger siblings..."Just do as she says and we can get out of here!".

How often do we find ourselves in desperate situations or the trying times of life with the Holy Spirit trying to give us instructions...and if we would just do as He says...we could get out of here.

Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. Proverbs 8:33

I'm washin' my hands

One day while driving down the road, Jessica hears her 2 year old daughter, Kennedy, saying..."I'm washin' my hands Momma, I'm washin' my hands". Thinking that she had found a napkin within reach of her carseat, she calls back her encouragement, "That's great Kennedy!" Kennedy proceeds to not only wash her hands, but also her face, her feet, and everything else. "I'm washin my feet Momma, I'm washin' my feet!"

Little did she know, that all the while Kennedy was "washin' her hands" she was actually licking them. She was also using those licked hands to wash her face, and her feet. Licking and relicking...

It made me think of how many times I thought I was cleaning things in my life when in all actually I was making the situation worse. Instead of turning the problem over to my heavenly Father to wash and santify...I was busy "washin'" it myself.

All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.
Proverbs 16:2

Will the Circle Be Unbroken

Will The Circle Be Unbroken

I was standing by the window

On a cold and cloudy day

When I saw the hearse come rolling

To carry my mother away

Will the circle be unbroken

Bye and bye Lord bye and bye

There's a better home a waiting

In the sky Lord in the sky

I said to the undertaker

Undertaker please drive slow

For that body you are carrying

Lord I hate to see her go

Well I followed close behind her

Tried to hold up and be brave

But I could not hide my sorrow

When they laid her in that grave

I went back home Lord that home was lonesome

Since my mother, she was gone

All my brothers and sisters crying

What a home so sad and alone

In Memory of...

Opal May Cook Blanchard Kelly



Opal was born and raised in Tampa, Florida. Her lineage traces back to the pioneer families that settled the Tampa Bay area in 1840. She attended school in Brandon and fondly remembered Highway 60 when it was a dirt road. She was greatly saddened in later years when circumstances compelled her to leave the area to move closer to family.






She was an avid classic country music and Elvis fan. She loved to recount the story of meeting Elvis at the very beginning of his career when he was touring with Andy Griffith and appeared at Ft. Homer Hesterly Amory on July 31, 1955. Opal was a retiree from Publix Supermarkets. For many years she “lobbied” for a Chattanooga Publix which opened a few months before her death














Circumstances allowed her very few opportunities for formal education, however she pursued knowledge and was able to attain her degree in 1984.

“Maw Maw” was a devoted grandmother who loved hosting “dinner parties” for family, and playing Scrabble.

She was predeceased by her long time companion, James Chavez.

Opal May Cook Blanchard Kelly

May 22, 1940
Tampa, Florida

July 26, 2008
Rossville, Georgia

Parents
Arthur Edward Cook Sr.
(1899-1973)
Gladys Fay Stanley Cook Branham
(1906-1999)

Siblings
Norma Rhodes, Clyde Ivie (deceased), Marvin Ivie,

Gladys Smith, Arthur “Jr.” Cook (deceased)

Children
Debbie Blanchard Little
William Charles Blanchard Jr.

Granddaughters
Rebekah Little (Jason) Patty
Jessica Little (Todd) Castleberry
Amanda Little Davis
Danielle Nicole Glasgow
Carrissa Marie Creider
Sarah Michelle Blanchard

Great Grandchildren
Olivia Grace Davis
Mason Alexander Castleberry
Emma Cathleen Davis
William “Grant” Castleberry
Kennedy Anne Castleberry
Dorian Andreas Creider

Amazing Grace

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind, but now I see


Go Rest High

I know your life
On earth was troubled
And only you could know the pain.
You weren’t afraid to face the devil
You were no stranger to the rain.

Chorus:
Go rest high on that mountain
Son, your work on earth is done
Go to heaven a shoutin
Love for the Father and the Son

Oh, how we cried the day you left us
We gathered around your grave to grieve
I wish I could see the angels’ faces
When they hear your sweet voice sing

Missing Pieces

Today Emma, who is two years old, got her hands on the bag of the Rummi-cube pieces. If you are not familiar with Rummi-Cube, it is a game that is played with tiles that have numbers on them. There are 8 sets of tiles numbered 1-13 (2 sets of 4 colors).

Emma, being her two-year-old self, dumped them all over the floor. She was having a grand ol' time digging in them, throwing them to the four winds, kicking them to watch them slide across the floor, when I found her and decided it was time to clean up.

It took a solid hour of her running back and forth on her short, chubby legs to deposit them, a few at a time in my waiting lap. With each trip, I would praise her efforts, and she would run back for more. Sometimes she would linger...fingering the pieces that she had already left with me, before running back for the next load. Did she get them all? Honestly...we probably won't know until we play the game.

I was thinking that I am much like Emma. I take the gifts that God has given me. Sometimes, instead of using them for their purpose, I scatter them, misuse, and abuse them. They can not be used for their intended purpose while I am playing my games, no one else is getting the benefit, and I am making a mess in the process.

When I do bring them to The Father...sometimes it is only a little at a time. Even after leaving them ... I still continue to want to finger them, and try to take them back. He could help me clean the mess, but He chooses to praise me for my efforts all along the way. Only eternity will reveal if there were wasted opportunities...just like Emma's missing pieces.

Do The Next Thing

A poem quoted by Elisabeth Elliot

Do The Next Thing
"At an old English parsonage down by the sea,
there came in the twilight a message to me.
Its quaint Saxon legend deeply engraven
that, as it seems to me, teaching from heaven.

And all through the hours the quiet words ring,
like a low inspiration, 'Do the next thing.'
Many a questioning, many a fear,
many a doubt hath its quieting here.

Moment by moment, let down from heaven,
time, opportunity, guidance are given.
Fear not tomorrow, child of the King,
trust that with Jesus, do the next thing.


Do it immediately, do it with prayer,
do it reliantly, casting all care.
Do it with reverence, tracing His hand,
who placed it before thee with earnest command.

Stayed on omnipotence, safe 'neath His wing,
leave all resultings, do the next thing.
Looking to Jesus, ever serener,
working or suffering be thy demeanor,
in His dear presence, the rest of His calm,
the light of His countenance, be thy psalm.
Do the next thing."




I love this poem. There are times when we all feel pressured and unsure of the next step to take. I love that I can rely on God to guide me and show me the next thing He would have me do.


In all they ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy path.

You are doing a good job....

Almost seven years ago, my youngest daughter gave birth to my first grandchild. She had to have a c-section and she was really having a hard time, so I stayed the five days and nights in the hospital with her.

I don’t know if you have ever stayed in the hospital when you are not a patient…but suffice it to say, it is very uncomfortable.

I seem to remember that it was the evening of the fourth day, and I had fallen asleep in sheer exhaustion. Several hours later, I woke up and in my sleep craved state—looked up to see my daughter standing by the bassinet, in the dim light of the room, caring for her newborn daughter. Being the encouraging soul I am, I gave her a quick thumbs up sign, and called out to her, “You’re doing a good job Mandy!”, turned over and went back to sleep.

The next morning, she asked me if I remembered the incident. “Sure” I quickly replied (even though the memory was alittle fuzzy). Well, she said, I think you should know that at the time you roused yourself to give me the “thumbs up”, I was leaking from every orifice in my body, the baby had pooped on me, and I was throwing up.

Years have past, and this has become our way of giving encouragement. When hard times have come (and they always do) and it seems like she can’t put another foot in front of the other…I will look at her and grin…give her a thumbs up and exclaim “You’re doing a good job Mandy!” She knows then that I understand that she is up to her elbows in do-do, and even if I can’t help her….I am there for her.

I have told you this story, because I want you to know that “You’re doing a good job!”

I see the single parents, the couples who never get to see each other, the widows, the ones longing for children, and the ones who are struggling with burdens that honestly would crush me.

I see those who struggle daily with emotional and physical pain, meeting each day with courage and dignity.

I see men and women who carry on day after day, with little or no sleep, and still are still the first one to lend a helping hand.

I see those who have been up all night with a sick child or family member, and those who want to be there, but can’t because they work or live far away.

I see you all…up to your elbows in do-do
And I just want to take a moment to say….

You’re doing a good job!!