A to Z Blog Challenge - H

Hello my friends! Just a little reminder that tomorrow there will not be a letter for the challenge and also... David and I are escaping for a few days for a little anniversary trip this weekend! YAY!! I'll see you at the end of the weekend!!

This post will be a short & sweet one! My ESCAPE awaits me!! :)

Letter H

Heaven

I love reading about Heaven and what it might be like when I get there! I am not ready to die anytime soon, but I am not afraid TO die. I know that my life here on earth is only temporary and that Heaven is my ultimate destination.

Hearts

I love hearts! Always have. I am very attracted to anything that has a heart on it. Back when we lived in Atlanta, my decorating style was more "country" than anything else, and most things that were country had hearts on them! If you came to my house today, you would still find hearts scattered here and there, but not as many. Hearts remind me of love, and love reminds me of God's love.

Houses

Ever since I can remember... I have had a "thing" for houses! I grew up living in Apartments so I guess that is where my fascination for houses came from. I especially loved houses that had stairs!! They were like mansions to me! I also remember having a furniture catalog from the Ethan Allen store. I would spend HOURS going thru it and imagining myself living in each room! I also spent a lot of my time designing houses. I would draw them out on paper, in a notebook that I kept. When I got older, I would buy magazines that had floorplans in them. I kept them for a long time, until we moved to Columbus and then I threw them away. Now, I miss them!

Hand-Me-Downs

Growing up, I would wait each Summer for the big box of hand-me-down clothes to arrive from my cousins in Florida! My mother "made" most of my clothes, so to get this box of "store bought" clothes was a thrill for me! My girls didn't wear too many hand-me-downs when they were little. Not because I didn't want them to, but because we didn't have anyone to give us any. Ashley's best friend has been giving Ashley her hand-me-down's for years now and Ashley LOVES when her friend cleans out her closet!! Then, Miranda gets the leftovers of what Ashley doesn't want. It works out well!

Hamsters

As a child, not only did I have my Toy Fox Terrier, Penny... but, I had hamsters! I loved them! I don't remember in total how many I had, over the years. Probably 3 or 4. They either didn't live long or they would escape from their cages and then never found again! (They really are crafty little critters!) The one that I had the longest was named Queenie. She was blonde. I had her for about 3 years until she finally escaped and was never found again! I cried and cried!!! When my girls were little, we tried having hamsters. It didn't work out too well, so we said NO MORE!

If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away

My favorite type of music is COUNTRY. I have many favorite artists and groups that I enjoy listening to. There are only a few reasons why I might change the channel and listen to something else. One of those reasons might be when a new artist comes on the radio. I will listen for a moment and see if I like their song or not... and if I don't, then the channel gets changed!

Yesterday, as I was driving home from THE LIBRARY .... (see yesterday's post)... I heard a song that I had never heard before by an artist that I was not familiar with. I liked his voice and as I listened to the song... I LOVED the lyrics, even more!!

The artist's name was Justin Moore and the title of the song was If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away.

Unfortunately, I do not know how to put video's or music onto my blog... but, here are the lyrics to the song.

Every day I drive to work across Flint River bridge
A hundred yards from the spot where me and grandpa fished
There's a piece of his old fruit stand on the side of Sawmill Road
He'd be there peelin' peaches if it was twenty years ago
And what I wouldn't give
To ride around in that old truck with him

If heaven wasn't so far away
I'd pack up the kids and go for the day
Introduce them to their grandpa
Watch 'em laugh at the way he talks
I'd find my long lost cousin John
The one we left back in Vietnam
Show him a picture of his daughter now
She's a doctor and he'd be proud
Then tell him we'd be back in a couple of days
In the rear view mirror we'd all watch 'em wave
Yeah, and losing them wouldn't be so hard to take
If heaven wasn't so far away

I'd hug all three of those girls we lost from the class of '99
And I'd find my bird dog Bo and take him huntin' one more time
I'd ask Hank why he took those pills back in '53
And Janis to sing the second verse of "Me and Bobby McGee"
Sit on a cloud and visit for a while
It'd do me good just to see them smile

If heaven wasn't so far away
I'd pack up the kids and go for the day
Introduce them to their grandpa
Watch 'em laugh at the way he talks
I'd find my long lost cousin John
The one we left back in Vietnam
Show him a picture of his daughter now
She's a doctor and he'd be proud
Then tell him we'd be back in a couple of days
In the rear view mirror we'd all watch 'em wave
Yeah, and losing them wouldn't be so hard to take
If heaven wasn't so far
If heaven wasn't so far
If heaven wasn't so far away
So far away
So far away

When I heard the line... "I'd pick up the kids and go for the day...introduce them to their grandpa"... I LOST IT!! Tears filled my eyes and all I could think about is how I wish my girls could know my Daddy... their Grandpa. Yes.... I wish Heaven weren't so far away.

Sadly, my Daddy died of a sudden heart attack when I was only 18 years old. I miss him so VERY much! It took me a long time to understand "why" God took him --- It was the only way that God could "heal" him.

That is the prayer that I pray for my mom, now. I pray for God to "heal" her. When she is "well", again... then, she will be happy. Right now, she is not.
I didn't mean for this post to be such a "downer", but I really wanted to share this song with you. I know that many of us wish that we could visit Heaven. Wouldn't that be a wonderful way to spend the day! **Smile**

A Book for My Mom

A couple of weeks ago, a friend told me about this wonderful book ----

In case you can't read the subtitle.... it says...

"A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back"

As soon as my friend told me about the book, I knew that I must buy it for my mom to read.

For those of you that may not know... my mom is in a nursing home as a result of a stroke that she had in November of 2005. She bounced back pretty good from the stroke, but over the past few years... has been declining in health and now suffers from Congestive Heart Failure. I know that my mom does not have much time left with us, here. Her heart is getting more and more weak. I have accepted this fact and I am prepared.... or at least I "think" I am prepared... for her to leave us and pass on to live forever in eternity with Jesus in Heaven.

For the past month or so, my mom and I have been having some deep conversations regarding how she feels about death and her wishes for when the time comes. Through these conversations, I have sensed that she has many fears and questions about it all.

I have tried, the best that I can, to comfort her, answer her questions, and ease her fears. But, of course, I do not have all the answers. No one here on earth, does. All that we know is what we read in the Bible, and from books such as the one above.

So, when my friend told me about this book... I knew that I must get it!

My mom's birthday is Sunday. I would like to give her the book as one of her presents. Fortunately, she does like to read. I just pray that she will enjoy this book and it will ease her mind and her fears.

I have started reading it myself and I am hoping to finish it before Sunday.

Let me share a little bit of what the back of the book says --

Colton, not yet four years old, told his parents he left his body during the surgery-and authenticated that claim by describing exactly what his parents were doing in another part of the hospital while he was being operated on. He talked of visiting heaven and relayed stories told to him by people he met there whom he had never met in his life, sharing events that happened even before he was born. He also astonished his parents with descriptions and obscure details about heaven that matched the Bible exactly, though he had not yet learned to read.

With disarming innocence and the plainspoken boldness of a child, Colton tells of meeting long-departed family members. He describes Jesus, the angels, how "really, really big" God is, and how much God loves us. Retold by his father, but using Colton's uniquely simple words, Heaven Is for Real offers a glimpse of the world that awaits us, where as Coltons says, "Nobody is old and nobody wears glasses."

I can't wait to finish reading this book!! And....So far, it is easing "my" fears about dying and going to Heaven. I sure hope it helps my mom, as well.