And just like that, summer was gone & love your people

September 12, 2017September 12, 2017 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

We are right in the middle of being in the swing of things for school this year. Miss Neenee has plenty to keep her busy. She is cheering this year. We are so excited! Except that she has to miss band for the 1st semester. However, 2nd semester, trumpet section, watch out.

She has had some spirit days at school where they dress up, appropriately, nonetheless, for the theme. This was crazy hair day.

She had a bird’s nest made of hair (aka a bun).

They had a dance. And guess what? Mr. Sweetie Pants attended, too. He was just as cute, as the day is long, to watch dancing with all the “big girls”.

It was a black light dance, thus the freshly made glow in the dark t-shirts & face paint.

We went to the circus with the grands. They were so excited. I asked what their favorite part was & hands down, it was the dog that did tricks! Nevermind the blurry picture. There was LOTS of energy & not being able to be still in this photo. Oh & a Grand that can’t take good pictures.

We came across Batman, Spiderman, a tiger, & a puppy dog at the circus.

On Labor Day we had a fish fry. This young man had a really good time. He told lots of tales and entertained the dickens out of everyone, per his usual.

This man is full of entertainment. Lots and lots of entertainment.

I Thessalonians 3:12

And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you,

I thank God daily for the full life I have. We are truly blessed to be surrounded by people we love. There is really no greater joy in life. I pray the Lord will also make your love BIG for your people, too. Until next time, I should be washing clothes.

September Scripture Writing Plan

September 6, 2017September 6, 2017 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

Wanted to come by & present the September Scripture Writing Plan to you all. No doubt, six days into the lovely month of September. However, I have never prided myself in being a fountain of promptness and follow through. Sadly.

Shannon from Sweet Blessings lets me share this with you each month. Go on over & see her & see what she’s up to. It’s always something fun!

It has been a wild time around our house lately. The kids started back to school. Or should I say the kid and some grandsons started back. Just look at these cuties! I could eat them with a spoon! Hope you are having a wonderful week. Until next time, I will be going, because I should be washing clothes.

Every. Time.

What my Mamaw left for us

April 19, 2017April 19, 2017 / kstrick7 / 2 Comments

Today is a special day. On April 19^th, 1920 my grandmother was born to Jeff & Ella Hayes Lynch. And y’all let me tell you, if the Lord ever put an angel on this earth, she was one of them.

Mama, Me, & Mamaw 1990

She was so dedicated to her family & friends. She went to church every time the doors were open & taught her kids to do the same. She was the backbone in our family. She, along with my grandfather, were upright, righteous, salt of the earth people. When she left this walk of life, I was heartbroken. She left me pieces of her jewelry. She left me the ability to cook. She left me a Christian example to follow. The main thing she left me was the knowledge of a Godly inheritance. Her example was passed on to my mother, then to me & my brother. I am doing my best to pass the gift of the Lord’s salvation on to my children & grandchildren, too. I am going to do all I can to make sure believing in Jesus does not stop with me. I want to share the Word & what it can do for others. Especially with my family. Thankfully, Timothy had a Godly grandmother & mother that taught him about the Lord.

II Timothy 1:5

when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.

When you think of your walk with Christ, will your believing stop with you? Will you pass the love of the Lord to your kids? Or will the wonderful thing Christ did for us just be carelessly forgotten? Please don’t let the good news of Christ stop with you. Be personally responsible for letting it go through generations of your family.

Hebrews 2:3

…how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,

I hope you all are having a great week. Oh & by the way, that Easter weekend just flew by. We had grandkids & kids over. We had a fish fry & just enjoyed being together. My Dad came out for the fish fry. He’s doing some better. Prayers are appreciated! Sunday we went to church, per our usual, & then ate like pigs & hid Easter eggs for the grandkids. I hope you had a blessed Easter. Until next time, I have to be going because I have to be washing clothes.

Purple hull peas & teaching kids about Jesus

August 4, 2016August 3, 2016 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

I don’t know about y’all, but my most favorite part of summer is all the fresh fruits & vegetables. We had our little container garden on our back deck. It’s certainly, a do again. I like having the fresh cucumbers & tomatoes. And the fresh herbs have simply made our grilling out of this world. My uncle called me the other day & said,

“Do you want these purple hull peas, I just picked out of the garden?”

Why yes, I reckon I do. These are the peas that are grown in the same ground my grandparents had their garden. So, it kinda tugs at my heartstrings. These are also the same peas Miss Neenee told me about Sunday night,

“Mama, I was hungry, when we were at church. All I could think about was eating peas & cornbread, when we got home.”

I’m not saying we are properly raising our daughter, however, I just don’t know of anything else you could take away from that. Raising a proper Mississippian takes a little time and effort, and having a palate for southern cooking doesn’t hurt either. Because we LOVE to eat. And Miss Neenee does, too. Thank the Lord.

We had one of the people from Lads to Leaders come speak to us at church Sunday. If you are wondering what Lads to Leaders is, it’s the largest training tool the church has for our youth. However, I guess that’s not really right. Adults can participate, as well. But it’s mostly youth driven. Bro. Roy Johnson talked about doing all we can to keep our kids in church. He said statistics show that at a young age children make up their minds about the Lord, Bible, & church. And a lot of it has to do with who is responsible for their upbringing. I’m not talking about the parents that don’t take their kids to church. I’m talking about the parents that have the kids at church. Sometimes the ones who darken the door every service. Those kids, that decide,

”This is not for me.”

And by the time they get old enough for car keys, they are gone from the church. Or when they are finally old enough to move out, from mama & daddy’s house, that is all of their church going. Those kids, are the ones, that may have not seen mama & daddy love the church like they should have. Those are the ones, that may have always been present, but on the car ride home heard about how it was too cold in the auditorium or too hot. Or how long the preacher made the sermon, or did you see what kind of dress so & so had on? Or did you notice those kids running around, babies crying, or the BIG one- Mr. Brown that sits way up front in the church building, doesn’t speak to Mr. Smith who sits all the way in the back corner of the other side, because when he was little his grandfather & the other guy’s grandfather had a disagreement. We think. They don’t really know about what or who. But they can’t speak or look at each other, anyhow. Y’all. This really hit me hard, because I know all about this stuff. My Daddy was the preacher, when we were growing up. We heard everybody’s business. But you know what? My Daddy & Mama loved the church & taught us kids to love the church.

And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou riseth up. Deuteronomy 11:19 (KJV)

That’s what I want to teach to my kids & grandkids. I want my family to go to heaven. However, I can’t expect my kids& grandkids to learn about the Lord, love the church, & want to be a part of something, that I don’t whole heartedly believe in. You have heard the old saying, “Do as I say, not as I do.” Believe me that doesn’t work here. I just pray the Lord will see fit to help me be a good example to my kids, grandkids, & family. I don’t ever want to be the reason to make anyone stumble. Some may believe wealth & success comes from the world, jobs, what you own. I would think you should feel the richest & happiest in the world if your family were faithful Christians. Nothing beats that.

It’s August. As in August. Summer is on the downhill stretch. And if you ask me how many of my summer goals I met, well, not many. I don’t like to point fingers, but this thing called a broke foot didn’t help the cause much. Now, don’t start gettin’ all worried. I am fine. It’s just a ridiculous inconvenience. That’s all. I hope you have had a great summer, minus the broken bones. I have to be going now, because I should be washing clothes.

Thanksgiving surprise & who I love

November 10, 2015November 10, 2015 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

Well, apparently it’s 2 weeks until Thanksgiving & nobody bothered to tell me. Even though I have been reminding everyone how it’s so many weeks until Christmas, Thanksgiving just left me this year. And by the way, I have been getting some terrible deer in the head light looks when the mere mention of Christmas is made. I suggested to my sweetie maybe this year we should start Christmas shopping & have all our gifts bought by Thanksgiving, (which obviously I thought was at another time). He laughed & explained to me I would never be able to do that, since it is my custom to lose my hair & run around like a crazy woman the weeks & days leading up to Christmas. Well, shut the front door, he was right. However, I have had some happy things going on here of late. Mainly in the name of kids, of course. Here are some highlights of my weekend.

This is what you look like when you have “Super Speed”.

And on a very related note, as you can see, this was at a local cell phone store where I was attempting to do some business. However, was having to constantly remind Mr. Sweetie Pants that the cell phone store was NOT specifically the place to be exhibiting this said “Super Speed”. WHEW! I was one tired Grand by the time I left. Thankfully, I had a helpful Miss Neenee with me.

It was Miss Neenee’s birthday & we were going to see Disney on Ice. Mr. Sweetie Pants was being sassy, so I asked him did he not want to go see Mickey Mouse? He promptly, let me know, he did not want to see anything. Please refer to the above photo.

So, this is why we go to see Disney on Ice each year. Mesmerized & happy faces. That’s what we have here.

Next, you have this one who obviously loves Disney just as well. I mean, crown him king Mickey, hello. Or maybe EA’s Prince Charming? Awww…..

Then, you have these faces, squished up against my face. Love.These.Faces.

I’m not sure if my son has some new leg warmers & back pack or if he was attacked by munchkins. Either way, they are all cute as can be.

And it was all because of this girl. Happy birthday Miss Neenee! More to come this weekend!

I am so very thankful for all these sweet people in my life. Since this month is Thanksgiving, (who would forget that?) I ran across this 30 day scripture reading plan. I know I’m a little late, but it’s still a wonderful exercise to commit to spend your time in God’s word.

I hope you all are having a good week. Now that I’ve realized it’s time for Thanksgiving, I will be making my menu for Thanksgiving dinner. What will you be making? Until next time, I have to go, because I should be washing clothes.

photo credits: Facebook

Easter throwback

April 9, 2015April 9, 2015 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

Easter circa 1976

Easter circa 1977

I know, I know. Easter is over. I had to share this with ya’ll, though. Because, Easter is always so exciting. Especially as kids. The receiving of the proverbial Easter Basket from the Easter Bunny himself. The Easter Frocks which always were accompanied by white gloves & a hat. The coloring of the Easter Eggs. Ahhh.. it was a wonderful time.

On Easter Sunday, we always went to church & then to my grandparents house. Looking back, I can remember, one particular Easter when the weather was not very agreeable. All of the grandkids had assembled at my Mamaw & Papaw’s house after church. We ate our lunch with

Easter circa 1985. My brother in his Rico Suave phase. My cousin in her cuteness phase. Me in my homegirl big bow stage, wearing my Mamaw's dress. Sadly, not true.

Easter circa 1985. My brother in his Rico Suave phase. My cousin in her cuteness phase. Me in my homegirl big bow phase, wearing my Mamaw’s dress. Sadly, not really.

a heavy heart. How were we supposed to hunt Easter Eggs with it pouring rain outside? We must have looked pretty downtrodden.

Because low & behold Easter was not going to be terrible & disappointing!

Somebody suggested we hunt Easter Eggs in the house. Now, let me remind you, this was the early 80s. If plastic eggs were popular back then, well, we didn’t have any. I don’t know what possessed Mamaw to let us hide Easter Eggs in her house. But ya’ll, she did & we were very delighted to say the least. Because Mamaw had just saved Easter.

We hid & hunted eggs all afternoon. It wasn’t as fun as being outside, but not much of anything ever was. Anyway, a good time was had by all & that was that. Or so we thought. Fast forward about 6 weeks….my Mamaw was milling around the house & heard something back in the bedroom. Walking back to her room, she smelled the awfulest smell she had ever smelled. She got back to her room & started looking around. She could not, for the life of her, figure out what was going on. So, she started looking through her dresser, her vanity, her closet, & her chifferobe. That’s when she realized what had happened. One of our Easter Eggs had not gotten found & it exploded in her chifferobe.

Oh. My. Word. Ya’ll.

MAMAW’S UNDERWEAR DRAWER HAD A ROTTEN EGG IN IT.

Not just any rotten egg. An EXPLODED rotten egg. Needless to say, she washed & washed her unmentionables for no reason. Because the smell would NOT come out. In our family, word of Mamaw’s underwear got around pretty quickly. Each of us grandkids were sternly questioned as to

“WHO IN THE WORLD hid the egg in Mamaw’s DRAWERS drawer???”

I don’t readily recall who the final culprit was. EXCEPT I knew with ALL my heart, this time, I was not to blame for ANY of it.

The guilty party was in this group of Easter Egg hiding kids.

The guilty party was in this group of Easter Egg huntin’ kids.

Mamaw was not too thrilled to have to throw away all her undergarments. And she did declare, no more Easter Egg hiding in the house. I am QUITE sure my Papaw was laughing to himself, at all of this. He would have had to of been silently dying inside. If Mamaw would have thought for an instance this was humorous to Papaw, well, that would have NEVER done. She did not intend that she ever did anything for him to laugh at her about. But, sometimes those moments just came. Especially with us being her grandkids. So, there you have it. Reason 27 why we will never hide Easter Eggs in my house. I know, I am a mean ol’ Grand.

Here are some other thoughts for today:

Psalms 18: 1 I will love You, O Lord, my strength.
²The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
³I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.(NKJV)

We should strive to have a rock solid faith of trust & that the Lord will take care of us, no matter what. We need to remember, no matter what is going on in our lives, at the end of the day God is still in control. No matter how worthless I may feel or how dim the outlook may be, I need to forever remember I truly matter to the God of love, truth, & hope. No pain lasts forever. No evil triumphs in the end.

I hope all of you had a blessed Easter. It was overcast, for us. However, we still got out & hid eggs. The grands ran amuck. They played t-ball, too. Each of the boys had a new ball & bat. Which really didn’t matter if it were new or not. When they started hitting each other in the face & head with them, they didn’t care if that bat were old or new. It still hurt! Not much crying. A lot of “stand back” & “watch out” & “it will be your turn in a minute” was said. My little Miss Priss grandbaby played in the wagon while we were outside. All & all I would say it was a wonderful day. My Daddy came to be with us. He had preached at a local church, Sunday. He stopped by to eat & watch the kids hunt eggs. Then, as is his duty, retired home to study his lesson for Sunday night. Not before he ate a dog’s bait of the scrumptious pork loin my sweetie smoked. But, he was not by himself. We all did. Until next time I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

As much as we try to separate these two, they seem to always end up together.

The best picture of me & the grandboys. Mr. Sweetie Pants kept trying to run off, thus, the death grip I have on him.

Pretty sure this one was the same age as the grands, say yesterday. I love this face.

One last Easter throwback with my eldest & his big ol Easter Bunny circa 1999.

Credits- Our Daily Bread author Philip Yancey

The best gift you can give to your kids & how it’s never too late

December 17, 2014December 17, 2014 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

When I think of Christmas, I think of kids. I don’t know about you, but Christmas was always a special time at our house. Homemade cookies, candy, parties, toys, & family were the best memories I have. As a child growing up, I always had the security of a good family. I never knew what it was like to go to bed hungry or not know I was loved beyond belief. I was very blessed. It humbles me to know what a wonderful childhood I had. It could have very easily been another way. You don’t pick who you are born to. Thankfully, I was born to two precious people, who had a way with a feisty little girl.

At this time of year, I get to thinking about what would be the best presents, for my kids, at Christmas. What special memory can I give them about this time of year? I came across this article & wanted to share it with you. It is the best gift you can possibly give your children all year long.

We should conduct our homes so that children will remember:

Daddy & Mama were kind to one another (Ephesians 4:32).
Home was a happy place, governed by the law of love (Psalm 119:165).
Each child was treated fairly and required to obey his or her parents (Ephesians 6:1-4).
Sunday was a day of worship (Acts 20:7).
The Bible, God’s law, settled everything (Psalm 33:4).
Home was a place where friendships were dear, but truth was dearer (Proverbs 18:24, 23:23).
Although mama & daddy worked hard, they took time to read the Bible daily & pray (Hebrews 10:22).

There is still time for many of us to create good memories for our children & grandchildren. One of the best things I remember growing up, was how special church was to my family. At the church we went to, my Daddy was the preacher, my Mama a Sunday School teacher, my Papaw a song leader, who they also called on to pray & serve the Lord’s table, my Mamaw cooked for those in need, was at every service (with the rest of us), & loved our church family dearly. I had aunts, uncles, & cousins that were also serving the congregation. It’s funny, I never really thought of this being one of my Daddy’s jobs. It was just my life & I have been so blessed to have lived it. Me & my brother did have some requirements. (Some of which were perhaps a smidge challenging to an active/high spirited/could not keep her mouth shut/curious type child).

We were to be attentive.

We were to be dressed properly (hair combed, teeth brushed, & in our Sunday best).

We were to be cordial & kind to others.

And never, ever, ever were we allowed to go to the bathroom close to the end of Daddy’s sermon.

Doing this would possibly create a need to walk back to our seat while the invitation song was being sung. That was Daddy’s moment to help those that needed prayer, baptizing, or other spiritual assistance. My Mama was not going to interfere with one of her kids walking up through there, appearing to come forward. (We sat on the front bench.) So, she made sure we went to the restroom & got a brief drink from the water fountain in between Sunday School & Worship Service. I haven’t had to have therapy or counseling due to this, so I’m sure it was just an inconvenience we lived through. As a matter of fact, it taught us to watch what was going on & be aware of other people’s feelings. Not just a great memory, but good upbringing. Sometimes at church, I see kids & adults walking around during the invitation song. I’m like, “Wow, my Mama would have never had that.”

We may not have had the very best of everything life had to offer. But we had a stable, loving family. That’s what I strive to provide for my own kids & grandkids. Is it perfect? No, but they know they are loved & we are here to support them in all the ups & downs of life. That’s more memorable than any Ipad, Dr. Dre’s Beats, or 4 wheeler.***

I do hope you were raised with wonderful memories at Christmas. If not, it’s not too late to be the person who makes special memories for others. Children are a blessing from God. We should always treat them as such. That means not letting them by with everything in the book, teaching them to be respectful, & honest. However, that starts with us, first. My prayer today is that you will have the courage & braveness of heart to do right & good. Not just for others sake, but for your own, as well. I know of some adults, who as children, did not have a regal upbringing. However, now their parents have come around & taken care of their own problems. They have become wonderful grandparents & not to mention a great support to their kids. It’s never too late.

I hope you are having a wonderful & magical holiday season. We are ramping up for a big couple of days at our house. There will be family visiting, kids squealing in delight, & we will be cooking. A lot. It goes without saying, my usual New Year’s resolution of losing weight will be on my list. As for now, I have to be going, because I should be washing clothes.

Mr. Sweetie Pants having his cake batter & banana, too- in his undies, nonetheless.

Mr. Sweetie Pants having his cake batter & banana, too- in his undies, no less. That’s how we roll.

photo credits: pinterest, Thomas Kincaid collection, & my trusty Iphone

Parts of this was taken from a House to House, Heart to Heart bulletin.

***On a side note, I am not trying to be disrespectful to those who buy expensive gifts for their kids. I am just saying all those things can break, be stolen, or wear out. The things you instill in your kids can never be taken away from them. Just a thought.

Singing to the top of my lungs & leaning on the everlasting arms

September 10, 2014September 9, 2014 / kstrick7 / 2 Comments

What would you do if you didn’t know how to sing? There would be no singing in the shower, no happy noise around the house, no entertainment in the car. There would be no sayings like,

“He couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket. Bless his heart.”

One time we were having a Ladies Day at church & I was asked to lead singing. I was so excited! My family was full of people who could sing well. My uncle is a song leader at his church.

I asked him, “What do I need to do? Which songs should I pick out? I can’t even read music. Is that going to be a big deal?”

He said, “I am going to tell you something a lot of people don’t know. Our family sings by letter. We just open up our mouths & let ‘er fly.”

Whew! I’m so glad I got to carry on my family tradition. Because that’s exactly what I did. And I think it worked out ok. I had a lot of fun, I know that.

We had a missionary come to church Sunday. He gave a report on work he & his wife were doing in Italy & Ukraine. He showed one picture on Powerpoint & said,

“This is a time we were teaching the people how to sing. They didn’t know how to sing church hymns.”

Well, don’t that beat all? Since I have been singing in church since I was a wee thing, I can’t imagine not knowing how to sing church songs. I remember thinking my job was to sing louder than anyone. When I was 5 or 6 years old, I can remember my mama telling me she loved hearing me sing, but it was not necessary that I was the loudest in church. Do tell.

When making trips to town, as a young girl, my grandfather & I would sing Old MacDonald, in his old Corvair pick up truck. My grandmother used to sing to us kids. It was mostly songs she had made up. She would rock us & sing. It was better than anything you can imagine. She had such a way to comfort us young’uns. After church on Sundays, at my Papaw & Mamaw’s house, one of us kids would grab a song book. We would stand in the den, with my grandparents, mama, daddy, aunts, uncles, cousins, & one of would be the song leader. All of us would sing our hearts out. My brother would sing, “Leaning on Jesus Everlasting Arm” just like my Uncle Frank did at church. Everybody would “request songs” & we would sing them. Good times.

At church, there were Sunday singings after our dinner on the ground. That’s where the men of the congregation would take turns singing songs. We would go around the room & whoever wanted to lead a song could. Young, old, it didn’t matter. We just loved to sing.

Did you know one of the things we will be doing in heaven is singing? That makes it mine & your responsibility to be a practicin’!

Revelation 15:3

They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! (NKJV)

It’s a known fact that everybody can sing. Some may read music. Some may sing like a bird. Some may make the dogs howl when they commence to singin’. Like us, some may sing by letter, but it’s all beautiful to God, when we worship the Lord. Even though my mama thought it not proper to sing to the top of my lungs, when I was a young lass, that didn’t damper my spirit at all. I still love to sing along with our congregation. It’s hard to sing & not just feel better. And don’t think I have not taken the opportunity of teaching my kids & grandkids to love singing. I sing to these babies & Mr. Sweetie Pants sings back to me. He can belt out, “Jesus Loves Me” or “Rock Me Mama Like a Wagonwheel” in just a split second.

I hope you are having a good week. We are going to be having some cooler weather closer to the weekend. Oh yeah! I got to see all my grandkids this weekend. We had a big ol’ time. What fun things have you done lately? I want to hear all about it. But for now, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

photo credits: pinterest, keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk, fumctroy.org