Life 101

Three things you should know before you read this post ....

Either I have forgotten how to post or blogger is acting a little crazy.

Life is very busy, but my good friend, Linda, said I needed to let everyone know I'm okay.

Blogger will not let me add a picture.....

I have missed ya'll like crazy!  Oops, that was 4!

Oh yeah, I'll try to get this Christmas stuff changed out before 4th of July! ~ *finished!* ;)

This is one of those times, when I just don’t know where to start. So, I’ll begin by thanking each of you…..thank you for your thoughts, your prayers, your cards and your calls. Knowing you care about me and my family means a great deal.

Your know Granny rec’d a pacemaker the latter part of December. Well, that didn’t workout too well. There was also a medicine she was put on in December that didn’t workout well either. So, trips to the E.R., two hospital stays, after which she was admitted to a nursing home. She lived another 5 days in the nursing facility, passing away on January 12th. Her funeral was the following Saturday.

Her niece, Dot (who I had requested prayer for), lost her battle with cancer the following week. At Dot’s funeral, we learned there isn’t much hope that dh’s aunt, Onie, will regain her sight.

By this point, we were all emotionally drained and physically exhausted. But there were good things too. And there were things that made us laugh. Humor is such a wonderful gift.

At 92, Granny’s mind never faltered. She knew each of us up until the last few hours of the morning when she passed away.

We had beautiful weather for both funerals and both funerals were more a celebration of life, rather than the normal funeral. One of the pastors that helped with Granny’s service related a story…

When he and his wife moved back to this area to pastor, they came by to visit Granny. That was two years ago. Bro. Cary went to introduce himself to Granny and said, “Sister Dorothy, you probably don’t remember me, but I’m Cary Girth and my wife and I will be pastoring the Oil Center church.” To which Granny replied, “Why Cary, I remember you. I did yours and Judy’s wedding!” Bro. Cary was a little taken back, so Granny told him, “I made all the flowers for your wedding!” The wedding was in 1973. Btw – I found a napkin from their wedding still tucked in Granny’s family Bible.

There were many stories like that and the church was packed! The Women’s Ministries kept us fed, encouraged and just did an amazing job of keeping us going.

In the early morning hours, the day of Dot’s funeral, her son (Roger) and granddaughter (Camie) decided they wanted to add extra gravel to the bottom of the grave…..(we use a family cemetery). Anyway, Roger is a perfectionist and he climbed down in the grave to make sure the gravel was level. Then he couldn’t get out. So Camie was trying to help Roger out, she fell in head first! Later at the cemetery, we all got a good chuckle….picturing Granny and Dot watching the “circus act” from the rim of heaven. We could almost hear them saying, “Would you look at what those crazy kids are doing!”

Oh, and get this….there was an amazing amount of beautiful music at Dot’s funeral (partly because son-in-law did his share of the music, but there was a number of singers and they all did an outstanding job). But….Granny and Dot were “Nelsons” and Dot has always loved (cousin) Willie’s music. So Roger and his sister decided at the close of the service at the cemetery, they would play a cd of Willie Nelson singing Amazing Grace, only the guys from the funeral home didn’t have the cd programmed on the right tract, so we got to hear a little of, “I’ve got the money, honey…if you’ve got the time.”

Clancy Davis also sang at Dot's funeral. Clancy is a cousin to Blake Shelton, however Clancy is much more talented than Blake was at this age (19). You'll be hearing more of him. Clancy's mother died of cancer about two years ago. And after he sang, he gave the sweetest testimony and just spoke from his heart how much everyone needs salvation through Jesus. It was just one of those spontaneous things that blessed me so much.

The following week, we had a horse get sick. In the process of doctoring said horse, I found myself looking up at blue sky. I’m still sore…..so sore! But the horse is doing much better.

During the first ice storm, I had the stomach flu (yuck!) and we lost “Pig.” For me that wasn’t a great lost, but I still hate to see any animal "go". Then we lost a little puppy, the same day that pig kicked the bucket. The puppy didn’t die from the weather, as she was in the house. It was just one of those things. Her brother is doing great and feisty as can be.

Our family managed to increase during this time….Dot’s great, great, granddaughter gave birth to identical triplets…precious little girls. One was discharged from the local hospital in time, so they could take her to see Dot (who was in a hospital in OKC). They are all three at home now. This is the first multiple birth in the family since dh and his twin brother were born!

As for Onie, she is not only willing for us to try and help her, she is excited. We will be using some natural remedies, along with changing her diet and covering her with lots of prayer. I ordered the herbs last Thursday. I know we can help her feel better and I know God can restore her sight. Nothing is too great for HIM.

I could easily write a small book about the past three months, but I’ll save the rest of this story for another time. Through all of this, we have had extra grandkids nearly everyday, which I love…..but it wears me out.  We are also, right in the middle of kidding season.  We have nine brand new babies on the ground and three more nannies left to kid.  Then there is the garden and all the planting.   (Tired as I am, and it is 2:30 a.m., I love this time of year!)

It seems, I am always apologizing for something and this is no exception.  I know, I owe many of you different prizes and such and you cannot know how much I appreciate your patience.  You sweet ladies are the “best”.  Over the next few weeks, I will be trying to get caught up.  Don’t give up on me, please.

Remember ~ God writes good stories and we are those stories!

Love you all!

Cheryl