Good Things!

Today would be my dad's 71st birthday. Wow...

That seems so unreal to me. He died at age 42. He will always be

forty-two in my mind.

Today I was listening to Christian radio on my way to school. The topic

was unhealed hurts from fathers. I know that God has healed me from

those things, but the speaker was giving steps to move positively away

from the hurt for those whose fathers had died and there was no choice

in resolution...

One of the things recommended was to make two lists. One was for good

thingsthat could be said about the fathers and the other was the other

things that could be said about the fathers... Since my other list has been

dealt with, I thought that I would honor my daddy and list things that I

admire and/or appreciate about him.

So, here I go, listing 10 things....

1. He worked so hard so that his family would not be raised in the poverty that he was.

2. He always paid his bills on time.

3. We always had nice dependable cars.

4. We never ever had our utilities cut off.

5. He worked well with his hands was able to do alot of things around the house and with our cars.

6. He was always neatly dressed and well behaved in public.

7. He managed to get a college degree after dropping out of school when he was in 5th grade.

8. He dropped out of school in 5th grade to help his mom make money to raise the younger kids.

9. He served in the U.S. military proudly.

10.He had a determination in him. He was suppose to die before I was born of blood clots on/in his brain. He lived for 18 additional years.

I don't have a picture right now. I will get one posted once I can get one of him.

Happy Birthday Daddy.

I love you.

A prayer answered

When I was in 6th grade, I began to babysit for a lady that lived down the street from me. It was my lst summer job. She had a son that was about 6 months old. The distance was good for me, I didn't have to get a ride over there and the hours were good also. The hours allowed me to be out of the house alot of the time my dad was in the house. Cathy became a protector to to me, she one of the first ones that I realize God had put in my life, as a young person. When I was 16 I ran away from home and left Texarkana completely to not return for 10 years. I eventually landed at my grandparent's home to live with them. I lived in Arkansas for quite a few years, my heart missed Cathy but, she had moved and I had lost all contact with her.
She had gotten a divorce and was about to remarry when I had left. I didn't even know what her fiance's name was. Because Cathy had given me a safe place to hide and be sheltered all those years I loved her dearly for her protection. I didn't see it as the Lord's protection at that time, but truly that is what it was.

As time passed, I would try to search as much as I could to find her if I went to Texarkana for a visit with my aunt and uncle. It was totally fruitless. This was before the Internet or computers were a household staple.

Finally in 1988 I moved back to Texarkana. I was pregnant with Josh. My ex-husband asked me to please move from Shreveport and not to tell anyone that I was pregnant. For some reason, that is exactly what I did. I had met Wesley my husband while I was pregnant. He lived in Texarkana. That sounded like a good landing place to me.

Back to Cathy...It has been 10 years since I had seen or heard from Cathy. My heart loved her so much. I was so grateful that she was willing to protect me to the best of her ability. I wonder now the discussions that she and my dad might have had. I guess it is better that I don't know about them. I continued to search for my beloved Cathy, old neighbors, ex-family, old landlord....nothing ever came of my continued search.

One Sunday after church, I was in the kitchen cleaning up after lunch. I was praying for Cathy and for Little Jim. I had just asked the Lord to please help me find Cathy as, I didn't know what else to do. I was figuring Little Jim's age as I was praying for him. That is when I looked at my bottle of Dawn and thought, I need to run to Kmart and buy some more. I only have 1/4 of a bottle left. So I stopped what I was doing, and told Wes that I would be back in about 10 minutes. I got into K-mart and was still praying for Cathy as I was walking up and down the aisles. I finally spotted the detergent aisle and head in that direction. I picked up the faithful old blue bottle and headed to the end of the aisle.

I stopped in my tracks! There stood my precious most wonderful Cathy! I began sobbing and thanking God in the same breaths! At first she did not recognize me. She had been in a serious car wreck six months before and could not place me. Once we talked for a few minutes, she remembered me! My heart was soooo happy! If my heart could have jumped out of my body and to do a happy dance, it certainly would have! She was with some of her family, as she wasn't able to drive yet, I took her home with me that day and hoarded her up in my bedroom! I introduced her to Wes and then it was just the two of us for 5-6 hours. It was such a wonderful reunion!

She was living across town in the other state. For those who don't know, Texarkana is a twin city. There is Texarkana, TX and Texarkana, AR. There were 3-4 K-Marts between where she lived and I lived. She could have gone to any one of them. God directed them(her family)all the way across a state line into her old neighborhood just for me. He heard my prayer, and he answered it.

This was one of the times in my life that I felt the love of my Father so present!
I knew He had moved on my behalf so that my heart would be happy. He had worked all things for the good of me. He was moved by compassion for His daughter that He loved so much.

My Daddy and Me! :o)

God gave me this vision...it was so awesome! His love is so sweet, and He is so powerful!

Let me see.....if i can explain this so you can get the full just of what i saw......I saw me as a little girl, running into the Courtyard of Praise, right to the Holy of Holies, hollering for my daddy(the Lord) I finally get there.....no one is stopping me...I am out of breath...huffing and puffing.....it is so urgent that I see my daddy! I know that I have a big problem and I need my daddy's help to take care of it. As I get to the Throne Room.....I see Him there sitting....and He just let me jump smack dab in the middle of His lap, like a little girl would, and I nuzzled up to Him. Ifelt soooo safe.(Jesus was there too.....I remember seeing Him as I ran in....but I needed my daddy.....) I rememberlooking around and thinking well when are you going to do something? He heard my thought and said,"Angela....I did all I am gong to do a long time ago, your problem is already taken care of". He didn't even move....nor Jesus.....I remember looking out towards where I had run from and there were great big winged beings.....I knew they were my angels...I felt their presence as I was running. My daddy lifted his hand as to give them direction....they went to take care of what ever was needing taken care of...and I stayed in His lap.....they did return...and I knew everything was okay. My daddy, one more time, had it all under control.I don't know how many of you know this, but my earthly father died when I was 19(over half my life ago)and I adopted my Father to be my daddy at that time....so our relationship is just like that of a daddy and daughter. I am the apple of His eye...He lovesme sooooooooo much. I never ever dreamed I could be loved as much as I comprehend Him loving me...His love goes so far beyond my limited mind....and His love covers the multitude of my sins. Hallelujah! Well, that is it...I am such a Happy Little Girl, so comforted from His love! As y'all know daddy and I dance too.....I get on his feet in the spirit...and we go round and round and round......I just love it when we twirl!

Praises and Glory and Honor to my Daddy!

~~~~~

I want to include in this blog that anyone who reads this can be a daddy's girl. My Father loves you just as much as He loves me. Everything He has given to me He will give to you. It is as simple as accepting Him in your heart as your saviour and accepting His love just where you are.

There is no need for pretenses. He knows you and He knows me every blemish, every hair, every gift, and every breath. He created this earth just for us and He gave us our name before He even created the earth.

Scents of life and love

I was never a daddy's girl... always a Papa's girl . He has been in heaven for 14 years now.
I went to vist my grandmother for the first time in about 5 years in July for my birthday.
I have seen her in the 5 years, it just hasn't been at her house.

Once we got our initial hugs and kisses over with, I immediately went to my Pa's old bedroom. Granny has now made it her sewing room. The gold velvet curtains were gone, the bed was gone. My heart was saddened. I knew though that the best place to find the scent of my Pa would be in his closet. His scent had always been there! I opened the door to the closet and there sat hundreds of pieces of material and some unfinished quilts. I took a deep breath knowing that I would smell that wonderful musty propane earthy smell of my Pa. I was wrong! My heart skipped a beat! How could this have happened? Where did his scent go? I searched all through the house with my nose trying to find that wonderfully comforting scent.

I never found it. This is the first time that I have really missed my Pa and wanted to cry. I always found comfort in being in his bedroom and just closing my eyes and there he was...still very vivid in my memories.

The memories are still there, but I feel like I lost some part of my Pa. I love him so much.
He and my granny were my source of encouragement and love as a child growing up. It seemed as though they always showed up when things at home were getting to be unbearable. They were there long enough (2days) to fill my heart with the love of Jesus and be on their way back home again. I would sob each and everytime they left or we left them. Only when I was with them did I feel safe. I guess in the scent of my Pa, I found a place of safety.

I don't need that safety anymore, I just wanted one more smell of my Pa. I want my children to know what he smelled like. I wanted to share with them what little I had left of him that isn't in my heart. I want them to love him as much as I do. I want them to know how wonderfully special he was...what a wonderful Christian man he was.

I hope when I am in heaven, my children will remember what I smelled like. I hope it will bring sweet memories to their mind. I hope this for my grandchildren that are to come also. I only smell like one thing, Jessica McClintock. I hope it is around for a long long time.