The Beginning...

Everyone has a beginning, a place their life starts, or their story starts.  My beginning was 35 years ago (wow!) to a sweet, loving Moma.  I guess I should mention I had a father too, (doesn't everyone?), but he died when I was very young.  I don't remember anything about him.  I did have a wonderful stepfather, who was my Daddy in every sense of the word, but that's another story entirely.  Anyways, back to my moma.

Her name was Clara Elizabeth, but everyone knew her as Betty, or Moma, or Granny.  Her eyes were blue and her hair was blonde, or black, and maybe once even purple. She was a very hard worker, very independent.  She was kinda strict with me, though I really didn't give her much trouble.  She somehow knew what I was going to do before I even did it, so that put a damper on any secret plans I had. 

Moma took me to church when I was little, and if she didn't take me, I would ride the church bus that came by my house.  I remember going alone when I was probably 6 or 7 years old.  Even at that young age, I knew there was something bigger out there, a God that had made the whole world around me.  I can remember one day I was outside playing and there was sunbeams streaming down from the sky through some clouds.  I thought it was Jesus returning, because I had seen a picture in my bible of sunbeams with Jesus in the middle of them.  I ran in the house to my Moma, all excited.  She assured me that probably wasn't happening right then, but she came outside with me anyway. 

The first lesson I can remember my mother teaching me about the Lord was that you don't question his plans, or his motives.  It was all cut and dry with her.  God does what He does, and we are to just be grateful He gave us our lives, and try to live like He would have us live.  To me, even now, it's having a "child-like faith".  Faith that says I don't know why, or how, or when, but I know WHO!  I know that there's a heavenly Father looking out for me, who loves me more than I can even imagine, and He knows all my crap!  We all have crap.  It makes us do things all wrong, or think things all wrong, or say things all wrong.  But at the end of the day, you can say, I'm sorry, Lord.  Forgive me for today, and go ahead and forgive me for tomorrow, too, cause I'll probably mess up again.  And that's ok.  Just like you forgive your kids, everyday, God forgives us everyday.  And He keeps on loving us everyday, even when we don't even love ourselves. 

"I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Luke 18:17