Brave Heart, Brave Soul. She who is brave is free.

“I do not understand this mystery of grace - only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.” ~ Anne Lamott I don’t know about you but I’m fairly tickled pink Jesus has never said to me, “This is the last straw missy. The absolute last time I’m going to put you back together again Christie.” I can assure you if anyone is going to test His patience it’s me. I have always had a need to learn things on my own, the hard way even. I can be rather stubborn, headstrong and of course strong-willed to boot. No real surprise there, right? I’m a redhead for goodness gracious sake. What do you expect? After all Pippi Longstocking was my role model back in the day. She was a bit of spitfire if I do say so myself. Reminiscing a little bit I remember this one particular day as a little girl that didn’t quite go as planned. I was about 3 or 4 years old and we were living in Germany at the time. I stood outside our military quarters watching all my friends cross the str

“Don’t change so people will like you. Be yourself and the right people will love you.” It’s hard for me to believe both my boys have grown into men. Wasn’t it just yesterday Johnny and I were bringing them home from the hospital with their tiny feet and little fingers? Oh how I’d love to count them all in a row. It feels like I blinked and suddenly they weren’t babies anymore but full grown men towering over me. I wouldn't dare try counting their fingers and toes now! I look at our youngest today at 6’3 and I’m blown away. He was just my little love bug, crawling up into my lap, hands on my face telling me he loved me. Now he’s 19 and moving out into the world on his own. I won’t lie, I miss those days gone by. I’ve always said we’ve been exceptionally blessed by our boys. The joy God’s given us in them has been an  incredible gift. Still I miss the days of tucking them into bed, reading Winnie the Pooh and pushing them around in a buggy. The days of first steps, first hai

“Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.” ~ Winston S. Churchill Life is full of ‘wait a minute vines’ as my daddy has always said. All you have to do is walk outside to learn this lesson. Just take a stroll down the street or around the corner and something or someone is bound to snag, grab or trip you up one way or another. Just making the choice to open your front door every morning is a chance. If my daddy has taught me anything in my near 45 years it’s this: inhale courage and exhale fear. My daddy was a lifetime soldier. He jumped out of planes with the 82nd Airborne. As a child I thought he had no fear. I watched him wear his uniform with pride. I was in aww of his wings. I loved when he walked out the door with his Green Beret on. In my eyes he's always been a man's man. My boys would tell you their Paw Paw is a bad ----. And though those aren't the words I'd chose, they are right..He really is. But he's also funny, kind, humble, loving and gracio

“That’s the story of you and me, the way we’ve always been and we’ll always be friends until the end. “ ~ Piglet I was very little when my mama first introduced me to Pooh Bear. She read all the many adventures of Winnie the Pooh to me as a child somewhere between 1977 and 78. I in turn read them to my own boys some 25 years later. In fact I felt such a strong attachment to Pooh Bear both the boys nurseries softly resembled the 100 Acre Wood. I’m sure my love and fondness for Winnie the Pooh came from my childhood memories. I remember listening to my mama’s sweet voice bringing the world of Christopher Robin to life every night that year. She began reading ‘The House at Pooh Corner’ by A.A. Milne to me soon after we’d seen Disney’s animated feature-length film, ‘The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh’ in the spring of 1977 on Post. This silly, Buddy Bear with his  'chubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff' as the Chieftains brilliantly describe and his entourage taugh