Posted on by kellyyarborough

An Evening to Remember

The most important lesson I am learning from writing my “thankful, grateful, and blessed” series is that gratitude and pride cannot co-exist. Gratitude in its truest form brings an unexpected heart of deep humility.

Over the weekend, we had an amazing opportunity to see Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, and Cece Winans together at The Fox Theater.

I feel so incredibly grateful, thankful, and blessed that we were able to share in such an incredible night of worship and music.

This time last year, it was the YouTube prerecorded Christmas concerts that God used to help me through my deep grief. One song particularly touched an area of my heart like no other, and it’s called Freeze the Frame. As I listened to the words, the etchings of Christmases past flooded my mind. As I recalled these to mind, gratitude overwhelmed my soul, and the feelings of deep grief turned into joy. Joy in knowing how precious these times were, and the hope of looking forward to new ones.

In May, we were looking for a concert to attend. We desired to go back to the Ryman Auditorium; but we weren’t finding anything we wanted to attend. Then, Terry looked at Fox Theater because we prefer smaller venues, and discovered this concert. Knowing how powerfully it had touched me during last year’s Christmas, he bought us tickets. Just another reason I know how deeply he loves me.

The whole time I was under the impression we were just going to see Michael and Amy. (Not a bad thing.) On Saturday as we were driving to Atlanta, he said Cece was going to be there as well. What a wonderful surprise I got that day!

I am so thankful, grateful, and blessed for the gift of music and for these incredibly talented musicians who use their gifts to magnify and glorify the Lord.

And I’ll just be real here, my mascara is not waterproof, and I had black eyes at the concert’s end. #thankfulgratefulandblessed Cece Winans, Amy Grant,, Michael W Smith

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A Solid Foundation

Do you know you can learn a lot from Children’s books? For example, The Three Little Pigs. In the beginning, the three little pigs go off into the world to build their own homes, and live independently. However, there’s always a constant threat of the Big Bad Wolf, who’s looking to tear down their homes and devour them.

As the story unfolds, we learn that the first two little pigs don’t put a lot of time, effort, energy, or thought into the foundation or building of their homes. When Big Bad comes calling, it doesn’t take much effort on his part to destroy their homes. However, the third pig was more thoughtful, prepared, and diligent. He builds a good, solid, and sturdy foundation. When Big Bad shows up to his house. “He buffs and he puffs”, and he can’t blow the house down. Frustrated, but determined, the the wolf climbs on the roof, and down the chimney he plops right into a pot of boiling water.

Can I just be really honest? There have been so many times throughout the course of my life that I’ve fallen into the category of the first two pigs. I’ve not put a lot of time, effort, or thought much about building my hope on a solid foundation, and when the winds of change have come, my little kingdoms have been knocked down and brought to ruin.

My hope was built around temporary and non-permanent things. You know what? I’ve been terribly disappointed and disillusioned. Want to know why? Because this life is temporary and the things of this life are temporary. My primary purpose in life is to bring glory to God. If I am fixated on temporary things of this world, that can be snatched away in a moment, I am going to have times of disillusionment, confusion, and loss. Like the first two little pigs, when the enemy comes knocking, he will blow my house down, because there is no solid foundation.

However, when my hope is built on the Lord Jesus Christ, the cornerstone, the very one who holds all things together, I can rest assured that when the enemy comes knocking; my foundation is steady, sure, and strong. The walls will not cave in, the enemy cannot destroy my home because Jesus has already defeated him and my real home is in heaven with Him. In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses tells the children of Israel, “You shall not fear them, for it is the Lord your God who fights for you.’” Deuteronomy‬ ‭3‬:‭22‬ ‭ESV‬‬. He’s reminding the Israelites that God has already given them the land and they do not have to fear their enemies. It doesn’t mean the enemies won’t come and try to steal, kill, or destroy them, but God is fighting for them. In the same way, we do not have to fear the attacks of the enemy because Jesus has already won the battle on Calvary’s hill.

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Grandpa Reese- A Story of Amazing Grace

Today, I am thankful grateful, and blessed to have known and loved my grandfather, Kermit Walter Reese. He was born on December 12, 1919, and died on June 18, 1991. Grandpa was first and foremost a servant of God, humble, and strong.

Before I delve into his story, I am going to share a few of my favorite memories of Grandpa Reese. On any given Sunday, after lunch, if there were 12 or 30 in the house, Grandpa would always steal away to his bedroom for a nap. I have no idea how he slept with all the clamoring; but he did. Grandpa smoked a pipe, and unfiltered Camels. I loved the smell of his pipe. He even let me try it once. I coughed up a lung, because I inhaled. Grandpa loved sitting on his front porch with his children and grandchildren, even in the dead of winter, you could find him there. It makes sense to me why I love porch sitting so much. Grandpa was a hard worker and didn’t mind doing menial jobs. He knew his primary responsibility was to proclaim the Good News of the Gospel.

Grandpa made some poor choices early in his life and marriage. Choices that could’ve wrecked his life and family. However, Grandpa, like Paul, had a Damascus Road experience. He saw his great need for God, called out for mercy, and clung to the cross of Jesus. This one impactful decision changed the whole trajectory of his family, and continues to change it still today. I imagine his cry to the Lord was similar to David’s, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭51‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

God answered the cry of his heart that day, and Grandpa always remained humble. He knew that he could not “do life” alone. He understood that his sin had cost Jesus his very life. He felt the love and acceptance of God in a very tangible way. But Grandpa understood that there would always be times of temptation to return to his former life. He also knew that in moments of despair and desire to go back, he could call on the name of Jesus. Jesus would give him the power to resist the temptation.

There is great strength in humility and Grandpa certainly was doused with both. He never forgot his past, but he also did not allow his past to define him. He knew that he was a child of God and that God was working a complete restoration project in him. Grandpa knew that apart from Jesus he could do nothing; but by choosing to remain in Jesus, he could proclaim with great authority and strength that the power of the cross had set him free and would do the same for anyone who believes. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”
‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭5‬:‭6‬-‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Grandpa, I am so thankful, grateful, and blessed because of you. My life would not be what it is today if you had not fallen on your knees and begged for mercy. Never underestimate the power of a life that has been changed.

“I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.”
― Abraham Lincoln

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Mr. Ken- A True American Hero

A True American Hero

One day as we were out walking we struck up a conversation with our neighbor, Ken.

He had been experiencing back problems and we were concerned. He began to tell us of all the surgeries and metal he has in his body. Once he finished, I said, “Wow, you’re like the bionic man.”

His response was not expected but intrigued me, “No, I am a NAM POW.”

Now he had my attention but I’ve learned that it is a subject you tread lightly, “Really? That’s fascinating. Can you tell us about it?” I inquired.

“My helicopter went down. Everyone escaped. I was caught under the helicopter and when I finally got free, I was captured by the Viet Kong. They thrust me into a deep pit with other POWs and I remained there for about 91 days until I was able to escape.”

Because I cannot do his story justice I will stop there but what struck me the most about his entire experience was that he didn’t have to be there. He was not drafted. His brother was drafted and Ken took his brother’s name and took his brother’s place. Why? Because his brother had a family, a wife, and a new baby. Ken did eventually have to tell them he was not his brother but he waited until there was nothing the Army could do about it.

In my opinion, Ken is a true American Hero. Not only did he serve his country well, but he also did what many of us are unwilling to do, he gave up his freedom for that of his brother.

Today is a day we get to honor those who have served. I am honored to know this man as well as many others, including family who have served our great country.

To all who have served, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for choosing to give up your freedom so that I have mine. You are what America is all about…..the land of the free because of the brave #veteransday #heros #thankyou

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A Woman Named Joyce

Today I am thankful, grateful and blessed for having known and loved Joyce Brown Jackson. Born December 31, 1944 died April 28, 1983. 

I cannot tell you when I met her, but what I can tell you is that I loved her at first sight.  She was magnetic.  An unmistakeable personality, a woman filled with love for life and love for her family, but more importantly, love for her Jesus. 

I met Joyce around the time her melanoma had returned. I am still not certain how my mom found out about her, but I am certainly glad she did.  

Joyce had four boys and one girl. When I first met Joyce, I didn’t know her children.  Later, I would become acquainted with them and become fond of each one. 

Mom would take me to visit with Joyce. She would drop me off, and I would spend hours with her, helping do chores, talking, and helping her cook. Honestly, I think Mom was hopeful that being part of Joyce’s journey with melanoma would help me deal with the grief of losing my daddy to melanoma. 

I spent many hours and days with Joyce.  In fact, she’s the one who taught me how to know when pasta is cooked. One day I made spaghetti for them, and when I was boiling the noodles, she said, “Take one out and throw it on the backsplash.  If it sticks, you know it’s done. If not, cook it a little longer.”  A lesson I have always remembered. 

As Joyce’s health declined, some days I would simply sit and talk to her.  She dearly loved her family, especially her Jerry. He was her strength. Oh, how she loved him.  Her children were her lifeblood.  She loved them so. But Joyce had a confident faith, and she knew God was preparing her place and would come for her when He was ready. 

She became like a second mom to me.  I loved her. I loved spending time with her.  And when she became deathly ill, her family asked me to be with them in the hospital. I was with her and her family in her final moments of life. 

I was heartbroken when she died.  At her celebration of life ceremony, a gentleman stopped me and said, “I know who you are.  You are one of Joyce’s kids.” 

I quickly responded, “Oh no, I am not one of her children.  I am just a friend of the family.” 

He said, “Oh no, she told me all about you and she considered you one of her own.”

I put my hands over my face and cried until the tears were no more. Not only was I overwhelmed at the thought that she considered me as one of her own but again I felt the searing pain of loss.

Many moons have passed since her death in 1983 but the beautiful memories of her, I will always treasure in my heart.  The lessons I learned from Joyce were to love well, live life purposefully and soak up every minute because you never know what the future holds and if the noodles don’t stick put them back in the pot. And now, looking back, I do believe that it helped me through the grief of my daddy’s death; although I didn’t see it at the time. 

Her life is a great reminder that we are born with a birthdate and an expiration date but it’s what we do with our dash that makes the difference. 

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Her Babies….

As I’ve shared before, around August of 2020, Mom was diagnosed with mild cognitive memory loss. At that time, it was not labeled Alzheimer’s or dementia, however, as time plowed on she began to lose more and more of her memory, ability to reason, ability to balance a checkbook, and ability to control her bladder. Yet, through it all, her spirit remained sweet. This was a true blessing.

Mom dearly loved her grand pups, she had a special bond with our Sammy. She kept him for us when we traveled and prior to her move into assisted living, as her dementia was worsening, I would often just call and ask, “Mom, do you want Sammy boy for a few days?”

“Oh, honey, I would love to have that little thing for a few days, just bring him on,” was her classic response.

Sammy gave Mom purpose. He also provided company for her. He was aging, and so was she. He was happy to stay in bed as long as she wanted. He was also content sitting beside her in her chair. Of course, she gave him all the pets he wanted.

As Sammy’s health began waning, I told Terry that if something happened to him; it would break Mom’s heart. Unfortunately, I was right. When we put him down, she missed him as more, if not more, than we did.

We put him down on January 5, 2023. Mom’s birthday was coming up in February and so I searched the internet and bought her a stuffed Bichon. I had been reading about how dementia patients often attached themselves to stuffed animals. Stuffed animals frequently provide comfort and a sense of purpose for people suffering from dementia.

The stuffed animal arrived about a week before her birthday. Surprise, surprise, he was much bigger than he looked online. Terry and I got a good laugh, but I knew Mom would love it.

The joy on her face when she took him out of the strapping, I will never forget and thankfully, we have a video….in case I do. She hugged it and loved on it, and was completely overwhelmed with gratitude. But then, she looked at me and said, “What is his name?”

He came with a little bone collar around his neck and I asked, “Mom, what do you want to name him? I’ll write his name on the collar.” Honestly, I thought she was going to say Sammy. Mom had a few wonderful moments of surprise and without hesitation, she said, “I want to name him Champ.”

I kind of have a sneaking suspicion that over the years of loving on Sammy, Mom had decided if she ever got a dog, she would name him Champ.

Then the oddest and most profound thing happened, shortly after Aunt Trisha’s death, a small teddy bear showed up on her guest room bed. We never did figure out Teddy’s origin, but Mom would say she was a gift from God. “I just walked into the room, and there she was sitting on my bed. I have no clue where she came from.”

Teddy and Champ became Mom’s babies. She loved them, got hair out of their eyes, petted them, and slept with them. “Champ sleeps beside me, and I put Teddy right here next to my boob,” she would often tell us. All of the staff at The Bridge knew about Mama and her babies. In fact, as she was in her last few days, her nurses and aids would always properly position “her babies”.

When Mom died, we placed her babies on the remembrance table because they were with her till the end. After the service, it had already been decided that Amy would take Champ and Haleigh would take Teddy.

On or around, September 7, 2025, when Amy called and told me she was going to buy herself a dog, I asked, “What are you going to name him?”

“Mom, his name has to be Champ. There is no other name it could be.”(We both cried.).

Champ

Related post. https://kellyyarborough.blog/2023/01/25/sometimes-choosing-to-let-go-is-a-hard-act-of-love-2/

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A New Heart

“I will give you a new heart and a new mind. I will take away your stubborn heart of stone and give you an obedient heart.”
‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭36‬:‭26‬ ‭GNT‬‬

Prior to my hiatus, I had been writing posts about our trip in the spring of 2023, but none have been complete. The struggle is real. Writer’s block? Maybe but I think it’s been more about spending time and energy working through my grief and waiting on God to speak.

During our stay in Sedona, which is a most majestic and awe-inspiring place, we were told to take an hour’s drive up to Jerome. “I promise you will not be disappointed. It is worth your time to go.” said our concierge.

Man, oh man, she was right. Jerome, AZ was a copper mining town during the late 1800’s. More here.

We arrived in Jerome around lunchtime and we were told to eat at Bobby D’s BBQ. Thankfully, we listened because the food was scrumdiddlyumptious. After dining, we got our legs moving and walked all over the hilly mining town. We ran across many relics of the past and read historical markers and even imagined it along the way. The wild, Wild West was coming to life..

Bobby D’s BBQ

We ventured into this historic place called New State Motor Co which has shops, art, coffee and more. This is where we would discover Jesus in Jerome, the remarkable art of Janie Layers. She uses her gift of art to depict the love of Jesus. Scripture comes to life in her art.

I was completely mesmerized by her ceramics, it’s like nothing I’d ever seen. Honestly, I couldn’t believe how her figures matched the scripture verses with them. This one took my breath away.

A New Heart

In that moment, I felt as though I were peering into my own heart and realizing that is exactly what He did for me!!! He took away the heart of stone and gave me a new heart. A few tears leaked from my eyes, but I walked away thanking God for what He’d done. I was also grateful that He had chosen to show up, right where I was, in that small mining town of Jerome, AZ. Like I said in my last post, if we look for God, He will make himself known.

We meandered around and found hat Janie also has smaller animals and figures she makes and as the Lord would see fit, we met her husband. I was telling him how impressed and awe inspired we were with her art and he asked, “Would you mind going to Janie’s studio and telling her?” We agreed and he gave us directions to the art studio, which was on our way back to Sedona.

Wow! We really got to meet the creator of this amazing art. Janie was very humble and gracious. She told us the Word of God inspires her to create these beautiful works of art. These pieces of art take a lot of time, effort and energy on her part, but as you can clearly see her heart and passion for Jesus shines through her work.

Why did her husband ask us to go by the studio? Because his wife needed encouragement. Guess what? We all need encouragement. We need each other, but more importantly we need God’s gift of salvation and we need Him to give us a new heart.

***If you want to see her other ceramics you can follow her on Instagram or Facebook Jesus in Jerome ****

Jerome Bible Art Museum

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Move Beyond Shallow-mindedness

Being shallow minded clouds our ability to see things clearly. Why? Because being shallow minded doesn’t think much beyond superficialities. In fact, shallow means not deep.

Remember the move, ”Shallow Hal”? Jack Black portrays a very shallow and narrow mind man, who takes the advice of his dying father and only looks for women who epitomizes perfection. His ideal of perfection only looked outward and failed to detect what was on the inside. Until he meets the self-help guru, who hypnotizes him.

While under hypnosis he meets his dream girl, or so he thinks- until he’s no longer under the spell and sees that she is not his ideal of perfection. She’s not even close. At first, he’s sick to his stomach and mortified by her appearance. He becomes despondent and withdraws from the relationship. However, he realizes the foolishness of his thinking and he immediately attempts to rectify the relationship.

Sometimes our shallow mindedness leads us to wrong conclusions about what is real and what is important, especially when it comes to how we view God. Our view of God and who He is shapes and molds our thinking about a lot of things. For example, if we view God is small then we will fail to see how he orchestrates the details of our lives. If we view God as a harsh judge then we cannot see him as a loving father. In other words, if we limit our view of God, we limit our ability to see that He is both a good Father and a righteous judge. He cannot be one without being the other. As a result, we limit God and his power to work in and through us.

The best way to move beyond our shallow mindedness is to seek God with the whole of our hearts. Be open to His Word that is both living and active. (Hebrews 4:12) Allow the power of the Holy Spirit to transform our thinking and rest in the beauty of His presence and His promise.

“AND YOU WILL SEEK ME AND FIND ME, WHEN YOU SEARCH FOR ME WITH ALL YOUR HEART” (JEREMIAH 29:13 NKJV).

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Christmases Past

Every day is a new day with Google Photos because you never know what you’re going to get. Let’s be honest the memories from photos can run a whole gamut of emotions.

For example, these few photos from yesterday.

Christmas 2015
Christmas 2016

These two photos brought a plethora of emotions, happiness, joy, love, and even sadness. Happiness in remembering how special and joyful these two events were, and sadness because what has been will never be again.

The photo from 2015 would be the last Christmas we would celebrate with all of Mom’s remaining family. 2016 is the last Christmas we would celebrate with Ned.

As I glance at the photos, I am reminded that we are not promised tomorrow and we should love well today and enjoy the “happy moments” because they are fleeting.

As shared in my previous blog Here, I, and host of others have lost many loved ones in a short period of time. Only God knew, at the time of the photos, that each of these dear souls in the first picture would be in His presence now. And that is the comfort of knowing that each one had a relationship with Jesus and at the moment of death, they were in the presence of their Lord.

Our time on this earth is short and these photos are a great reminder of that fact; but also, a great reminder that where we choose to spend eternity is vitally important. There’s this beautiful little passage in Deuteronomy that is often used in pro life dialogue, “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!” Dt. 30:19 NLT

Oh, how thankful I am that these precious souls chose life because of their choice I am now also choosing life.