My First Christmas in Heaven

Someone sent this poem to me, and I wanted to share it with you.  I do not know the author, but I know they have a heart for the hurting.

My First Christmas in Heaven

I see the countless Christmas trees

around the world below

With tiny lights like Heaven's stairs,

reflecting in the snow.

The sight is so spectacular,

please wipe away the tear,

For I am spending Christmas

with Jesus Christ this year.

I hear the many Christmas songs

that people hold so dear,

But the sounds of music can't compare

with the Christmas choir up here.

I have no words to tell you,

the joy their voices bring,

For it is beyond description,

to hear the angels sing.

I know how much you miss me,

I see the pain inside your heart.

But I am not so far away,

We really aren't apart.

So be happy for me, dear ones,

You know I hold you dear.

And be glad I'm spending Christmas

with Jesus Christ this year.

I sent you each a special gift,

from my heavenly home above,

I sent you each a memory

of my undying love.

After all, love is a gift

more precious than pure gold.

It was always most important

in the stories Jesus told.

Please love and keep each other,

as my Father said to do.

For I can't count the blessings or love

He has for each of you.

So have a Merry Christmas and

wipe away that tear.

Remember, I am spending Christmas

with Jesus Christ this year.

Coming to a City Near You…The Vaughn Family Band

After we had so much fun shooting on Saturday night, Adam and Courtney introduced us to Rock Band.  Cade has been asking for this for Christmas, and we needed to see what all of the fuss was about. 

We had a blast and here is the video to prove it.  Notice SaraGrace in the back crying because she didn’t get to play the drums this time.  The video is several minutes long, but it is Oh So Funny!!!

Oh Shoot!

Saturday afternoon, we hauled all of our guns to the Hamm’s and had a blast shooting.  Even the little ones got in on the action.

SaraGrace’s pink boo-boo gun is still bigger than she is. 

And goodness gracious at that get-up she has on.  I guess there’s nothing wrong with being fashionable at the shooting range.

Cade tried to show her how to lay down and shoot.

 

Of course, she cared nothing about that.  But he still wanted to show her how good he was.

Y’all!  He is a serious shooter now.  He says he is going to be a sniper when he gets older.

Now I had a turn shooting too.  Of course we didn’t get a picture of me actually shooting the gun, but after I made a shot on the target that would have for sure dropped this crazy looking deer, I had to take a picture of my target.

If that crazy looking thing came to me in the woods, I would be scared poopless!  However, at least I can be confident that I can take him out before he gets too close!

Wedding Day

The Lord has really been working on me with this post for a few days.  Rob and I have been listening to the Casting  Crowns CD, and this song “Wedding Day” has surely become one of our favorites.

This time of year is a joyous one for sure.  But there is part of us that is a little sad.  Satan tries to take our joy and just pile on the hurts we have experienced over this last year.  But as we have listened to this song, we have found PURE JOY in knowing that our future is one of AWESOMENESS!!!

This song talks about the wedding day of when we will meet JESUS face to face.  It says that we know we are undeserving, but that is not what He sees.  We will be what He adores, that’s what He made us for.  The most compelling part for me is “The hands that bear the only scars in Heaven touch her face, and the last tear she’ll ever cry, are finally wiped away.  As the clouds roll back and He takes her hand, and walks her through the gates…Forever we will reign!”

What a beautiful picture that is.  This is our future for those who have accepted His gift of salvation.  Though this earth is full of many hurts and disappointments, our future is full of hope and promise.  Our verse for Faith is Jeremiah 29:11- “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord.  “Plans to prosper you, not to harm you.  Plans to give you a hope and a future.”  Y’all!  This is my future!  Our hurts seem so overwhelming at times, but when you know that this is what you get in the end, it is ALL WORTH IT!  Don’t wait another day to have a future with Jesus.

We Be Jammin’

If you are friends with me on Facebook, you know by now that Rob got me an acoustic guitar for Christmas.  I did get it early so that I can start learning and I am having a BLAST with it.  But I am not the only musician in the family.  Cade is our rapper, I play the piano, Rob…well he wants to learn to play something, and then there’s the Grace!!!  She is our newest band member with her Paper Jamz guitar.  The kids got those for Christmas at a family get together, and they are the best things.  They like them even better than the cat!

Here is SaraGrace and “Hit Me With Your Best Shot!”

She really is destined to be a star!  That really concerns me…

Now Cade has one too, and he loves to jam.  I wanted to video him, but he had just gotten out of the shower and didn’t want to put anything on other than his underwear. He said he didn’t need any clothes on.  Well, I’m sure he would have rocked it like nobody’s business, but I convinced him to wait until he was clothed.  So stay tuned….maybe we can get the Streaker Jammer to get dressed and play for us.

Little SassyPants

This little girl knows she is sassy!  The problem is, sometimes she is so darn funny that it is hard to get on to her.  Here are some of the funniest things she has said this last week.

We were driving in the car on the way to school.  She decides to tell me,

“When someone is mean to me, I don’t trust them anymore.”  WHAT!?!  How does she know what trust is?  I said, “who is mean to you?”

She said, “You and Daddy.”

“How are we mean to you?”

“Sometimes you spank me.”

“SaraGrace, did you know that Jesus tells Mommy and Daddy in the Bible that they have to discipline their kids?”

“Jesus said that?”

“He sure did!”

“Then I don’t trust him anymore either.” 

 

Last night we went to Bethlehem Live in our little town.  SaraGrace was so excited to go to Bethlehem and see Mary and “Jofus” and Baby Jesus.  She said, “I can’t believe I am going to see the real Baby Jesus.”

I had to explain to her that they were going to be some people pretending to be Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus.  She was a little disappointed because she really wanted to hold Baby Jesus.  When we got ready to leave, she said, “Mommy.  I want to go tell all of the fake people bye.”

There is never a dull moment, that is for sure!

A Little Christmas Cheer

I love Christmas, yet I know this one will be a little tough.  But the Lord has been so gracious to provide us with so many blessings this Christmas season.  I wanted to share with you a couple of fun and sweet things that have happened in the Vaughn house, lately.

The kids got their first Christmas gift.  They have been BEGGING for a pet, and Rob was not about to give in.  Then, I guess he got into the Christmas spirit and told the youngins they could have a hamster if Momma would take care of it. HECK TO THE NO!!!!!  I am not going to take care of a rat.  So I was the immediate villain because I had crushed their dream of having a pet.  In an effort to justify the pet, SG decided they should get a “penny pig”.  That is just an overgrown hamster.  I finally talked Rob into the unimaginable…

 

Here is…wait for it…..Miss Kitty!  I thought we should name her Jingle Bell, but Kitty won.  She has been a lot of fun, and has tried to wreak havoc on my Christmas tree.

 

On another note, SaraGrace had to write Santa a letter in class.  She told the teacher what to write.  I have to tell you she made me so proud!

I think she may be a little disappointed because I don’t think there is a horsey in her future:(  But how sweet is she!

Christmas has come to mean so much more to our family than just a family get-together and fun gifts.  I have always been taught the true meaning of Christmas, but to experience it is a different story.

Many people have asked how we are doing this season.  Honestly, we are doing very well.  Of course, there are moments when it’s hard to imagine Christmas without our child, but it is in those moments I am reminded that she wouldn’t leave Heaven to come be with us for one second!!!  She is well taken care of. 

Earlier this week, my dear friend Ashley brought something to me.  It was in a silver box.  She told me the story before I could open it, and it goes like this….

Ashley and her husband were in Lowes looking for some paint.  Spray paint to be exact.  As they were looking through the paint, the silver box caught her eye.  It was a Christmas ornament sitting ALL BY ITSELF.  Keep in mind that the paint section and the Christmas section at Lowes are in completely different locations.  When she looked at the ornament closely, she said her eyes filled with tears because she knew that it was a God Wink.

It was no coincidence that this particular ornament sat all by it’s lonesome in the middle of the paint section.  I know it was Jesus reminding me that He is still here.  He still knows my heart.  He knows my hurts.  And He loves me so much! 

As we get closer to Christmas day, I find myself not dreading it.  This is because the Lord has spoken something so clearly to me.  Yes Christmas is a time that you spend with family, reading the Christmas story, exchanging gifts, and really counting your blessings.  It is particularly hard when you are missing a family member, and one of your greatest blessings is spending Christmas in Heaven.  But what makes Christmas so exciting for us this year, is knowing that because of Baby Jesus born in a manger, we have the hope of seeing Faith in Heaven.  That hope would not exist if Christmas didn’t exist.  So this year, I am so much more thankful for the gift of Jesus, because I know that my daughter has received the gift of eternal life in Heaven, and that I will one day join her.

Don’t miss out on this precious gift of Jesus.  He has done all of the work.  He was born in the flesh, endured much suffering and even death to offer us the greatest gift ever!  He is alive today and wants nothing more than for you to accept His gift of salvation.  Celebrate the REAL meaning of Christmas and give Him the gift of your heart!

Star Panda

It has happened!  SaraGrace has finally received the coveted “Star Panda” award in her class.  Now, she has been expecting this award for quite sometime.

You see, SaraGrace had a little bit of a hard time staying on “Green” the first part of school.  But, she has done a marvelous job and has been on GREEN every day for nearly the last 2 months.  Every day when we pick her up, she is so proud to show me the color she is on.

I was really bragging on her a couple of weeks ago.  I was telling her how proud we all were of her.  And she said, “Well, no one else is proud.  I haven’t even got the Star Panda.”  She named off EVERY child that had gotten it, and her frown got bigger with each kid’s name.

As Star Panda, you get to decorate a panda bear and fill out a little fact sheet about yourself.  She has worried me to death about decorating that panda, so without further ado, I present SaraGrace’s STAR PANDA:

Heaven help us with all that glitter! 

We are so very proud of her, but not quite as proud as she is of herself!

What Have the Vaughn’s Been Up To?

It seems as though it has been forever since I blogged.  There really is no good reason except that we have been SUPER busy.  This is a catch-up post with many random photos and a really funny video.

First things first:  Last weekend, we went to the Hun-Tin House.  I watched another 8-point walk by and then may have had a little “hunter’s remorse” because I didn’t see anything else until….

Late Sunday afternoon, I hunted ALL BY MYSELF.  No Rob, no kids.  Just me and my gun.  I was just a little proud!

We have also been decorating for Christmas!  This is the first year that we have had outside lights.  Partly because Rob doesn’t get real excited about them.  But the Lord did a great work in him, because he was so motivated to get them up.

 

 

This one cracks me up!  He is now remembering we need to trim the trees.

But the finished product looks AMAZING!  Our kids  squealed with excitement, and Daddy was so proud:)

 

Our Christmas Tree:

My favorite part is my new tree skirt.  Kiss had her mother in law make it.  It says “The Vaughn’s” and has all of our names on it…including Faith’s.  It is very special!!!

The stockings were hung…

Every Christmas, we each get an ornament that represents something from the past year.  We started making them a couple of years ago.  We aren’t finished, but this is what we have so far…

SaraGrace has fallen in love with cheerleading, so it was only PERFECT we made a cheerleader.  She said, “It looks just like me Mommy!”

 

  Since Cade killed his first deer, he got a deer ornament.  I shaped it and baked it, but he painted it.

His annual football ornament with the team and number.  He painted this one too.  He was really proud of it:)

 

Speaking of Cade, he has been getting breathing treatments the last  couple of days.  These things take FOREVER, and Cade just can’t sit still.  So, he has started singing to entertain himself.  I caught him rapping the other night.  Once he saw me recording, he really turned it on. 

He may not be Busta Rhymes, but he sure is BUSTA BREATHER!!!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!  I promise to be a better blogger next week.