Category: Uncategorized

Full Circle

by C.C. Hasty, posted in Uncategorized

Yesterday was the first book signing for The Roadway to Heaven. As I anxiously waited for people to arrive, I thought about how I had come full circle. 

This time last year I had just closed my store Vintage Charm Decor at the very same location as my book signing. My heart was broken, understandably so when we give up our dream, but I knew that God wanted me with my family more. The decision was easy to make. My family will always come first above all else. And even though the decision came easy, the loss of what I had worked so hard to build was still almost unbearable. 

God often calls us to do what something that will cause us pain. We don’t understand it at the time. We rant and cry out to God, begging Him to open up a door that leads us in the direction we want to go. Sometimes He does, but it only takes us longer to end up where He wanted us all along. I’m guilty of trying to take my own paths. Carve my own way through obstacles. Pushing forward, knowing there is a gigantic wall in my way. Never thinking to ask God if that wall is there for a reason. Asking Him if my path has been closed off because I’m supposed to be taking a detour on another one. 

I am reminded again of the Joanna Gaines story. She had to give up her dream to also stay home with her children. God promised her that He was leading her on to a better dream, and although it didn’t seem like it at the time, He did. 100 times over. Not only did she reopen that little shop she had to close to stay home with her children, He gave her a multimillion dollar business. 

Yesterday, I sat in front of that store that God too had urged me to let go, signing a book that would have never been written had I not listened to Him. God had led me down an alternate path, to end up exactly back to where that path had ended one year before. I don’t know if The Roadway to Heaven will someday be on the New York Bestseller List. But what I do know is that it has already encouraged the hundreds of people who have read it, and I couldn’t ask for anything better than that. 

Love & Blessings, 

C.C. Hasty Andrews 

Holy Cow, I Did It!

by C.C. Hasty, posted in Blessed, God Is Good, Heaven, Prayer, Uncategorized, Wheelchair

I received the official paperback copy of my book today. I had seen the digital proof before approving it, of course. But I had not actually held the book in my hands until today.

As I opened the package, I couldn’t breathe. My hands shook, and when I pulled my book out of the cardboard package, I wasn’t prepared when the water works began.

I knew the book was officially published, so that wasn’t it. I also knew that I had put myself and my family out there for the world to see. I had shared private moments of our family that until now, no one ever knew. I had poured my heart and soul into this book and was as raw and honest as a person could absolutely be. And now, everyone who read it would know my deepest secrets. I had already had a “come to Jesus” (literally) about sharing myself with perfect strangers, yet decided to risk it all and trust in God. I was no longer afraid for people to learn the real me, so that wasn’t it either.

It was the countless nights of staying up late writing. The hundreds of hours spent laboriously typing word after word. All of the second guessing I did. Prayer after prayer, trying to convince God that I wasn’t the right person for this job, all the while Him assuring me that I was. The emotions came from all of the battles I had to face to finally hold this book, my book, in my hands. I had done it. Despite everything, I had actually made it to the finish line, just like God said I would.

Love & blessings,

C.C. Hasty Andrews

Stay In the Fight

by C.C. Hasty, posted in Blessed, Brothers, God Is Good, Heaven, Mom, Prayer, Uncategorized, Wheelchair

June 9, 2015 (Facebook Post)

On Sunday as we hiked to Machine Falls, this guy helped us along the way. When we finally arrived at the falls, I noticed him reading a book. But it wasn’t just any book, it was the Bible. He hiked all the way there by himself to have fellowship with God. The very next day, my son Alex and I had a conversation about how important it is to have a relationship with the Lord, and going to church every Sunday is not a requirement to do so. I have always taught my boys that church is everywhere and anywhere you are. Even if you don’t go to church on Sunday’s, you can still love worship God. A girl told my son in school recently that he would go to hell if he didn’t go to church on Sunday’s. She really believes this. Don’t get me wrong, a church with fellow believers is an awesome thing to be a part of, but don’t let the devil make you believe this lie. Talk to God, wherever you are and whenever you want, because that is the most important relationship you will ever have!

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I wrote this post on Facebook just 2 months before the accident that would forever change our lives. As I read that post on my Facebook memories, two things stood out to me.

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First, that summer was one of the best summers our family had ever had. We did so much that summer that involved physical activity and being together. Hiking was just one of the things our family had recently learned that we loved. That summer we went to Universal Studios, visited the beach, and anything that involved being active. I believe God was preparing us for what was to come. I will never forget helping Jackson climb up a very steep hill while hiking and glaring at his father the entire time because I was afraid Jackson would fall. I will always have the memory of writing mine and Jackson’s names in the sand with our toes. Seeing him jumping in the waves at the beach with his brothers. And carrying his shoes in my hands because he got blisters on his little feet at Universal Studios. I believe God gave us these memories to carry in our hearts. Not to remind us of what Jackson lost, but to give us sweet memories and the hope that someday we would see Jackson do those things again.

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This post made so long ago also reminded me that although I don’t believe you have to go to church to believe in God or to be saved, having a church family is also a wonderful thing to be a part of. Our family had recently found a church that we all loved that summer before the accident. Until then, my husband and I could never agree on a church home for our family. We had also recently started nightly devotions with the boys. They loved that time together as a family and would listen to every word of the devotion. They wouldn’t let me forget the nightly devotion because every night they would remind me that it was devotion time! This too I believe is not a coincidence. The devil comes to kill, steal and destroy. The devil decided that our family was a threat and decided to test our faith in the most absolute way possible. You see, we were finally doing everything right.

If things seem hard in your life right now and you feel as if everything that could go wrong has, it may just be that you are actually doing everything right too. God doesn’t promise us that life will be without trials. In fact, the opposite is true. He tells us that there will be trials to face, but He assures us that we won’t be alone. And from the moment I received the call at 4:09 pm that our boys were trapped in a car and all were critical injuried, He never left my side. I can tell you without any hesitation that God will always be there for you too. Press forward. Push on. When all seems hopeless and lost, remember that you are going to win the fight, because God is there fighting this battle with you.