Category: Wheelchair

Be that Person 

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

When I was a little girl, a woman came by our apartment in the projects of downtown Nashville to invite me to church. She told me about all of the fun things the youth did at church and promised to come get me on the bus every Sunday. And she did. Her name was Lana Banana (although I am sure that wasn’t her real name). I loved going to church where I learned about Jesus and His love for me. It was something to look forward to every week, and she gave me candy every time I walked onto that bus. 

A couple of years later, the owner at a furniture store that we broke down in front of told me about Jesus and I told him I went to church on Sunday’s. He gave me a stuffed doll that I cherished and invited me to visit his church. I told him I would, but I was maybe 8 years old and didn’t have a way to get there. It was the first promise I ever remember breaking. It hurt to break that promise and I learned going forward to never again promise something that I couldn’t do.  He told me I was special and was going to do great things in life. No one had ever told me this, and I believed him. 

A few years later we moved from Nashville to Shelbyville. My great uncle Chuck came to visit and invited me to church with him. He picked me up every single Sunday. He paid for me to go to church camp when I was 13 years old, where I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart. 

Why did I share this? Because it was those people who helped lead me to salvation. Not 1 person. Not 1 experience. But several. Lana Banana, the driver of that church bus who came to the roughest projects in Nashville didn’t know that I was ultimately saved. The owner of that furniture store couldn’t have realized how special that doll was to me or the words of life he spoke into me. My uncle Chuck couldn’t realize that by sowing the money to send me to church camp it would ultimately lead me to the cross and salvation.   

I’m not sure if I have ever been instrumental in someone’s journey to become saved. I hope that I have been. And I hope that all who read this are reminded that every time you share Jesus with someone, speak words of life and encouragement into someone, or sow financially into ministry, you too may have been one of the people God used to help someone eventually reach salvation, without even knowing it. 

Love & blessings, 

C.C. 

All Lives Matter

by C.C. Hasty, posted in All Lives Matter, Blessed, Discrimination, Dreams, God Is Good, Prayer, Racism, Uncategorized, Wheelchair

I don’t usually write poems, and I have definitely never shared one that I have written. But I felt I needed to share this one. So don’t judge too hardly 😉

This morning my heart hurts, and I feel weighed down by all of the hate that I see. I wrote this poem to try to make sense of all of the grief I was feeling. Of course I have opinions, we all do. I just don’t think voicing them would make a difference right now. I think what the world really needs is a little silence. Some time to process.

So here it is (yes I am very nervous about this but stepping out in faith here):

Hate breeds hate

Fear begets fear

Lives matter

Son, daughter, father

 

Our hearts ache for what is

What is going to be

Begging for our lives

We shouldn’t have to plea

 

It is just the beginning

Hate always breeds

It will get worse

An unknown future is all we see

 

There is sin in the world

History has taught us this

It is devious

But somehow we dismiss

 

The bible has the answer

Love never fails

And only with God

Can we prevail

 

Conspiracy theories

And planned murders

I fear for my children

I am only a mother

 

Violence has always been

And will always be

 Prayer is the answer

From you and from me

 

Let’s not place blame

And judge what we don’t know

Don’t let the media

Entrap our soul

 

Each story has two sides

The truth in the middle

As children we are taught this

Let’s try to remember

 

You don’t know everything

Neither do I

We must be open to learn

Because opinions do lie

 

Black, white, brown,

Color shouldn’t be the factor

Civilian, officer, political,

All lives matter

 

Two wrongs don’t make a right

It only leads to blindness

What the world really needs

Is just a little kindness

 

~ C.C. Andrews

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by C.C. Hasty, posted in Blessed, God Is Good, Money and budgets, Uncategorized, Wheelchair

For the first time in 15 years I do not have a cellular device, internet, or cable TV. At first, the boys were horrified. Poor Jackson cried because he couldn’t play his games online. Every day they asked if it was getting turned back on. But there has been positive too. They started pulling board games out of the closet. They started to play using their imagination instead of constantly playing video games, which I tried to limit before the accident and had become slack on. Jackson even admitted me to me that it wasn’t so bad not having internet and they were having “fun” playing. They were forced to get creative, and that isn’t such a bad thing. 

It has been an experience for me as well. We often wonder what we do without technology, and I have had the opportunity to learn firsthand. The only time I have access to the Internet is through my husband’s mobile hotspot. It is nice not having to check my phone every 10 minutes of the day. I am OCD and unread notifications drive me insane.  Now, I only see them when I am able to connect. It is frustrating however when I need to be connected to reach a customer or reply to an email. I cannot even print documents because literally everything has to have wifi to work. 

When my two oldest were growing up I would never speak of finances with my boys. Speak as though you have instead of what you don’t have. Your words are powerful so don’t proclaim negative. My answer was simply no or not right now. As they became older, I realized I wasn’t really teaching them truth. It is okay to teach children that not all of their wants are in the budget. Children need to understand that some things are luxuries, like Internet and cable, even though we believe we have to have them. They too will have to make sacrifices, learn to budget their money and make smart decisions. I pray that they are all so successful that they don’t have to go without anything, but the reality is at some point they will have to choose between paying the mortgage or electricity bill over buying the newest iPhone. I hope as parents we are teaching them the foundation of that concept. 

Through it all I have learned that I can indeed survive without technology, but it is a luxury I enjoy and will be happy to have again we can afford to do so.

Before the accident, I would have never shared something like this. Now, I feel the need to be brutally honest. The reality is we are still struggling from the aftermath of the accident and the impact it has had on our lives and our finances. But even if that wasn’t the case, most people struggle to make ends meet. Parents have to decide how to use those times to teach positive example instead of feeling shame about their circumstances. I hope that by sharing our story others know they are not alone out there, and just maybe it will make their day a little better. 

Love and blessings, 

C.C.