Dr. Jimmy Robbins - We Love and Miss You Papa!

Dr. Jimmy Robbins, age 78, went home to be with the Lord Saturday, January 9, 2010, at 6:15 PM. With his family by his side, he was promoted from the Hospice Home to his Heavenly home.

Dr. Jimmy Robbins was a faithful servant of God for over 65 years. He was known as a "Son of Thunder." He was devoted to the Word of God, his family, church, and old-fashioned Bible preaching. He had the anointing of God on his life and has led a countless host of people to the Lord. He preached the King James Bible with power and boldness. He lived, believed, and practiced what he preached. He was indeed a Man of God.

Dr. Robbins was a graduate of Fruitland Baptist Institute and received his Honorary Doctorate of Divinity degree from Tabernacle Baptist College in Greenville, SC.

During his 55 fruitful years of ministry, Dr. Robbins served as pastor of Mountain View Baptist Church in Cowpens for 40 years. Through this ministry and the vision of Dr. Robbins, God accomplished great and mighty things. The land was purchased and the church was built along with a thriving school all debt-free. Dr. Robbins was the founder of the Mountain View Christian Academy in Cowpens, SC. He also pastored West Memorial Baptist Church and Oak Ridge Baptist Church in Rutherfordton, NC.

Dr. Robbins was known and loved by multitudes and his legacy will continue to live through the years to come.

He is survived by his precious, godly wife and faithful companion of 58 years, Peggy McCoy Robbins of Boiling Springs, SC. Also surviving are one daughter, Sherri Turner of Richmond, VA; two sons, Larry and wife Mary of Boiling Springs, SC, and Randy and wife Cindy of Lexington, NC; Rhonda, surviving wife of predeceased son, Mike Robbins of Cunningham, KY; 11 grandchildren, Jonathan Robbins, Summer Keller, Leah Hayes, Mark Robbins, Michelle Jordan, Carla Comer, Brian Robbins, Mandy Robbins, Benjamin Turner, Andrew Turner, and Matthew Turner; and 18 great-grandchildren.

Dr. Robbins is predeceased by his father, Jim Marvin Robbins; and his mother, Annie Jackson Robbins. He is survived by one brother, Cecil Robbins; two nephews and three nieces; predeceased by a brother, Charles Robbins.

A celebration of Dr. Robbins' arrival in "The City" will be held Tuesday, January 12, 2010, at Mountain View Baptist Church in Cowpens at 3:00 PM. Dr. Wade Huntley, Dr. Phil Kidd, and Rev. Steven Griffith will officiate, with committal service at Floyds Greenlawn Mausoleum.

The family will receive friends Monday, January 11, 2010, at the Mountain View Baptist Church, beginning at 5:00 PM until 8:00 PM.

Blakely Funeral Home in Gaffney, SC is in charge of arrangements. Tributes may be left online at www.blakelyfuneralhome.com

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Memorials may be made to: Spartanburg Regional Hospice Home, 686 Jeff Davis Drive, Spartanburg, SC 29303.

The family would like to express our sincere gratitude to Arlene, Dena, and Jackie who are employees with Hospice Home Health, and all the Hospice Home Staff for making Dr. Robbins' last days as comfortable as possible. Special thanks to Trae and Ty Humphries.

We will honor, love and respect him all the days of our lives.

"Only gone from our sight.....to the beautiful City" - The Family

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el-OWxsZwPg

Give Me Jesus - Dr. Jimmy Robbins Funeral Dove Release

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el-OWxsZwPg

It was SO amazing;when he let the 4th dove out, the 3 that were let out first were nowhere to be seen. If you listen, you can hear while he is singing that we are amazed b/c all 4 came back together & then flew off. It was awesome. What an AMAZING homegoing celebration! Over 800 ppl came out for the service!

Last Year (at a glance)

Well... a little over a year ago, due to some happenings in my life, I moved to NC where my parents lived. (My brother, sister in law, and niece also live there). I was there for a year. In that year, I learned SO much. I became a lot closer with all of my family and that is something you can't put a price on. I learned that no matter what, my family will stand by me and be there for me. I also saw that in my future husband (more to come on that later). I became a lot closer to my Lord than I have ever been in my life, and DJ and I became a lot closer than we have ever been.
It was a struggle for me in every way, I moved from all of my friends, I for the first time in 12 years, was dependant completely on my parents, and I had no money! :0)
During that time, my eyes were opened to so many things. Who your true friends really are. It is funny that sometimes you can be like a new commodity and then later it is like WHO? You know, when you get that new outfit and you want to wear if often, you think of things you can do to wear it, places to go, because it is all about that outfit ... but sooner or later, you end up just going back to the old comfy jeans you have had for a while or you move on to another new outfit ... Friendships can also be like that. I learned that this past year. I also learned that your best friend doesn't have to be someone that you talk to everyday, but someone you know will drop anything to do anything for you anytime that you need them. I realized this past year that my mom and my longtime friend April are those people for me. While God and Daniel are truly my best friends; my momma and April are my best girl friends. (there is a difference!)
In the past year of my life, I also was able to spend more time with my dad than I have in a very long time and there is nothing that could replace that.
My grandpa passed away in January, and DJ was saved in March.
I will post the obituary of my grandpa, along with a few pictures of the past year in review later this week. Then I am going to spend some time blogging about MY LOVE, Daniel Paul Mills and how we found each other again :-) and also about the kids that have grown INTO my heart to join the one that grew UNDER my heart to give me a full house :-)
I love yall, Goodnight!
Mandy

BIG CHANGES

SO - there have been some BIG changes in my life ... for the entire year that I lived in NC - I failed to Blog ... Yes Yes I know - I have NO EXCUSE!! I didn't even have a job! :-)
However, I have decided that my goal next week is to update my profile on my blog and to tell you what has been going on with me over the past year! SOOO EXCITED! Love, Mandy

Cinderella

MOVING DAY!!

I haven't blogged in a LONG time ... and I am not really blogging now ... Just wanted to let everyone that doesn't already know that tomorrow I will be loading up and moving from my home in Taylors, SC to a new home in Lexington, NC.  The past few months of my life have been full of changes - at the time - I thought they were AWFUL but they have turned out to be the BEST things that could have happened to me!  I want everyone to know that I will be picking up my blogging again in the next few weeks so that everyone can stay posted on mine and DJ's lives!

I love you all!

Mandy

DJ

This is one of the pictures that Lance took last week ... I can't wait to see the rest of them!!

My Little Artist

DJ has wanted to paint for a while, I guess she has been inspired by Lance. For Christmas last year, I purchased some small canvas' and paint but she didn't really do anything that I thought was amazing. The paintings were just regular child type paintings ... So she painted again a few weeks ago. I really love the painting. I framed it and it is in our living room. I was telling her that it should be named. She didn't understand so I explained to her that when Lance paints something, he always gives it a name. The painting (see pic) has a lot of purple and brown in it. I suggested to her "purple mud" she didn't like it to much. I can't remember all the names of his paintings but for some reason I remember the name of the one hanging in our living room. I gave her that name as an example "Red vs. Green" so she has decided to name her painting "Purple vs. Brown". Apparently, Lance has also inspired the way she names her paintings! I hope she continues to paint.

You can check out "Red vs Green" on Lance's website: www.imagerybylaw.com

WOW

I love this picture. This is my niece. She was watching the fireworks at the state far and obviously she thought they were awesome.

My Little Model

Yesterday afternoon Lance and I took DJ to an Orchard down the street and took some pictures of her. She thought she was something else. She paraded around like she was a famous star. It was so funny. I can't wait to be able to post the pictures. They are really good. To check out some of Lance's photography - check out his website www.freelanceimagery.com There are a few pictures of her on this site.
He took pictures until her his card was full and she was upset that we were done ... do I have a little movie star wanna be on my hands?

Passing Notes

I had parent teacher conference last Thursday and it seems that DJ has now taken to passing notes in class! Really? In 3rd grade? Did it really start this early? I don't think I started passing notes in class until well into 6th grade!

Lucky & Cosmo

Frankie has a small dog ... I mean small - he is under 5 lbs. His name is Cosmo, he is really cute. When they first started bringing him over to the house,he was scared to death of Lucky. For at least the first 5 or so times that Cosmo came over, He was scared to death of Lucky. It would take him forever to get down near Lucky and then he would run like crazy! It was funny. So weekend before this past, when Brad and I went to the race - Lance and Frankie dog sat for us. Here is the pic that Frankie texted me when we were on our way home... I guess it's safe to say they are getting along now!

Blogging ...

OK - so I have been a slacker lately and haven't been blogging. I am going to try and catch everyone up on what has been going on with us this week! Hopefully I will be able to keep up my blogging and not push my blogging off to the side like I have been the past few weeks!
Hope everyone is having a great Sunday afternoon! (Go 88!)

Haircolors

So ... it seems that I change my haircolors a lot... generally most people that know me tend to joke about how often I change my hair colors. At Christmas I gave Madalynn a "Who loves Baby" book in which I put pictures of her family that she doesn't get to see often in it... Mike (my brother in law) went through the book saying "And there's Aunt Mandy with red hair ... and there's Aunt Mandy with black hair... and there's Aunt Mandy with blonde hair ..." It was pretty funny...
Which suits me best?

DJ's Latest Stunt ...

What a mess ... she does some crazy things... Sunday her Aunt Shaunna brought her home and mentioned the "thing she had to sleep with" the last time she was there... I was very confused. Apparently, the last time that DJ went to visit she took some sort of mask that appeared to be a kids oxygen mask and told them that she had to sleep with it! I have actually never seen this thing before! This child is a hoot!
She is a true stunt puller! I will have to tell stories later of the stunts she has pulled at school!

What a Wonderful Week

Last week was a great week! Monday, my brother's service call was just a few minutes away from where I work so I had the luxury of having lunch with my little (in age only) brother! It was a quick lunch, but getting to see him was so awesome... it was followed up by getting to hear my sister - in - law sing in Greenville Thursday night .... then getting to spend Friday evening and the early part of Saturday morning with Brian, Marcey, and Madalynn. It was awesome. She loved Lucky and continued to call him "Gucky" the entire time. It was so great to have them here and be able to spend time with all of them. Below, I have attempted to upload a video that DJ took with her phone. Remember that this video is from a 9 year old so it is a little ... umm shakey!

Gas Shortages & Prices

Gas has been scarce here lately ... there are a few gas stations that have been out of gas for weeks... and the majority of the other gas stations have been out, just not quite as long. On Wade Hampton - where there are a TON of gas stations - I found 3 today that had gas... one had gas for 3.89 and there was one person at the pump ... another had gas for 3.82 with about three cars at the pump... both gas stations had plenty of empty pumps ... the third gas station had gas for 3.02! Yesterday morning, they had it for 3.25 and the lines were all the way into the road - actually about 10 cars were lined up in the road! We went back by a few hours later and they were out of gas! Today, it was at 3.02! I just had to get in line and get some! This is getting outrageous! I have started car pooling to work and suggest that everyone try and do the same or stay off the roads as much as possible! I wish there were a way that we could just picket them ... but then how would we get anywhere! UHHHH!

True Friends

How many do we really have? I mean - I have a lot of acquaintances... people from work, people from my childhood, people from church, people from school, and just people I know. How many are true friends though? How many would really be there for you when you need them? How many are there for you even when you don't really need them? How many of those that aren't are you there for all the time, even though in reality - they don't do the same for you? I pondered this question myself today after a few things happened this weekend and watching DJ over the past few weeks with one of her new friends....
Everyday almost she rushes home to get on the phone with a new Friend she has made at school... this little girl has talked DJ into giving her the login and password to one of her webkins (is that even how you spell it?) - no big deal - kids will be kids .... but DJ puts her phone on speaker and talks to this little girl and the little girl NEVER listens to DJ talk, always interrupts DJ, and completely disregards the fact that DJ might possibly have something to say too. It is literally all about this little girl. I questioned DJ on it and she doesn't seem to understand that this isn't really the kind of friend you want. Then I thought about it myself and I am really surprised at how I too am a little similar. I have several friends that when they call me - it is all about them ... they are always interrupting me when I talk to talk about their day - I mean hello... wait your turn! Sometimes - they have already had their turn and I guess just want round 2! Ha Ha! I also have friends that each and every time they ask me to help them with something or do something with them - I always do ... but when I ask them - even way in advance ... it seems that they don't do the same for me ... are these really true friends ... and how many true friends do we have.... I am not really sure.

Burnt Waffles & Football

What do they have in common? For me - Saturday's. Every Saturday - I go to the waffle house and enjoy a burnt waffle and bacon :-) Yup - It's my "Cheers" - where everybody knows your name! (special shout out to Mike, Erika, James, Patti & everyone else!) They are so awesome!
After waffle house - we go to the grocery store and then head off for a day of football!
Day filled with football at that. So ... the fact that you do not see Saturday posts ... (except for right now) are because I am too busy eating burnt waffles and watching football! Go Tigers!

My Momma aka Mimi

My mom is probably truly one of my best friends ... now I don't tell her everything, but I do tell her almost everything. She is a wonderful mother and the best MIMI in the world. It doesn't matter the time of day or night, I could call momma and she would drop whatever she was doing to come and help me if I needed (right mom!?) I mean yeah - she gets on my nerves from time to time but heck that is what moms are for right? My mom has been through a lot in her life. I admire her because she has been a strong woman through a lot of hard times. Being a preacher's wife can't be easy. She often has to move from her "home" only to start completely over again. Imagine explaining having to leave all your friends to your 3 small children. Imagine having to tell them when they are teenagers! Even harder! (yeah we were never happy!) Things I remember specifically about my mom - are her having to give up her piano and bedroom suite that she had had for years and years because dad was called into Evangelism. I remember several times when we were teenagers participating in sports that Mom would go without so that we would have money to eat when the bus stopped on the way back home. My mom made some true sacrifices in her life to make sure that her children always got what they needed and often what we wanted. I think that there are a lot of times that the three of us (well not me as much ya know lol) forget about all the times she did these things for us. I think we grew up and took them for granted. She has had to deal with hard times in their Churches and had to be strong for my dad when things were tough. I truly believe that a good pastor has a wonderful wife right beside him. My momma is a lot like me - OK maybe I am like her - she speaks her mind and can get fired up pretty fast ... but one thing she is not is FAKE! I can't stand fake people!
I am so thankful for such a wonderful mother and friend. She is an even better Mimi! DJ loves her. She is consistently coming to spend time with DJ and now that she has a grand baby close to her I know she spends as much time with Madalynn as she can. I know it saddens mom that her other 4 grand kids are too far away to spend as much time with - but they head up to Ohio as often as they can.
First she was my mother, but forever she is my friend.

Love you Mom!
(since I just posted a pic of my parents - I posted an older pic of my mom as a baby - I love this pic!)

Monday's Big Mistake

OOPS! So ... Let me take you back to the week before last ... I had talked to my Nanny and she had told me that they had gone to my cousin Evan's Grandparent's Day at his School. While they were there, there was a little girl that was upset and ended up crying because here grandparent's lived too far away to come to Grandparent's day. This made me very sad. Sad for this little girl but also for DJ. For those of you that know - DJ's bio-logical father gave up his rights about 4 or 5 years ago. Since then, she has seen her Paternal Grandmother a few times a year and only saw her Paternal Grandfather when she was with her Aunt - and she only saw him a few times a year before he passed away last month. So - as far as grandparents though - my parents have always been a constant in her life - they call her a few times a week and my mom comes into town at least once a month to spend time with DJ and of course we visit them too. My parents live in Lexington NC so they are about 3.5 hours away from us.
I decided that after my Nanny told me that - I would make sure to invite my parents to Grandparent's Day. After all, I had never even invited them - I just assumed it was too far.
Now - let me state my opinion about this Grandparent's Day, Donut's for Dad and Muffin's with Mom thing ..... what if children don't have Grandparents, Dad's, or Mom's in their life or in this state or alive? Should we put small children, or even children at all through this? OK. I am done with that....
So back to my story - the day after my Nanny told me this story - DJ brings home her "Grandparent's Day Slip" - this must be a sign I thought - so I called my mom and invited her. She said that as long as it was a Monday or Friday that they were there (my mom works T,W, & TH) I told her it was the next Monday. I got home and went to fill out the form and couldn't find it so I sent a note to DJ's teacher - letting her know that DJ's grandparent's would be there and that it was going to be a surprise to her since they lived 3.5 hours away and she wouldn't be expecting it. I also asked her to verify the time. (after all - I knew it was Monday - just couldn't remember what time my parent's needed to be there) She emailed me back - I spotted the time and called my mom. 8:30 it was.
So.... I called my parents on my way to work Monday to make sure they were on their way - and they were - I was so excited! I wished I could be there to see the surprise on DJ's face!
About 20 min after 8, my mom called me to let me know that they were standing in the office at the school .... an Grandparent's Day was that Friday! I could not believe this! My parent's left home at 5 AM to be there and I had screwed up the dates! I went through my email - - - and sure enough - the email said it was Friday the 26th at 8:30 AM! I was sooo upset!
The school was awesome about it and let my parents go up and see DJ and get a quick look at her class. I was very upset at myself for making such a crazy mistake but my parent's were totally cool about it. I have great parents!