1) I am a Saved Child of God!

As a child I was not raised in a Christian home. My parents did not know Jesus, and church was not somewhere we spent our time. Growing up my home was filled with what you might refer to as drugs, alcohol, and rock and roll. (Don’t worry I will share more about life growing up in my future blogs). When I was a young teen girl, a friend who I had grown up with invited me to church. Since she was one of my very best friends of course I attended with her some. Her dad was the pastor of a small church about 10 miles from my home. I’m so thankful that her parents went out of their way to make sure I was able to attend. At the age of 14 I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart as my Lord and Savior. It was at church at our Fall Fellowship November 12th, 2005. I will never forget that day, that place, or that moment. I wish I could say I followed Jesus from there on. Unfortunately, as the teen years approached, I went away from God, (don’t worry I found my way back and side note: He’s always right there waiting for you!) I’m so thankful Jesus was right there waiting for me to come back to him! While I’m not perfect today I work hard to serve God in everything I do!

2) I am a wife!

I’m sure every wife out there reading this can agree with me on one thing- Being a wife is hard!

Ephesians 5:22-24 22Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. 

Doesn’t that scripture always step on our toes ladies? Let’s talk about my husband Billy for a minute though! The next line in that chapter

Ephesians 5:25 says this "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 

If there’s ever been a scripture describing my husband this is it. Our marriage has not been easy, I’m bull headed, and so is he. There have been so many days that we wanted to quit, but if there is one thing that keeps me here it’s at the end of the day I know he loves me. Not just loves me, but really really loves me, like Christ loved the church. If this was the only thing he did as a husband it would keep me here. Thankfully, that’s not all he is known for. He is a man of God, a preacher, an extremely hard worker, the absolute best daddy, and one of the sweetest purest souls. He loves his family with his whole heart and he is so concerned for this lost and dying world. My husband was not all of those things when I met him though. We have had quite the journey (Can’t wait to share that journey with you guys another time). I’m so thankful to have the man I have now. It keeps me striving, working, and praying to be a better Christian wife for him.

3) I am a mom!

On December 20th, 2019, I found out I was a mom. This is the day I found out I was pregnant. I want you to notice I reference the fact I was already a mom. I believe from the time my son was conceived in my belly I became a mother. God blessed my husband and I with a little boy and he gave me the greatest gift outside of my salvation and my husband when he did this. Throughout my pregnancy I did not take this gift lightly, and I focused on bringing myself closer to God. My husband and I had tried for over a year to have a baby and was slowly giving up. Looking back, I realize with complete faith that the Lord’s timing was perfect as always and our little boy was given to us not a moment too soon. Our little boy Zachariah entered this world on August 18th, 2020. Within a couple hours of his birth my husband and I prayed giving our son back to God. You may say -what does that mean? For us it meant making a vow to God that we would raise him for the Lord, that we would trust the Lord to take care of him, that we would support whatever plan God had for our son. It was such a beautiful moment, and when I think about it, I always think of Jochebed – Moses’ mom. In Exodus we read about the story of Moses and at the beginning we know that Pharaoh had planned to kill all the little boys that was born. Jochebed knew she had no choice in keeping her son, yet she placed Moses in a basket in the river giving him back to God trusting that the Lord would take care of him. As we continue to read the story, we know what an amazing servant for God Moses was and that Jochebed indeed got her son back. That’s the kind of faith I want to have as a mom as I raise this little boy for the Lord. Becoming a mom has brought me even closer to God then I’ve ever been before. That little boy has mommy wrapped around his finger, and I can’t wait to share our journey with you guys. I know in my heart God has big plans for him, and I’m so thankful the Lord trusted me with being his mom.

4) I am a business owner and stay at home mom!

My husband and I own an overhead door business which I do all of the secretary work for. This includes our books, all calls, orders, etc. For all you stay at home moms who work from home you totally understand how many challenges this can present. I have a feeling a lot of my future blogs will be written surrounding this topic. My husband and I hope to grow a business that if one day our son wants to take over he can, and it will be a successful established business. My husband does all of the manual labor while contracting out help when needed. Also, just this past year my mom has came on to work with him some, and let me tell you its been a gift from God. The business can be exhausting and taxing and the struggle is real with working from home, but being able to stay home with my little boy is such an amazing blessing from God. I often think of all the wonderful moments I would be missing if I was working outside of the home. I know staying home is not an option for everyone nor would it be their choice, but for our family it’s perfect. While it’s challenging, I wouldn’t want it any other way :)!

5) My family is small!

When I say my family is small, I’m only referring to my blood family, because the Lord has blessed me with a large family in Christ. My mom has a complicated past (don’t worry I bet she lets me share more about this in the future). Anyway, my mom moved to the United States when she was a teenager from Canada. After meeting my dad and getting married circumstances left her leaving all of her old life behind. Therefore, that means I don’t know any of my family on my mom’s side. After my mom and dad met and got married, they had two daughters myself being the oldest, and my sister Priscilla being 22 months younger than me. After a divorce and my mom remarrying, my dad was diagnosed with brain cancer and passed away when I was 7. Seven months later my stepdad passed away due to drug use. Like I said earlier- drugs, alcohol, and rock and roll. My mom later remarried to the man who raised me. Jerry Don was in my life from the time I was 8 until he passed away when I was 24. I’ve lost 3 dads; you could say there are daddy issues there for sure. Just more of my journey that I plan to share with you all later on. So, my family basically consist of my mom and my sister. My mom also has a best friend that she has been friends with for over 25 years, and her name is Danielle. This has basically been my 2nd mom for my whole life so she’s definitely family. Of course, now my sister and I have both started families and each of us have a little boy so maybe one day we will get to see children and grands filling up our homes. That is of course if the Lord doesn’t come back first :)!

6) I’m a faithful church member!

The Lord tells us in his book-

Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.  

I believe from the very bottom of my heart that our spirituality relies on us going to church. (Lots of blogs to come on this I promise). Not only does our spirituality rely on it, but the Lord expects it from us. I’m a better Christian because of church. I’m a better soul winner because of church. The list goes on and on. The bible also says-

Romans 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 

The Lord commands us to win souls to Christ, and what a better way than to bring them in from the fields of sin into the church where they can hear the gospel straight from a man of God. Church is our safe place away from this world and its filthiness. Also, just a side note if you can’t tell a difference between your church and the world there’s a problem. Outside of being a faithful church member I try to serve in my church every chance I get. I am the teacher on Wednesday nights for our teenage girls, and I’m also the director of our nursery. If any other chances present itself to be a servant for the Lord I want to be the first to volunteer. This is not trying to boast on me. I owe this to God for all the blessings he has given me.

7) I surround myself with godly friends!

One of the best ways to follow Christ and not go astray is to surround yourself with godly people and Christian fellowship. By being around other Christians, it helps hold us all accountable, and encourage us in following the Lord. My husband and I try to engage in Christian fellowship as often as possible. There is something so special about sharing your time with God’s people. You may wonder how you find godly people, and my answer is church. Just another example of why I strongly believe in going to church. I have found my very best friends at church, including the God parents to my son.

8) I believe the KJV 1611 bible!

There will be so much I have to say about this in the future, but for now I will keep it short. I do not believe in using other versions of the bible. While this is not popular teaching it is my belief and I stand by it. I hope throughout my blogging journey I can be a help to someone on this topic. The bible says in

Revelation 22:18-19 - 18For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

9) My hobbies & the things I enjoy!

Honestly, I feel over the years I’ve become a little boring when you look back on my old self. With that being said when I stop and really think about it, I realize I just let go of a lot of things in this world and grabbed on to a lot of things concerning God. So, let’s talk about what that leaves us with :). I love to cook! I don’t cook as often as I feel I should, since I’m a stay-at-home mom, but let’s face it running a business, chasing a toddler and trying to keep up a house is a lot of work. I have to remind myself to give a little grace if I don’t cook EVERY night! I absolutely can’t get enough of reading a good book! I enjoy fishing, going to the creek, puzzles, selling childrens books (Usborne Books and More), and writing (I guess this one is what got us here lol). Of course, all of this comes after the obvious which is spending time with my family. One last thing though that I want to mention that I love is serving. You may say what do you mean serving? Well, I love to host, I love to do things for people, I love to buy gifts, I love to help, the list is really endless. Whether it be cooking for a group of our friends, helping out a friend in need, buying a gift to lift someone up, or serving in my church. All of these things are where I’m in my happy place. I just love to serve; it makes me happy! 🙂

10) I’m an Arkansas girl and country to the core!

What does that title for number 10 even mean? I’m laughing out loud right now lol. So the obvious is I live and was raised in Arkansas. The other part means my next door neighbors even think I have a country accent!!! 🙂 I can bait my own hook (unless is crickets), I don’t mind getting a little dirty, and there’s nothing as peaceful as a creek bank. Last it means that this blog may not always sound “proper”. If my country slides in from time to time just smile and read on!

If you have read this blog this far God bless you. You’ve learned a lot about me, and I’m hoping it brings you on board for the long haul. Why did I start a blog? Well, my answer is this- I want to help people. I want to share my struggles and how they became victories. I look forward to sharing the gospel, and edifying women, moms, and Christians. If my blog also turns into a source of income for my family, I’m ok with that as long as it’s not at the expense of my overall goal. So, I will end with this, come join me on my journey and at the end of the day lets be here to pray together.

God Bless You!

Candy Croom