The Life I Planned

This past week has brought with it many challenges.  They were all fairly minor issues/challenges in the whole scheme of things, but as one piled on top of another and another and another my eyes were pulled away from the One who is really in control and I fell apart.  The final straw was yesterday when I finally made it to the Department of Motor Vehicle after dealing with inspection issues and repairs the prior few days.  I had done my research well ahead of time, and found that Virginia had an unreal list of requirements to obtain tags.  I carefully collected each item they said I needed.  I had my stack of paperwork. I was prepared and looking forward to putting this behind me!  I waited my turn in line, and happily gave my stack of papers to the clerk when it was my turn.  Within seconds she very matter a factly told me that they would not procede without my husband's ID.  WHAT??  I had studied up for this, I knew what I was doing, I had my Power of Attorney, I had everthing they said I would need, I was prepared!!  I spent the next 20 minutes or so trying to convince the clerk, the supervisor, and the next supervisor that they were all very sadly mistaken.....surely if they understood my circumstances, if they reread their own rules.....they could not do this to me!!  They were very lacking in their empathy skills, and I ended back up in my van, still with Oklahoma tags that would expire in just 1 short week.....just a few days before R&R.  I sat in my van sobbing in despair.

Now almost 24 hours later I'm still not sure how this will all turn out.  I still have tags that are about to expire which will keep me from being able to enter the military installation where my home is, but in the stillness and quietness of this Saturday I can hear God speaking to me in that still small voice  reminding me that I often repsond to Him in the same way I repsonded to the employees at the DMV.  I research, I plan, and prepare for the life that I have planned and fall apart when life isn't quite what I expected.  God's reponse to me is found in Isaiah 55:8-13.

 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith Jehovah. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, and giveth seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing; and all the trees of the fields shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree; and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree: and it shall be to Jehovah for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."

I am SO thankful for the reminder that I am not in charge.  What a mess I would make!  I serve a God who sees the beginning and the end and orchestrates my life in a way that "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him. {1 Corinthians 2:9} 

 For my friends who are hurting so deeply right now I pray you are able to find hope in these verses.  My  heart aches for you.  The following link is to a beautiful poem.  The Life I Planned by Beth Moore 

Almost 1/2 way

Wow.  It is hard to believe it is the middle of August all ready.  I do have to say that I am very pleased about this.  You see this means that in less than 7 weeks we will have made it to the 1/2 way point of the deployment!  Which also means I will be seeing my Hubby very soon for R&R.  I cannot put into words how excited I am. (btw....the kids do not know about R&R yet...shhhhh!)

The kids and I started our new school year a few weeks ago.  So far it is going very well.   We have had new homeschooling neighbors move in,  found a co-op to participate in, and piano lessons starting soon.  It is shaping up to be a very busy and exciting school year!

Our biggest immediate news is our trip to visit family and friends this week!  This will be the kids first time to fly on an airplane, and my first time to fly "alone".  We are all very excited!!  I kind of impulsively decided to take this trip, and God has really taken care of all the details from the airline lowering ticket prices, having someone to take care of our dog Brandi, and medication issues with the kids.  God is constantly reminding me that I am not forgotten, and He has it all under control even when I cannot see. (Luke 12:6-7 & Psalm 139)   I cannot wait to visit with everyone!  I'm sure I will have some fun and interesting things to blog in the coming weeks!

Week in Review

This past week has been pretty low key for the kids and I compared to our usual nonstop schedule.  We tried out the new babysitter on Monday.  The kids loved her and are looking forward to next time.  I enjoyed getting out for a few hours even if it was to the dentist! 

The kids had their eye appointments and a check-up with their pediatrician.  The optometrist confirmed what Cameron's OT from Oklahoma had said about him needing vision therapy.  He basically has no control over his eyes (this is very apparent to anyone who has tried to take a picture of him).  The dr went on to explain how much this problem affects Cameron's everyday living.  He had a lense for me to look through to show me how Cameron sees.  I was shocked!  Everything was moving, blury, and unstable.  Cameron has never known anything different so he adapts very well, but many of his "issues" can be attributed to his vision.  So anyways...hopefully before too long he will be beginning vision therapy.  I am very excited and hopeful that this will make a big difference for him.  Kate will most likely be doing some vision therapy as well to help with her reading comprehension.  Dr.Guhl seems great and we look forward to working with him.

The biggest event of our week was my decision for the kids and I to make a trip to Springfield in August.  I had been watching airfares and was pretty disappointed that they had gone up.  I contemplated making the 19 hour drive (uhg!).  Just when I had about given up on the idea AirTran lowered their rates again.  What a blessing!!  I was so excited!!  So we have our flights booked, and are excited to spend time visiting with friends and family.  This will be the kids first time to fly.  It should be quite the fun experience!

We are now 9 weeks out from R&R, and the coutdown has begun!  We have not told the kids, and I am nearly bursting with excitement!! :~)

A Very Blessed and Busy Day

I love Sundays!  We have been very blessed since our move to Virginia to find a great church home.  We attend Liberty Baptist in Hampton.  The worship today was Spirit filled, and the choir and vocalist sang Midnight Cry.  I have to admit that my favorite form of worship is through song!

Following church we had an interview with a potential sitter for the kids.  I'm not sure who was more excited.....the kids or myself!  The interview went great.  She is a Christian young lady, who seems to be responsible, and made an immediate connection with my kids.  Katelyn & Cameron were begging for her to babysit them!  So, tomorrow I will be going to my dentist appointment by myself while Rachel hangs out with the kids.  I'm praying that it all goes well.

We then spent the remainder of the afternoon/evening at Water Country with one of my friends and her children.  The kids and I have been so blessed with some really great friends here in the area.  I know without a doubt that God has placed us all here together to encourage, help, and just be there for each other while our husband's are deployed, and for that blessing I am very grateful!

As Iron Sharpens Iron

This morning as I checked in with my friends on facebook I read an article called "Motherhood Is A Calling (And Where Your Children Rank) by Rachel Jankovic (thanks Shamberly for posting the link!)  Wow was I ever convicted!!  I will not go into the details of what the article said, but will post this link so you can read it for yourself if you would like.  Motherhood is a Calling

Today as God continually pricked my heart concerning this matter I have tried to make a conscious effort to make my kids a priority.  Katelyn approached me this morning and asked if I wanted to play Go Fish.  I was busy and had many many things that needed to be done in order to be ready for the FRG BBQ, but I agreed to play anyway.  The look of delight and excitement on my little girls face was so worth it!  This evening we played with, in, and around bubbles just enjoying each others company.  The best thing of all came at bed time.  Instead of the usual five minute tuck in, I rocked each of my kids to sleep.  (yes I rocked my big kids to sleep!) 

So what does all of this have to do with Iron Sharpening Iron?  Proverbs 27:17 says "As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of  his friend."  This is what I get from facebook!  I am so thankful for my friends who love God and are continually seeking to grow in their relationship with Him and are willing to share on facebook what they are learning!

Blog on the Brain

I have to admit that since I have started blogging it really consumes much of my thought process.  I find myself much more self conscious of what I am doing throughout the day wondering "Will this be what I will blog about today?".  I guess being more self aware is a good thing, but I really think that I am over thinking this whole thing!!

Anyways today we pretty much stayed at home the entire day not venturing out until 7:00 this evening to return a few movies.  The house has been pretty neglected the past few months and I've decided that it is time to get it put back together and get a real routine put in place.  Today my focus was the kitchen and dining area.  It is nice to end the day with a sense of accomplishment.  I also spent the day reviewing applications for a sitter for the kids.  I love my kids, but being with them 24/7 (we home school) without ever having a break is not good for them or for me.  An occasional sitter is going to be a must to thrive during this deployment!  I have a couple of good leads and will be interviewing some young ladies in the next few days.  I am praying for God to send us someone!

The best part of today was getting to listen to Pandora Radio all day long!  As a teenager my youth Pastor constantly stressed the importance of listening to Christian music and that has always stuck with me.  I love contemporary christian music and rarely listen to anything else!  One song in particular really stood out to me today.  It had been a while since I had heard it and it has such an application to my life right now!!  It is called "While I'm Waiting" by John Waller. You can listen to the song by clicking on this link.  Music and Lyrics of While I'm Waiting

Who would have thought?

Today was the dreaded dentist day for the kids.  I was pretty sure Cameron had some major issues going on, and Katelyn was experiencing her usual anxiety.  We went to a dentist referred to us by a friend (big thanks to Dawn!).  We arrived 15 minutes early and turned in all of our paperwork that I was able to fill out online the day before (love technology!), and discovered the waiting room had a free arcade game.  The kids became quickly caught up in the game, so much that Katelyn's mind was taken off of where we were even at.  There was none of the usual nonstop questions of "What are they going to do?",  "Am I going to be ok?",  "How long will it take?", "Where are you going to be?", "Am I going to die???".  I watched the kids in amazement and in what seemed like only a matter of minutes it was our turn to head back to the bay of dentist chairs.  Katelyn was placed two seats down from where they directed Cameron and I to be.  This in itself is usually enough to send Katelyn over the edge of sanity, but the dental hygienist was so friendly and engaged Katelyn in such a manner that again she was at loss for all of her normal questioning and fretting.  The entire experience was amazing compared to the usual tears, thoughts of death, and just terror in general that a visit to the dentist office typically brings for Katelyn. 



I sat amazed watching Katelyn breeze through the entire process happily chatting with her dental hygienist, and Cameron cooperatively enjoying his visit.  It was during this time that I was able to have a conversation with another military mom who was just starting the homeschooling journey and was full of doubts and questions, and another conversation with a dental hygienist who was in the very painful stages of seeking a child to adopt after losing three babies over the course of the past ten years. I can tell you that as I entered the dentist office this morning I was very much wrapped up in my own little world. I had no intentions of having any meaningful conversations with anyone....but God had another plan.



I am reminded of I Peter 3:15 which says "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh  you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear", and Matthew 5:16  "Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."  Tonight I am looking back on today's events and wondering how many opportunities to share God's love that I miss because I am not intentional about letting my light shine and being ready to share the reason for the hope that is within me.  I am challenged to slow down, look outside my own world, and seek opportunities to share God's love with those around me. 



We left the dentist office less than an hour after we entered with very happy reports...no cavities, no issues, and no meltdowns.  I am in awe of the peace that God covered my children with today to allow me the awesome opportunity to share with others the hope that He has given me.

A Brand New Adventure

In the Spring of 2005 Jeremy and I had the opportunity to return to our hometown of Springfield, MO for Fellowship Week.  Our intent for this week was to catch up with friends and spend time with family.  We had no idea that God was getting ready to take us on a whole new adventure!  During one service that week I was sitting in the back with a friend and our kiddos while Jeremy sat some where near the front with a few of his friends.  The speaker was an United States Army Chaplain.  I could not tell you a word he said nor even the theme of his message, but I did know (even though Jeremy and I had NEVER  talked about it) that God was calling our family to serve along side Jeremy as a Chaplain. It was not until a few months later as we were driving home from a National Guard drill weekend that Jeremy very nervously approached the subject with me.  My response was "I know, God has all ready told me", and that is how our journey into the Chaplaincy began.  It took several years of very hard work for Jeremy to finish the required schooling.  In April of 2009 Jeremy became an active duty Army Chaplain and we made our first Army move to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma.

Here we are nearly 2.5 years later and on another new adventure.  We are now living 19 hours away from "home" at our 2nd duty station and experiencing our first deployment.  I can honestly say that even though I knew that deployments were part of being an Army Family that I secretly hoped that we might somehow miss that part of the adventure.  Nevertheless, here we are 1/4 of the way through the inevitable.   Philippians 4:6-7 has become my focus.  "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer WITH thanksgiving".  I have to admit this is a hard one for me, but the promise God gives in verse 7 is so worth it!  "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  We are absolutely experiencing that peace that passes all understanding!  I'm not saying that this deployment is easy or that I do not miss my husband with every breath I take, but God is providing a peace that makes it possible to not just survive this deployment but to truly thrive.