Monkeying around

My daughter is in Honduras right now spending time with my youngest brother and sister-in-law. She sent us this video and I thought it was a good laugh!

Check it out by copying and pasting the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWYn3BxVTFo

That's my brother laughing in the background. I know you got a good laugh out of that, Clint! I'm sure you all are having a blast. Wish I was there!

Church for the soldiers

A reminder to me that someone must go and share the gospel...

God,

Bless our chaplains as they minister in your name. Give them strength to do all that you've called them to do. Bless and protect their families. Amen.

One week down...

It's one of many days and, although I hate not being right there beside him, I love that he takes the time to take pictures and send them to me so I can feel a part of what he is doing.

Count your blessings, name them one by one...

This hasn't been an easy week, but it has been full of blessings. To name a few:

• My brother and sister-in-law kept our twins for me all week (they live on a lake and own a camp ground) and my boys loved that. Double blessing...they are doing it again this week!
• I was able to be there when my son was sworn in. I hated that his dad couldn't be there, but we sent pictures via email.
• I got a lot of emails and phone calls from my husband.
• I was able to see some of my friends from our former church.
• I was able to spend time with my daughter before she left for two weeks to go to Honduras.
• I received emails, comments on my blog, phone calls from friends and family saying they were praying for me and our family. One of my friends wrote me the sweetest email and ended it with this scripture that really spoke to my heart. Zephaniah 3:17 "You, the Lord my God, are with me. You are mighty to save.You take great delight in me, You will quiet me with your love, you will rejoice over me with singing."
• After taking Thursday off of work to be with my son, I arrived at work on Friday to find my desk decorated with all kinds of beachy things and later received other gifts or hints of things to come throughout the day, had a wonderful lunch with my team of executive assistants and from there they surprised me and took me to a nail salon where we had manicures and pedicures (with foot/leg massage!) while sitting in a massage chair. They were SO sweet to do this for me. They truly are wonderful friends to me and such a joy to work with. We always have a lot of fun together!
• I had a wonderful time with the Lord this morning, spending time in prayer and in his word, while sitting by the lake. The Lord constantly uses the morning by the calm lake to remind me that HE is my calm. He quiets my soul. Today I pictured myself sitting in a small rickety boat and as soon as I would stand up the waters would make ripples or the boat would tip a little, and I felt the still small voice of God telling me to sit down and relax and everything became calm again. Speaking to my heart like only God can, I knew he wanted me to trust him more, to sit with him a while and to just be still, and to know that he is right here with me calming my storm for me...if I will but let him.
• I went to a new church and it was a wonderful time of worship. Since I no longer really have a church to call home I was crying out to the Lord, asking him to lead me to the right place today, and he heard my cry. I thank him for that.

As I sat here counting my blessings, I was reminded that I need to be praying for our soldiers more, and for the war to end soon. I know many bases with hurting soldiers are waiting with anticipation for these chaplains in training and that the need is great for them right now. I hope everyone who reads my blog will pray daily for protection for those who faithfully serve our country.

You make us proud!

We are praying for you!

We love you and miss you!!!

Our son, the Airman

Yesterday our oldest son was sworn in to the United States Air Force. He already passed his entry test into the Pararescue school so his hopes and dreams are set on one day being a Pararescueman. Once he finishes basic training, he will begin 18 months of training for that. I believe it will be an exciting adventure for him and he says he's ready for the challenge. I stood there so proud of him and his commitment to serve our country...just like his dad!

Good news!

My husband is doing wonderful! This morning he took his physical training test and did awesome!! He had to do 34 push ups, 38 sit ups and run 2 miles in 18:18. Well, the almost 40 year old did what 20 year olds have to do. He did 47 push ups, 48 sit ups and ran 2 miles in 15:50!!! He called and I could hear the joy in his voice. He was praising God and grateful for all our prayers. God is good! (For those who got my email earlier, I had the times he had to do it wrong so this is even better than I thought!)

He is so pumped about today. This is also the first day for them to wear their uniforms and he was excited about that, too. He's in a huge class. Typically the have about 85 chaplains in this training, but there is 130 there, so things are moving slowly. He's been telling me for days he was ready to do some physical activity so this was a great way to start it out! He said he would send pictures soon so I'll try to post them when he sends them. He says he's practically bald so the kids and I wanted to see that!

Fun in the sun!

This was the weekend before my husband left for 3 months of training. We went to the lake and just hung out and enjoyed time together as a family. We also took the kids out to do some of the things they love to do.

Our oldest son...no fear!

Our daughter...cool shot!

One of the twins...

The other twin...Our oldest and youngest on the jet ski...I love this picture!
We all had a great time together and I already miss what we don't have right now...togetherness! We love you and miss you babe!!!!

Life is different

I am really missing my husband and wishing we were together. If I could drive there in 5 hours, I think I'd go right now! It's just not the same without him around.

Today he got his hair shaved off. He said he looks pretty much bald...only skin on the sides and back with a half inch on top. He thinks it's even shorter than when he went into basic training...and not liking it too much. He said he looks like someone from a concentration camp.

Our daughter is here with me and her boyfriend went on tour with his band for the summer. Last night was long and hard as I had A LOT of work to do for my company and she was upset and kept me up for the little time I had to sleep. She said that sounds so loving! Anyways, we will just miss our loves together for the summer (although my love has much more history and deeper ties!)

I am so tired and would love to just check into a hotel, get a massage, sleep for days and forget about everything I have to do. (That won't be happening!) Our house still hasn't sold, but I just continue to trust the Lord in all of it. I try not to stress about keeping it clean ALL THE TIME...

I bought our twins camouflage bedspreads and all for their rooms. They are away at the lake with my brother and sister-in-law for the week and I wanted to do something special for them...I hope I have time to decorate before they return home! I know they will love it.

Well...off to dinner with my daughter! We need a break!

It's been three days now and I'm missing my husband so much. It feels as though a piece of me is missing...well, in fact, it is. God's word tells us we became one when we married and so no wonder I feel like half of me is missing! I pray for him and his protection as he is on the road, and look forward to hearing of how God works in his life while he is training. I am so proud of him and his obedience to do what the Lord asked of him.

I am sad for our church family right now because I know they are really missing him. I pray God will protect their hearts and minds right now. They are precious people. They call and check on me and ask me to dinner and just love on me. It means so much. Although I'm not there physically worshipping with them anymore, I pray that God will fill the hole in their hearts right now.