Insert Statement of Shock At How Much Time Has Passed Since I Last Blogged

I wish I could say I've been gone because I was busy writing the Great American Novel, or because I was on an all-expense-paid tour of the Mediterranean, or because SoldierMan surprised me and came home early.

In reality, I've only been working a lot, and trying to sleep in between. And find some time to play with the poor neglected puppies.

Thanks for hanging around and putting up with my unreliability. This is going to be a short but intense week at Ft. Bliss, followed by what is sure to be a very fun holiday weekend. So I should have plenty of material in the next couple of weeks.

Anyone want to loan me some time???

Meanwhile, enjoy this pic of the laziest puppy in the world. That’s not mid-sitting-action. He stayed like that for 5 minutes. Because, why stand on all four feet?

Be a Miracle!

Today, I’d like to introduce you to some awesome people:

These are my cousins, Bryan and Michelle. And their two hilarious offspring, who crack me up via facebook daily.

They are moving to Nicaragua. And they have an amazing story.

The short version is, through an incredible series of “coincidences,” they found themselves standing in Nicaragua one day looking out on a community of children living, literally, on a garbage dump. Seeing the great need and feeling a stirring in their hearts, they are now uprooting their family and moving house to Rivas, Nicaragua, to change these people’s lives in the name of Jesus.

From supporting an existing nutrition program, to beginning an education program for the children, to continuing trade skills training for adults, Bryan and Michelle will be working alongside locals (and anyone who would like to visit and help!) to bring a better life to the people of Rivas, while showing them the love of Jesus and teaching the people about God’s amazing grace to humanity.

I am so, so excited for them to start this new chapter in life. I love Bryan and Michelle dearly, even though we don’t get to see each other much anymore. Bryan’s family went to the same church my family did when I was little…then *cough* many years later, he married my cousin Michelle, who I grew up very close to and spent many a summer day and Friday night hanging out at my grandma’s and staying up late watching Nick at Nite and playing dominoes. They are amazing people with an incredible God story I highly encourage all of you to read.

And here’s the part where I ask for your support. They leave America on May 31. And they are still short of sufficient financial support to maintain their work through Christmas, their first short-term fundraising goal.

Now, listen, if they were just my family, I wouldn’t be posting this, even though I love them. If they were just random missionaries, I probably still wouldn’t be posting it. I hate asking people for money and I hate putting pressure on people.

But first of all, I’m not asking you to do anything I‘m not willing to do myself. SoldierMan and I have already committed to support them monthly until they move back to the states, whenever that may be. So I’m not asking anyone to “cover” for me, in case anyone has that notion.

Secondly, I really believe that God drew them to these people and this place and time. I can see that they truly have a heart for the people of Rivas, especially for the children.

And third, I know that the money we send them isn’t going to get eaten up in overhead. This is money that will directly help support the people of Rivas, either in buying supplies, food, or shoes for the people of Rivas, or living costs for Bryan, Michelle and kiddos to stay and physically love on the children there. They aren’t going to Vegas. They’re going to the trash heap.

So, I’m asking you – YOU reading this right now – to go here, read their story of how they were lead to Rivas and of the amazing miracle God has already worked in their lives (no, really, a miracle) and prayerfully consider helping them meet their financial needs. If all you can do right now is support them in praying for someone else to donate the funding, that is still fantastic.

I know times are hard all around financially. But I also know that God blesses us in order that we would turn around and bless others. I believe that giving financially to support others to dedicate their lives to teaching people about God is “laying up treasures in Heaven,” (Matthew 6:20-21). So it means less splurging on myself every month. But if it means that little faces will one day be in Heaven, isn’t that worth it?

Please, click the button above to visit their blog and read their story. And ponder and ask God what He wants you to do. I truly believe that God is holding off on fulfilling their financial needs until the last minute so that, when He does fill the gap through obedient believers, we can only say, “God did that!”

Again, He may only prompt you to support them in prayer, and if so, that’s wonderful. Be obedient to that. But perhaps He has other things in mind. Perhaps He desires you – yes, YOU – to play a part in a miracle He wants to work.

With Hope

“Oh Yahweh, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them; and you listen to their cry.” Psalm 10:17

I’m writing this with a very heavy heart. You probably have heard the news that 5 Ft. Bliss soldiers were killed on patrol last week in Afghanistan. I learned Sunday morning, before the official list was released, that one of the soldiers was the husband of one of my friends here. I met Miranda towards the beginning of the year when we joined the same weekly Bible Study. I’ve admired her for a long time. She’s transparent, strong, funny, beautiful, a former soldier herself, mothering an infant and a toddler during this deployment. She’s an AMAZING photographer, generous, with a laugh that fills a room.

Now she’s a Gold Star wife.

And I hate it. If “hate” is even a strong enough word.

Sunday I went on to church, because I had signed up to bring the food for Sunday School (Baptists need their food) but also, I just needed to be there. I needed to hear about Jesus. I needed to focus on Jesus. And I wasn’t disappointed. I was blessed to be with a group of people praising God and thanking Him for our hope of eternal life. And I cried, inwardly pouring my heart out to Yahweh and thanking him that James had also had that hope, and asking the Holy Spirit to keep that assurance forefront on Miranda’s mind.

I spent the afternoon searching through God’s Word for comfort. The blackout was still on, and I hadn’t heard from SoldierMan for a while. I was struggling with fear. Even though I knew he was okay now, suddenly I felt afraid like I hadn’t thus far in the deployment. This group were our brigade’s first casualties. And I was afraid.

So I turned to the Word. Maybe for other people, they instantly are consumed with prayer or spiritual music, but that wasn’t what I needed. I didn’t need to talk to God. I needed to hear from God. I needed reassurance of His promises. And I read. And I cried. And I tried to pray but not much came out. I just cried.

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” Romans 8:26

That evening, almost two dozen of us gathered together to pray for Miranda, for her children, for the surviving soldiers, for our own wounded spirits as we hurt for our friend and feared for our husbands. We prayed and cried and called out to God and poured out our souls and listened for His voice.

I only wish Miranda could have been there so we could have loved on her in person. Lots of love was sent her direction. And God was there. Jesus was there with us. I won’t speak for others, but I felt the Holy Spirit in that room. Out of respect for the others I waited till I was in the car, but by the end of the night, my heart was bursting to praise God. Not because my friend was in pain, not because her children would grow up without their father. But because I knew that, even in the pain, God had not abandoned her. God was not surprised by James’ death. And Yahweh will not forget Miranda, Yahweh will not abandon her children. And in His great lovingkindess and grace, God planned before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1) a way for James and Miranda to be reunited even after death.

Throughout His Word, Yahweh speaks again and again of his love for the widow and the orphan. Yahweh has not left my friend, and Yahweh will never leave her. Thank you, Father God, that you draw near to the brokenhearted, and you rescue the crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34:18) Let Miranda please feel your closeness in a very real, tangible way.

“…you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep…Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4: 13-14, 18)

My heart is breaking for Miranda and for her babies. And it grieves me deeply that James will never take his son to t-ball practice. James will never walk his daughter down the aisle on her wedding day. I mourn all the days they will never have together. I don’t understand it. “Unfair” seems like an understatement.

And yet…James is not dead. Let no one say he is; it is a horrible lie. James is more alive than he has ever been. He is perfectly happy, perfectly healthy, and able to love Miranda and their children in a way he would never have been able to with his flawed human heart. He will never die. He will never suffer. He will never be in pain, be injured, be sick. And I believe that God, in His infinite love and goodness, will allow James to be a witness on those special days in his family’s life. (Hebrews 12)

And I thank God, that because Jesus overcame death – actual death, was actually killed and actually died, and then actually came back to life – that James has also overcome death. Because he had put his trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord, not only as Savior of his eternal soul but Lord of his life here on earth, we can say with total assurance that he is now with that Savior in Heaven.

I’d be negligent as a blogger and as a friend if I didn’t beg each of you reading this to please, please search your own hearts, evaluate your own relationship with God, and search the Scriptures to see where your faith is really placed. I’m sure that James and the other soldiers in his patrol planned to be sleeping in their own beds that night. Ultimately, none of us has any control over whether or not we will see tomorrow. Don’t wait until tomorrow. Draw near to Yahweh while you can.

I’m adding James’s name to my sidebar in memoriam, but he is very much alive and awaiting an unbelievably joyful reunion with his family one day, because of the hope and power of the resurrection of Jesus. James was a soldier, his job was to identify and eliminate the enemy. Ultimately, he did just that.

“The last enemy to be defeated is death.”
1 Corinthians 15:26

O hai therr

So this morning the batteries died in my universal remote, and after a brief survey of the house, I discovered we had no backups. After a brief mourning period, I realized, “Hey! I could blog right now!” And so here I am :)

Life has been a little nutso the last month or so. More like a lot. Hence why my blogging and commenting has pretty much gone down the tubes. (Although I’ve been better about commenting, thanks to Bloglovin’s mobile app that I can work from the bathtub.)

Here’s a little of what I mean:

We officially passed the halfway point/month 5 of the deployment. I sort of sailed by it in a sea of busyness and wondering if April would ever end. But yay! Another major milestone!

There’s the man himself. Doing what he does…whatever it is. :)

Meanwhile, I hit a personal milestone – 10 inches lost overall! That was last week. I’ve sort of plateaued this week, but there’s always next week. I have a plan.

I also got to go home for a few days last month, and that was pretty freaking awesome. I miss home so much.

It was fantastic. I got to see some family and friends, and generally relax and not think about stupid things and stupid people. I got to visit the Omniplex (Science Museum) with my friend Brianna and her kiddos, hit Bricktown with my Brother and Sister (I’m the not-blonde one), and even got to swing by and see my cousin Michelle (you’ll be hearing more about her soon!) Man, I miss Oklahoma.

Speaking of Oklahoma, I also become a contributor to an Oklahoma-based faith-centered website, Word Slingers.

I’m really enjoying the challenge and the community. It’s still a brand-new site, so I highly encourage you to jump over and check it out. I have a couple of very talented friends who also contribute.

Speaking of very talented friends, I also saw to my excitement that a couple of friends that I went to college with have BOTH released books on Amazon this week:

I was fortunate enough to be part of the proofing process for 144:Wrath, the first installment of the 144 books. I was very quick to download 144:Redemption to find out how the story ends.And I’m not gonna lie, I’ve been waiting for Raven’s Hollow to come out for, like, 5 years (or however long since we were in class together and she began the first draft). I am SUPER excited to get started on that next! I highly encourage you to check out both of them!

Meanwhile, I also…got a job. Like, outside my home. I thought it would be a good idea to help us save up some extra money/knock out debt faster, and it is that. It’s also a really big stretching experience, but that’s good I guess. Right about the time I started really feeling comfortable in this deployment, it’s like God decided I needed a curveball to keep me on my toes. Which this job certainly does. I do intend to be vague about what and where the job actually is. It involves being around minors and sensitive information, so I’ll probably never really go into too much detail here on the blog. Sorry if that’s a problem for anyone.

However, along with the job that drains my last ounce of brain power on an almost daily basis, I’m also a part of a fantastic weekly Bible Study, and that’s been my lifesaver. Since now I essentially work when all my friends have free time, and vice-versa, and the couple days I don’t work are taken up with catching up on all the house and puppy and SoldierMan stuff I can’t do while I’m at work, it’s been a real challenge to get time in with friends. I’m not even going to think about the fact that by the time my life slows down a little, most of them will have moved or be moving away. Not gonna think about it. However, thanks to my weekly Bible Study, I get to have a couple of hours every week guaranteed that I get to spend some time with friends, in an encouraging environment that also feeds my soul. It’s been a huge blessing,

Meanwhile, when I do find a few minutes of personal down time, I’ve restarted scrapbooking. Just began the 2010 album. It’s really exciting. I miss scrapbooking. I miss our scrapbooking club we had last year. Before everyone moved. Doom on you. Not really. But seriously. But not. So now basically it’s just me sitting at my table watching old movies, but that’s okay. I still enjoy it and it gives me a creative outlet since I haven’t had much time to write lately (as you know).

In conjunction with that, I took the plunge a couple of months ago and became a Creative Memories consultant.

Creative Memories offers a whole line of traditional and digital scrapbooking tools for just about every scrapping need. While I could easily run down to Hobby Lobby to grab a few pieces of scrapbook paper (and I do) I’ve been using the actual Creative Memories tools for years and they are high quality. Like, the blades and trimming tools I use today I bought…oh geez, almost 10 years ago! They are still every bit as good as the day I bought them. I really do believe in the products, and I think they are worth the investment. Meanwhile, I have a consultant website and I think you’d probably enjoy looking around, whether you like to make traditional scrapbooks, digital scrapbooks, personalized greeting cards…they even sell Cricut cartridges! Oh, and I offer a very nice Friends and Family discount. So if you see something you like, email me and we can work out a deal ;)

And that’s my life right now, minus puppies. Here’s some pics of them for you:

And that’s life for us in May. How are things with you?