An Open Letter to My Young Friend

Dear Young Friend,

I have had the privilege of knowing, loving and praying for you since you were just a little girl.  You have always brought so much joy to those who know you with your infectious grin and sweet disposition.

You have been raised a "military brat" though why they call you all "brats" I'll never know.  You and your "kind" are among the most resourceful, brave, resilient, friendly and outgoing bunch of people I know and "brat" does not come to mind when I think of the grace required to not only endure but thrive in the lifestyle that you all have been born into.

You are now a lovely young woman and ready to move on from the life of military brat to that of military wife.  You are more than prepared for this adventure and know exactly what you are getting into.  However that does not make the heartaches and surprises along the way any less painful when you must face them.

And today, you must face one...and you haven't even made it down the aisle yet to your official status change.  And for that reason, I weep for you today.  For today you will learn that your groom will not be available to meet you at the end of that aisle..for duty will have called him elsewhere... on your anticipated wedding date.

I do not know what the two of you will decide to do with this unexpected change of plans, but I do pray for great wisdom and patience for the two of you as you determine your next step.

As I prayed this morning, I kept thinking back to a little girl I knew many years ago.  We had stopped at a rest stop, and I had bought chocolate bars for all the children.  You, my young friend, did not like chocolate and I'd forgotten.  You very sweetly and graciously said simply, "No thank you Ma'am," with a smile on your face even though I had nothing else to offer you in its place to sweeten the disappointment.  You were content to be without a treat.

I know today's offering can not even compare to an unwanted chocolate candy and you'd like nothing better than to say "no thank you" to it as well.  . But while I had nothing to offer in my meager disliked gift's place, today's gift Giver has something infinitely better waiting for you in its place.  I do not know what that will be, but pray that you and your groom find it soon and realize its blessings immensely.

So my dear young friend, today I pray you and your groom will find comfort knowing the Lord has you in His arms and in His will you will never be disappointed, even when there are tears along the way.

For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.  Jeremiah 29:11

With much love

Me

Its a bird, its a plane

Its Super Frog...one step...er one freefall...closer to officially being a LeapFrog. One down, 4 more to go!

What a difference a year makes

Once upon a time, a weary military wife was informed that she'd be moving to England.  Being the mature, godly woman that she was, she graciously accepted this news with a good attitude and much joy.  (well any story that starts with "once upon a time" is a fairy tale isn't it??)

Okay, so she didn't accept it graciously.  In fact, she cried and wailed and got snippy with her husband for taking her sooooo far away from 60% of her children.  They spent their 26th anniversary supervising the loading up of all their household goods, hot, exhausted, and she, stressed and seething with resentment.

2 days later he flew off on his grand adventure and left her behind living with her parents and awaiting visas to join him.  Well as they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder, and a month later, in spite of having a lovely visit with her family, she was ecstatic to get on that plane to fly off to join him.

A year has passed since our fairy tale began, and as most fairy tales, do, this one does have a happy ending (or in this case middle, because its never really over) and the weary military wife is no longer as weary and in fact has even found much joy in England.

Moral of the story:  Once again, the Lord had better plans for her than she wanted for herself and has given her so much more than she even imagined:  an excellent church home that is feeding and restoring her weary soul, amazing friends to just hang out with, many opportunities to travel to new places, and of course, sticky toffee pudding.

2 days after my arrival last year

Sipping the lemonade

Things for which I'm thankful in regards to life's latest lemon....in no particular order...

Its only an illness...there is an end in sight.

It is not a debilitating illness, just a painful and inconvenient one.

I do not have shingles on my face.

I have access to excellent medical care and caring physicians.

Swan has been here since Day One to watch girls and help out.

Swan has been a rock and my champion in making sure I didn't do too much and offering support and encouragement.

Swan is home and practicing her piano, providing me with hours of enjoyment as I rest on the couch.

I have such a lovely young woman I'm blessed to call daughter that 3 lemonade ingredients involve her.

I have a loving family...not just Swan...who are willing to help me out and take care of me.

I have two sons who have been calling or messaging me to check up on me.

I have friends who have been making sure Sweetness and Sunshine are entertained and giving them outings so they are not cooped up in the house with me.  My family was also here to provide a very pleasant distraction for them.

I have friends who were happy to have me over to their house for a time of fellowship who were content if I had to eat and run or nap on their sofa as my well being and energy demanded.

I live in England..I'm not really missing out on beautiful sunny days and wishing I was outside.

I'd lost 5 pounds in the weeks preceding the illness so that my inactivity is bringing them back but no additional pounds, thus far.

And most significant of all, the hellish torment of the pain has given me a glimpse (albeit a very small one I'm sure!) of eternal torment apart from Christ, and I know that my suffering is only of this world thanks to the love of Christ and his sacrifice on my behalf.

Some lemons are more sour than others

I like to think of myself as a lemonade type of gal....making lemonade out of the lemons sent my way.  Remembering that God is sovereign over all things and that He loves me and has a plan for me is a crucial ingredient in my lemonade recipe.  In fact, its the most important sweetening agent for my lemonade.

I keep this ingredient on hand all the time...for daily consumption.  Its a great preventative and insures that I am prepared at all times since I never know if, when or how many lemons I may have thrown at me at any given time.

Thankfully, by God's grace and by having this simple ingredient on hand, making lemonade isn't that difficult an endeavor on any given day.  However, some lemons are just so large and so sour, it requires a lot more work.

Shingles is just such a doozy of a lemon.  Making lemonade from it has been quite a challenge with the results being much more akin to drinking lemon juice than refreshing lemonade.

I continue to plug away at it though confident in the end, I will have at least sipped some lemonade from this current lemon.

Happy Father's Day to MWC and Dad!

I am blessed to have 2 wonderful fathers in my life.  First my own father who has shown me great love throughout my life.  Thanks to flexible shift times, he worked crazy hours...going into work in the middle of the night...so that he would always be available to pick us up from school and take us to doctor/dentist appointments and even more importantly, be able to coach our sporting activities and spend time with us.  I can't remember any events when Dad was not there to cheer my brother or me on.  I do remember countless hours of time on the softball field and on the tennis courts especially as he taught me how to not throw or serve a tennis ball "like a girl!"  He was successful and I could ace many a guy in my mixed double matches in high school!  Thanks Dad! I love you!

Now, I am blessed to have a husband who is an amazing father.  There is no doubt that his family is his priority.  No matter how demanding his job, no matter how tired he is, he always manages to find time to listen to, to teach, to train and to encourage our children.

This photo is old and only has one of our children...our little caboose, Sunshine...but its one of my all time favorites of him...captures his calling and sense of duty to his country and the tenderness he feels for his children.  It was taken shortly before his last deployment.

Happy Father's Day Dad and MWC! I love you both very much!

All because I wanted Fish and Chips

When we went to Wales, I told MWC I wanted some Fish and Chips.  We were right on the shore and it just didn't seem right to not have any.  However, after 4 days, we'd never found any or had the time to eat any during our sightseeing.

So on the way home, MWC decided to get off the motorway and see what he could find by following city centre signs.   Not only did we find a popular fish and chip shop and enjoy a yummy lunch, we stumbled upon a castle.  And not just any castle, this one had re-enactors in for the day so we learned about medicine, archery, coin making, playing games and defending a castle, and best of all, were present for a knights tournament.

Sometimes I just have be pinch myself at how blessed I am to see and do so many things...and to share them with my children.

Cheptow Castle courtyard set up with visiting knights

The Sheriff

The English lord

English lord vs. Welsh Squire