Who are They? Really...

As many know by now my husband finally returned from his Year long tour in Iraq. He has been home a week and I forgot the Fullness of being a Christian Wife and Mother in the Military. I am so blessed by the honor given to me. I am humbled by the many men and women serving along side of me who has also endured Deployments and Military Life. As I looked around at the Welcome Home Ceremony I saw so many familiar faces and many new faces. I also so so much joy and sorrow at the same time. Many had no family awaiting their arrival and some had all of their family greeting them. My heart broke for some but I was so full of joy to see my own it was hard to sympathize very long. God has opened my eyes to a new way of Life. I once would look at the Cheater, the Alcoholic, and the Abuser as a piece of life wasted, now I look at them and my heart breaks. I see a soul lost so deep into sin and yet searching for fulfillment they can't seem to find. They have been  accepted into a crowd of people who will accept anybody but then they turn into something they never thought. They are now that Cheater, Alcoholic or Abuser they tried to run from. Why do we just sit there? Why do we complain about it as Christians and slander them? Shouldn't we Pray instead? Now, I am not a perfect example of praying for every woman who walks by me in an immodest manner, I may think a few things to myself and not pray at all. However, wouldn't it be wonderful  if we prayed for all of those people who offend us.Afterall what does the bible say about those... But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Matthew 5: 44  How much more would be accomplished in the Kingdom of Heaven? I look around me on our Military Post and as my eyes are being opened I see some who I literally just walk up to and pray with now. My heart is breaking for those who just want to be loved and told they are loved and needed. The wives who have cheating husbands but are staying for the sake of their family and reputation, the mothers who have teenagers rebelling but feel no hope is left for their child, and the single parent raising their child on their own who just wants a break.I want you to know I see your pain but God knows your sees and knows your pain. He wants you to tell him all about it and for all of us walking past you that you see, we are praying. How Blessed are We that we know this wonderful Love and Savior! Share our Lord! My heart is so full of aches for all of the lost souls. If you need prayer, we are hear for you.
Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]. James 5:16 
So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance. Romans 8: 26

ReDeployment Back Home

Its been almost an Entire Year! Where has time gone? Our Soldiers' return seems so close that its almost surreal. Many Army Wives have been through it but now it's my turn. I have dreamed of his return several times, what is it going to be like? In the beginning of the Deployment, I pictured all of the wives in a line with our arms out, so excited to see them but it seems like reality has kicked in recently. Nothing has seemed to go as planned and of course that is Normal, Right? Army Life, Normal, Ha! I think that may be an oxymoron. As I spoke to my mother-in-law tonight, we laughed at life even possibly being normal. She was a previous Air Force Wife of 10 years with 3 kids in the mix, so she has had her share of " The Normal Military Life" as well.

I was so full of excitement for this time to come and boy oh' boy it came fast! In the beginning, I would cringe at those wonderful, loving, and all-knowing people who would say "It will go by so fast". Now those words are true. Now don't get me wrong, those days were long but the months went by so quickly. I recommend you staying busy! Have an agenda, get a hobby, or make Christian friends. I emphasize Christian because they will lift you up, not tear you down.I encourage all military wives to make at least one Christian military friend  (wife/girlfriend)  to talk to in the Unit your Soldier is attached to during the deployment. They not only hold you accountable but pray with  and encourage you. They are going through the same emotional roller coaster ride as you. Its not good for you to hang out with the single ladies or non believers because they do not understand our Duty as Godly wives. Not all are like this but many are, its better to stick with married, if you are married. I have saw too many lose their marriages this way and not only in the military world.

I was designating the end of this Deployment to Only God, I was planning on setting myself aside for him and I, and when you make up your mind to do something for God, then Satan will try to destroy it. In the last two weeks I have been busier than this entire deployment. With sick twin toddlers, last get-togethers with the families in the unit, running errands, and all of the above. Now add a blizzard in the mix! Satan really is trying. So for all of you out there who really are trying, just know God knows your hearts! Last night as I was at my wits end, with high-fever-non-eating-screaming toddlers, I decided to get on my knees and cry out to God. Can you believe what happend? God wrapped his arms around me and spoke so softly "I'm Here". As I lay there God spoke to me about many things in my life and not in that loud audible voice as the movies portray but to my heart where only I know its coming from him, because I know I wouldn't think these things. God wants all of you to know he is there too!

God wants you to know he wants you to feel Loved. He wants you to know he is here for you and will walk with you in everything but he gives you and I that choice. Its a Choice and last night I made a choice to Cry out to him, in those times of Desperation, when we are dry, barren and Empty on the inside, God knows it.  God wants to wrap his Arms around you. I felt like a child all over again getting my Daddy's hugs. I remember starting to cry out to God and something (being the Devil) told me, he's not listening because you have not spent as much time with him as you said you would. Then I recalled a simple yet wonderful Scripture John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Thats all it requires of me for God to hear me, I am a child of his. I trust him and his word.

I once heard something that I will never forget from my Father-in-Law: When you have reached the top of the mountain and look around its cold and nothing grows there but as you look down the mountain on both sides their is lots of life, so remember life is much like this. As your climbing the mountain its tough but as you come back down there is life again.

You may just be waiting on God to Instruct you on which path to take back down the mountain, but wait on him. Isaiah 40:31 says it best: But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired. I don't know what this Life has to throw at me next but I do know that I am waiting on the Lord, during this season. Rather than I doing the instructing, he is instructing. I think sometimes he just has to remind us " He is in Control" and we need to relax.
So if your Soldier is soon to arrive, just relax, let God take the pen and notepad, so that he can write down the instructions for you to follow. Its hard to do but what better timing, than right before the "Head of our House" arrives back home.

Joshua 24:15 .. but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD