Perfect Peace

I am so thankful and so grateful to all those friends and family who since hearing the news of Dude's upcoming deployment in December, have prayed and will continue to pray for Dude, as well as for me.
The Lord gave me this scripture this morning, as I continue to go to him more frequently about having complete peace about this.
He says in John 14:27 - "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your heart be troubled, and do not be afraid".
I also read in Isaiah 26:3 - 4, another familiar passage, that has a whole new and fresh message for me - "You Lord, will keep in perfect peace, him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal". The Hebrew word for the peace mentioned here, translates into " a full, genuine well-being".
You might be in a place in your life when you too, need to know the peace that passes all human understanding. We all face different trials and tests of faith throughout our walk here on earth, and I pray that these passages will speak peace into your heart as they have done for me.

Blessings,
Janelle

Seasons of Life

After a phone call with my son a few minutes ago, I needed to turn to the Word of God for peace and comfort, as I got the news that he is going to be deployed to Afghanistan in December.
Fear hasn't gotten a grip on me, but it's just something in a mother's heart that I can't fully explain, that once again has me running to my Heavenly Father to reassurance and the peace that passes all understanding.
As soon as I picked up my Bible, I felt the Holy Spirit tell me to go to Ecclesiastes 3, where it speaks of "A Time for Everything". I'm sure many of you are familiar with the song The Byrds did in the late 60's, which was based on this very scripture.
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

This is a time for my son to accept and fulfill his responsbilities and duties he has sworn to do for his country.
To say that I'm proud of him is a huge understatement.....this was a decision he made as a MAN, and an honorable decision it is.
This is also a time for me as his mama, to spend more and more time with my Father and my Lord, for His peace, His strength, and His comfort.
I ask that you remember us as well........

An ARMY Mom's Pride

Brrrrrr! It was only in the 40's here this morning, and hasn't warmed up much since getting up earlier. The house smells so wonderful - I have a big pot of vegetable beef soup going, and will let it slow cook all day, and have it for supper tonight.
Yesterday, I got the most wonderful package from the U.S. Army. It contained bumper stickers, lapel pins that have a star and say, "ARMY" and "PARENT". Bill and I will both proudly wear our pins daily, to show our pride in Dude. Also included were a letter to me as the mom of an American soldier, and a certificate, honoring me for my pride and support of my son, as he trains to be one of America's finest.
I was opening the package as Bill and I were driving to the library to do early voting, and I was trying to read the letter and the certificate out loud to Bill, and I just couldn't hold back the tears. The pride in my son continues to grow daily, and has done so since I gave birth to him 26 years ago.
In my letter to him today, I told him that when I was pregnant with him, the Lord spoke to me and said, "He will be more of a blessing than you can ever imagine". The Lord has continually proved that to me over and over again throughout Dude's life. He was such a loving child - I used to call him, "Sweet Thing", and we had a little game we'd play where I'd say, "Where's my Sweet Thing"?, and he'd been right there at my side pulling on my leg saying, " Here I am Mommy, here I am"....and I'd pretend I didn't hear or see him and repeat my question. He would jump up and down and keep telling me he was right there, and then I would act surprized and say, "OH THERE YOU ARE!!! I WAS SO WORRIED I COULDN'T FIND YOU AND NOW I'M SO HAPPY"! It seems like that was just yesterday......
As a teenager, he never went through the phase of being embarassed to be seen with his mom, or to have his mom hug and kiss him when his friends were around. He has proudly told his friends his whole life, that he loves his mom, and you know as a mother, what that did/does to me!
I am counting the days until Family Day and Graduation at Fort Benning arrive. I haven't seen my boy since last Christmas, and I'm sure I'll need plenty of kleenex to get me through the ceremonies!
Have I mentioned that my children are my life, and how proud I am of each one of them? :)
Have a great day - enjoy your children, no matter what age they are; no matter what challenges you may have with them throughout their years - they are God's most precious gifts to us, and as a woman, I couldn't think of a higher honor to be given, than that of being a mom.
Spoil them with love.....the blessings you'll reap are limitless...

Janelle

Thank You My Beautiful Children

Just when you think your children can't amaze you anymore than just being the most awesome adults you know, they go and do things that totally blow you out of the water!

Yesterday, I got a letter from my son Dude, who is in boot camp. Now I know that his first few weeks are VERY strenuous and he's probably far beyond worn out, but he took the time to make sure he let his mama know that he was thinking about her, and to tell her Happy 50th Birthday. It will be treasured and saved in my Bible forever.

Then today - I go check the mail, which is something Bill usually does when he gets home, and there along with all my other junk mail, was a small box that said caiman.com. Now I'm not thinking too clearly, because I'm thinking somebody's sending me junk mail to go to the Cayman Islands, which is spelled competely different, and is also not in my budget anytime in the near future!

I open this box, and inside are two cds - not junk cds - no.....there were two special cds that were from my Sarah and Jon. My "little girl" sent her mom two Bob Dylan cds that I didn't even know existed anymore, because they came out in about 83 - 84; Sarah was 4 and Dude 2 at the time. These cds were titled, "SAVED", and "SLOW TRAIN COMIN". Why are these so invaluable to me? Because when my kids were little, these were cassette tapes we'd taped off albums, and played CONTINUALLY in our home, our car....they were what helped get me through the death of my daddy.

It's no surprise to me that Sarah would think to send me something THAT special for my 50th birthday - remember, she lives in Spain, so just to get a Skype call from her would be special enough, but she reached WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY down into her mama's heart and brought back some of the most precious memories I have of hers and Dude's childhood.

To those of you with young children still at home - it's those little things that you never think they'll remember that come back to you later in life, JUST when you need it the most! Cherish EVERY minute with your children, because it's really true what you hear all of us who have grown children say - in the blink of an eye, they are grown and gone - but they are never far, they are always so close in our hearts...

THANK YOU MY BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN FOR MAKING YOUR MAMA FEEL SOOOOOO VERY LOVED AND SO SPECIAL! I love you both so very much, and miss you terribly, but I feel you both in my heart so strong right now, that all I can do is cry that I was chosen by the Lord to be your mom - it's so humbling to have children grow up to be the kind of adults you are, and I pray that he gives you each a child as wonderful as beautiful as each of you are to me.

xoxoxoxo Mom

Listening to our Parents

As always, I read a chapter of Proverbs each morning, and with it being the first of May, today's focus in on the theme and purpose of the book. Proverbs is a great book to seek God's wisdom for our daily lives.
The passage I'm focusing in on today Ch. 1: 8 - 9
"Listen my son to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching. They will be a garland of grace to your head and a chain to adorn your neck".
In the original Hebrew text, the word "listen" means to listen with a view of obedience.

As I've said before, my daddy was a Southern Baptist preacher. Out of all the things I remember the most that he said to me it was this: " Baby girl, when you think that life can't get any worse, when it seems like your whole world is falling apart, go read the book of Job". Being the daddy's girl I was, if he said it - I believed it, so I was listening to my father's instruction, and have been in situations in my adult life where I did think my whole world was falling apart, and that I couldn't go on another day. Reading the book of Job and seeing that what I was facing was nowhere near the trials Job went through, and how God was there with him throughout it all, has been that "garland of grace" referred to in verse 8.
My mother read Bible stories to us all and we heard her singing hymns on a daily basis while doing her housework. She made sure we were in Sunday School, revivals, and Vacation Bible School until we were old enough to leave home. There were so many times, especially when I was a teenager, that church was the last place I wanted to be.
I was "the prodigal daughter" - I rebelled when I left home and went my own way, not attending church, not practicing what I'd been taught, and when I was in my early twenties and faced a situation that I knew that only the Lord could get me out of, I called out to him and He turned was right there with his arms wide open to save me and put me back on the right path.
No parent is perfect; we all as children think we can do it better and in our own way, and the Lord allows us to wander off the path of wisdom, and is always there for us when we reach that point in the road where it ends up at the edge of a steep cliff, and we have nowhere else to turn but to Him. He tells us in the book of Romans that: "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved".
As a parent of two adult children, I pray that some of the teachings I gave them as children will help them as face life's trials, and then when they begin families of their own. I pray that they will draw on the same strength and wisdom of the Lord that I have, and will pass this on to their children as well.
I hope your day is filled with the grace and blessings of the Lord.....

Janelle