Goodnight…oh, and Daddy, I asked Jesus into my heart tonight.

“Goodnight…oh, and Daddy, I asked Jesus into my heart tonight.”
Those were Jonathan’s words to Seth right before bed last night. What wonderful words to hear! I was sitting outside the boys’ room at the computer so I was privy to those sweet words. Of course, Seth didn’t just stay, “Okay, goodnight!” Seth and Jonathan came out of the room (which surprisingly didn’t bother David at all) and they had a nice talk and prayed.
As it turns out, Jonathan said that he had a chance to pray at Awana’s at church. He said that his teacher talked to them about asking God to forgive them for the things they did wrong and about asking Jesus to be in his heart. Then Jonathan said, so I asked him to be in my heart again. Again? Jonathan explained that this wasn’t the first time he asked Jesus in his heart. He said that a couple of weeks ago he did it in his room. When asked where Momma and Daddy were he said, “You were downstairs.” Wow- what an affirmation of it being real! After talking a bit Jonathan was very concerned that he had messed up somehow, saying, “I didn’t know you only had to ask him in your heart once.” He has the precious heart of a faithful child! It was the sweetest moment. I am so thankful he believes in Jesus. Seth and I couldn’t stop talking about it and about our responsibility to help him grow and mature in his faith and trust in Christ.
If you see Jonathan, be sure to tell him how happy you are about Jesus being in his heart! (I tried to explain that he is a Christian but I am not sure he was staying with me on that.)

"I love you, too, Honey."

I am so thankful that I was able to visit my grandmother 3 weeks ago. She passed away this morning. She suffered from Alzheimer’s, which ultimately took her life. She lived a long beautiful life, living to the age of 89. She had this sweet spirit. As long as I can remember, I loved hearing her voice because of the kindness in her voice. A few weeks ago, I decided to travel to Tennessee to visit her. I had been told her death was imminent. As it turned out, by the time I got there, she was having some good days. I had precious moments with her. Some of the time, she even recognized me and called me by name. I was able to tell her I loved her numerous times in the 3 days I visited with her. When she could respond, she always told me she loved me, too. Several times, including before I left, she said, “I love you, too, honey.” I can still hear her saying that to me and it warms my heart.
I was already spending time this week thinking about life and how the days are precious. A friend, Milo, passed away last week and I attended his service on Saturday. Though I didn’t know him well, he touched my life. I never saw him when he wasn’t smiling. He had a servant’s heart. Without knowing specifics, you just knew he was the kind of man that did everything he could for other people. He was retired. He served, with his wife, loving the kids in our MOPS (mother’s of preschoolers) program. His memorial service was enjoyable. That seems strange, perhaps. We shed tears but we also celebrated a life lived fully and full of God’s love.
This morning as I sat grieving and thinking about how various family members were handling my grandmother’s loss. I prayed. I was then reminded of a song that my friend, Rebecca (Milo’s daughter-in-law) sang at his memorial service. I sang it just quietly out loud to myself. “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. Look Full in His Wonderful Face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His Glory and Grace.”
What a blessing to think that my grandmother, Anne, and Milo are looking at the fullness of Christ’s glory and grace. I cannot imagine the splendor. I do not know if my granddaddy greeted my grandmother. I have images of their sweet reunion and a beautiful praise service. I cannot grasp or imagine what heaven could be like. I do know that they are happy.
I will miss my grandmother. In so many ways she has been gone for a while now. I am comforted to know she is now happy. The happiness in heaven has to be beyond our greatest joy here on earth.
I keep thinking about heaven today. I keep thinking about living a full life that is composed of love for others. These lives have blessed me. I will live and love more because of them.

Flying High

I have some family news. I just got this news and I am so excited about it, I thought I would share. My brother-in-law, John, applied for and interviewed for an incredible job within the Air Force. He found out recently that he got the job. His next Air Force assignment will be at Andrews AFB, MD flying Gulfstreams for the First Lady, the Vice President of the US, and other high ranking government officials (cabinet members, etc). I don't really know too much about prestige in the Air Force. However, I do know that I am so impressed! Isn't that incredible?!

For those of you interested, here's a couple links about the Air Force planes he will be flying:

C-20
C-37A

Popping Smoke

I really cannot remember who I have told about my blog and who I haven't. I also do not know if I have told everyone that is reading my blog about Seth's upcoming job change.

If you don't know, Seth is getting out of the Army. He has officially turned in his paperwork and it is making its way up through the Army bureaucracy.

Seth has started a blog about his transition out of the Army. It is called Popping Smoke. You should check it out. If nothing else, you have to figure out the reason for the blog title.

Beach House

This past weekend Seth and I were able to take a break just the two of us. We stayed at a Beach House in Gig Harbor. When Seth was about to redeploy (return from Iraq) a friend of mine offered us the use of her parents' house in Gig Harbor. My sweet friend emphasised how small it was and did not mention that it was right on the water. We planned our trip 2 different times before the year ended but it just didn't work out. The 2nd time we almost got away but the night before out trip a storm hit that resulted in the 'great WA power outage' (we, as well as much of western Washingon, were out of power for 3 days). It was right before that storm that found out the house was on the beach. I was so surprised. For us, it really wouldn't have mattered where we were going...just having a retreat together after being apart so long was going to be incredible. We were so delighted and surprised by the beach house. Our weekend was amazing. I had 2 friends that split the weekend watching the boys. They brought their children along. The boys were thrilled about the 'sleep over weekend.' They didn't mind at all when we left (except Thomas- but he did great once we were gone.) The boys enjoyed an exciting weekend of playing with friends, staying up a little later than normal and eating treats like Oreos. Seth and I just enjoyed a lot of quiet! The place was peaceful. And, for Washington in March we were blessed with decent weather (meaning: clouds with a few moments where the sun peaked out and NO RAIN!)

We were so thankful for the weekend. We are so grateful to our giving friends. There is really no way to thank them enough for the gift of place and childcare for a weekend. It was a real blessing!

The Beach House

The View

Seth and I (we set up the timer on the camera for this shot)

34 months

After 34 months, Seth changed command (left his "company command" postion) today. There was a Change of Command ceremony at Fort Lewis. He made an outstanding speech. I couldn't have been more honored and proud of him. He did such an incredible job commanding his company of around 200 people (give or take some throughout the months). He is a great leader. He lead his company to success in their missions. He brought them strength and served them as a strong leader as they prepared for, went and returned from Iraq. So many people have told me that they are going to miss having him as commander. I know one of the many reasons- and perhaps the strongest reason- is that Seth truly cares about people. He cared about his company...but more than that... he cared about each soldier and the soldier's family. When you care about people, you touch their lives. I can tell you that Seth touched many lives throughout his tenure as Company Commander. He honored me during his speech and gave me credit for my work with the company's family support group. His words were heartfelt and touching. He honored me even more by the way he served his company-- with heart and strong passionate leadership.

I cannot end this post without mentionign that right before the Change of Command ceremony, Seth was promoted from Captain to Major.

As soon as I can, I will post some pictures of the ceremony.