Tuesdays Together

Welcome to Tuesdays Together in the Word.  We are a group reading the bible together and sharing each week the nuggets that the Lord's Word has left with us.  Join in with us, wherever you are.  And visit DeeDee for more Tuesdays Together!!

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Before I share my thoughts on our reading, I first must apoplogize to the Tuesday crew if I have misled you in any way.  From your sweet comments last week I realized that some of you might be under the impression that my husband is STILL deployed.  He's not, he is safely home.  Praise the Lord!!  I am just slow in the sharing.  I have blogged some about the homecoming in a previous post.  He came home in November and things are finally getting back to normal around here (sorta).  "This time last year" is my favorite phrase right now.  I'm still standing in awe of the enormous journey that I traveled.  Yesterday marked a painful one year anniversary- My husband left on March 30th after spending only 6 days with his newborn son.  But, like I pointed out, he's home now and I am different.  And I will continue to share bits of this journey as the Lord leads.  OK, now on to Tuesday.....

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Although I enjoyed reading Philemon and Titus, I need to go the Psalms again.  It's just that kind of season, for lack of a better explanation....

Psalm 32

8-I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will counsel you and watch over you.

9-Do not be like the horse or the mule, 

which have no understanding but must be controlled 

by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.

I laughed when I read that,  Did God's word just tell me..."Don't be a dumb stubborn mule" ?  Yes!! I think HE did!  I guess we all have seasons of stubborness and "lack of understanding".  This world really wants to lead us mindlessly around by a bit and bridle so to speak, when all along there is a book lying on our tables that gives us the PROPER  counsel  and instruction, and I do mean God's Word.   There is freedom in THAT instruction.  No bits, No bridles. 

Then we move on to the next verses:

10-Many are the woes of the wicked,

 but the LORD'S unfailing love surrounds

the man who trusts in him.

11-Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous;

sing, all you who are upright in heart!

Isn't it comforting to know that when you are surrounded by a wicked, bit, and bridled kind of world, that you who trust in HIM are  SURROUNDED by UNFAILING love?  Did you catch that?  Unfailing.  and Surrounded.  Our world will fail us.  Job's world failed him.  He came out okay in the end, I'm sure he was different on the inside,  but the Lord was not.  Unfailing, steadfast, unchanged.  We know this.  Now that IS something to sing about!!  And the watching over you part in verse 8?  Can't let that be missed either.

I can't tell you how many times over the past year, when I really wanted to rejoice.  I wanted to sing (vs11) I did,  but friend I was weary. I'm being honest.  Singing did not happen every day, let me tell you.  Wasn't it enough just to trust and be carried by his unfailing love?  Wasn't it enough to just put on my big girl undies every livin' day, work hard,  and just trust?  Your heart knows what it knows but somedays the singing just did not want to come despite itself.  Despite it's stubborn mule self................

 Glad that is soooo last year....(insert chuckle here).

Tuesdays Together

Welcome to Tuesdays Together in the Word.  We are a group reading the bible together and sharing each week, what the Lord's Word has left with us.   Join in with us, wherever you are.

Scroll down for the Link!!

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I cannot let this Tuesday Together pass by without sharing some thoughts from the Psalms.  As I have mentioned before in a previous post, I promised to share some about this past year.  I cannot read these Psalms from our list without thinking about my journey through new motherhood and deployment. Psalms like these carried me through.  I cannot read these Psalms without my heart being stirred.

Psalm 27

1 The Lord is my light and my salvation,

whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life,

of whom shall I be afraid?

3Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear;

though war break out against me, 

even then will I be confident.

5 For in the day of trouble 

he will keep me safe in his dwelling;

he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle

and set me high upon a rock.

13 I am still confident of this:

I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

14 Wait for the Lord;

be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

There are more than a few folks out there in this world who know what it is like to go to bed at night wondering if they will wake up a widow.  Knowing that you very well could and trusting that you won't....... This is the war of the spouse left behind during  a deployment, during a time of war.  It is a battle on the insides of her head and heart.  I don't pretend to think that I am the only person to ever have their Marine go off into harms way.  Many wives have done this before me and more still will travel this journey in the years to come.  Often it was the knowing that got me through an hour- knowing that someone always has it worse and knowing that my blessings are plentiful.  Knowing that God and I were okay before my husband came along and would be still even if.........

Often, in the late hours, when the baby was down for the night, the pumping was still to be done, the bottles and accessories still to be washed, and all the other "stills" that occur when you are running a household by yourself.......I would talk out my cries of the heart and my Psalms would frequently sound a  bit like this:

The Lord is my light, is my strength, is my salvation.

Whom shall I fear? Whom shall I fear?

Of Whom shall I be afraid?

Not these thoughts, certainly not tomorrow.

If HE is for me, Who then can be against me?

Though my aloneness bears down upon me,

He shelters me

I am confident in the Lord's tomorrow,

This too shall pass, This too shall pass!!

Although my weariness is heavy,

I SEE the Lord's goodness and I am strengthened.

I count my blessings and am uplifted.

Take heart, have courage, wait upon the Lord!

have courage, have courage!

Of Whom shall I be afraid?

Whom shall I fear, whom shall I fear?

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS!!

Amen

May my mutterings bring you encouragement, wherever your journey may be taking you today!!  

For more Tuesdays Together in the Word, visit DeeDee.

Manic Monday?

Whew!  I am so overwhelmed!  I've been packing and traveling and repacking and coming home and now that I have my house to myself,  I am catching up on some bloggy stuff.  I missed the block party on Friday, I can't believe I did that!!  Okay, yes I can, the way my brain has been working lately, I'm not surprised that I missed it!   And then there is the Getting to know you deal and I just spent 30 minutes looking at some blogs that are new to me!  Such fun!

Last week when I was computerless, I spent a lot of time thinking about God's plan or "destinies".  It is a topic that has come up often over the last 6 months. That is not an accident. Now, we (ladies at church) are doing Beth Moore's Study on Esther.  Destiny is all over that study!!  ANd I have cried every week so far.  I highly recommend this study if you ever have the opportunity to participate!!   

Sometimes the enormity of it all just brings me to my knees!!  "It" being God's plan, or moment, or  grace, or trial, or fill in the blank with anything that pertains to that which we do not know or understand just yet.

This time last year, I was preparing for the birth of my son.  I was picking up my husband from the airport for a long Easter Weekend.  He was in California, getting ready to deploy to Iraq, trying to get a plane out the Friday before Easter. ( Why was Easter in March last year?)  I had Braxton Hicks contractions all the way out to the Birmingham airport.  If not for the other officers, my husband would have been on the advanced party and would have missed the birth entirely.  Tomorrow on the 24th, our son turns one.  I can't help but wonder what destiny holds in store for this precious child.  What does the story God's written  for him look like?

For more about the ironies of God's plan, you can visit Melanie as she studies the book of Ruth.  Her post for today really stirred my heart.  I wonder if King David ever really read their story?

Just for Fun Friday

I just wanted to share a blog that some of you out there might like to look into.  My friend Jason and his precious wife Terri are very experienced at adoption and now.....deployments!  Two huge subjects!

Please remember them all in prayer when you can,  as Jason has deployed (again)!!

I recently learned that Terri is a talented seamstress!!   If any of you should have a notion to see some of her goods, you can visit their blog and scroll down to see some of the bags and such that she creates.   Have fun!  Oh, and she did give me permission to blog and link....

Technical Difficulties

My apologies to anyone who might have been looking for a new post!!  I have been computerless since the weekend.  I finally got the chance to open my email and I had 95 new emails in my inbox!!  

Don't you love it when your hard drive crashes and your mom starts to worry cause you are not answering your emails or your phone? ( I was talking on the other line... helloooo?)

Anyway, I'm back online and I will try to do some catching up tomorrow.  I know that there is some super stuff out there in the great wide bloggy world that I need to read. 

Just for Fun Friday

Don't you just LOVE it when........

...you realize that the tuna concoction and the cantaloupe you ate for lunch wasn't very satisfying but the Thin Mints were? (please tell me you know what a Thin Mint is)

...you have been running on the treadmill for what seems like ages, and the display shows 0.35miles?  What? seriously?  are you kidding me?

...you find out the next day, that NOW the display doesn't work at all?

...you realize that the load you put in the washer 2 days ago, .... is still in there? bleh!

...you have recently discovered the wonderfulness of oreo cakesters and  then find that the 100 calorie packs have been picked clean at the grocery store (just like the commercial said they would)?

...you have a broken refrigerator and it takes a week and a half for the guys to get it fixed?

...you think your broken scale is a good thing, until you realize the new one is worse?...ha!

...you  take the time to make a wonderful batch of muffins for your sunday school class, you try one, and then your dog tries the other 11 while you are fixin' your face in the bathroom?

These make me laugh.  I'm having so much fun with this, that I might have to make these appear on a regular basis.  Have a great weekend!

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. 

Prov. 17:22

Wordless Wednesdays

Homecoming

The picture below was drawn by my mom's good friend Joan Jolley.  If you would like to see the original photo you can visit Michelle's blog.  This was taken before I became a blogger:)!

Yesterday was 3-9-09.  I thought about it all day.  4 months ago on this day, my husband returned home from his deployment. I thought about how God was merciful and brought my husband home to his little family.  And about how God's strength got me through this very long year.  And I thought about how I should be sharing testimony  and the enemy whispers...."it's old news, nobody wants to hear about your drama"  and "move on cause they are tired of hearing about it" etc etc   A different kind of war, but a war indeed!

How is it that ONE year can shape destinies? shape friendships?stories? hearts? Deserts? Villages?  eternity?

Burning Bushes people, Burning Bushes!!!!  (from a previous post)

I haven't really blogged much about it yet, and those that know me best know parts of this testimony already.  So today I will just keep it simple, but I promise to share some more about the journey of this past year and give God the glory.  There is a lot in my tender heart and to share those parts  will take time.   

I sought the Lord and he answered me;

he delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to him are radiant; 

their faces are never covered with shame.

This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;

he saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the Lord encamps around those

who fear him, and he delivers them.

Taste and see that the Lord is good;

blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

Psalm 34:4-8

 

Thankful Thursday

(I tried to put the button here, but it didn't work):)

Today, I am especially thankful for:

• the bracelet that arrived today in the mail.  I won a blog giveaway and received a beautiful bracelet!
  
• the other surprises that came in the package.  Melanie sent me a book that I haven't read yet and a pretty plaque.
  
•  the 4 inches of snow that we had on Sunday!  Haven't seen good snow in a long while.
  
•  the chance to run in the sunshine today while wearing  shortsleeves!
  
• the whole day to myself. 
• the privilege of coming before my heavenly Father in prayer and lifting up those who I know are experiencing difficult or scary times.
• the opportunity to be openly involved in two bible studies with other ladies at my church.  I live in a country where I can do that.....
• my new blogger friends who keep taking me back to the Word and who will never truly know what their sharing has done for me.....

Blessed Day!!

For more Thankful Thursdays please go to Grace Alone.