Getting old means your blessed.

Today was my father in law Johnny Walkers birthday... i wont reveal his age, but lets just say that he has certainly "seen a few sun ups and sun downs" in his day... But really thats not bad, thats a blessing. I got to thinking, since i myself am approaching a birthday in August when i will turn the milestone of 25 young just how much a number means to our lives. And how getting older, or doing something or being apart of something for a really long is actually a good thing. Its a blessing that we live as long as we do, and we certainly should not worry about the wrinkles and putting on a little weight and moving a little slower, because under neath, we're still that same person inside. One of the cruelties of nature is aging, and yeah i certainly do not look forward to getting old and not being able to do the things i do now, but at least Lord willing, i will still be here to see it. I can think of so many that are not with us today that we taken to be with the Lord in the prime of their lives. Young and full of life.. but we must remember that this is not our home, and death was never meant to be a bad thing. We should thank the good Lord that we have our love ones that are on in the their 80's and 90's. I think about my mamaw Mrs Freda Laird, and although she was only 72, she lived her life like she was 25 again. She was outgoing, wonderful, and loved the Lord. I tended to think that God took her home too early, but she was suffering, i watched her suffer in the hospital, and im glad that her suffering is over. I wish she was still here to watch my children grow, and to just have conversation with me again. But i also know that her knees dont hurt anymore when it rains, the cancer is gone, and she probably feels 25 again.  My husbands grandmother Mrs Grace has broke an ankle and a tailbone, and is in her 80's, and im willing to bet she could outrun me in a heartbeat if she needed to. So.... heres to aging, every blessed year of it, and the blessed assurance that we will see our love ones again some day, and we will all feel 25 again. Happy Birthday Papaw Johnny and may you have many more.  Have a great evening, and please continue to pray for Sgt Jonathan Walker and the 204th.....

Isaiah 46:4 (NIV) "Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you."

Proverbs 16:31 (NIV) "Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life."

With love...
Meg

Bye Bye Fried Chicken... i will miss you

The notorious diet has begun again, and i really dislike the first few weeks of getting back into the swing of things... Adjusting to getting up in the morning and running 2 miles, eating right, and keeping track of what i eat will be worth.... Not to mention when my husband comes home from war, i dont want him to fall backwards when i jump on him, dont wanna injure him ya know. :) But i know that i will feel better, look better, and have more confidence than i have ever had if i can get rid of the extra 60 im carrying around. Adjusting to new things is certainly hard, all of our lives change with reason, and all we can do is follow the path and learn to adapt. I truely think that God likes to test us, to see what we will do in certain situations, whether it will benefit us spiritually or hurt us. We grow in our relationship with him just by making the right decisions and living like he wants us to do. Never be afraid to change, sometimes change is good. As i said about faith in an earlier post, its something we believe without actually having to see for ourselves. Change is scary because we dont know what will happen, whether it be good or bad. But trust that God is in control, and that even if our lives change for the better or worse, it will ALWAYS work itself out. As for the diet, im doing it not only for me, but for Jonathan. I wanna spend as many years as possible with him... i wanna be here, and if i have to give up fried chicken for it, i guess i just will...... Continue to pray for Jonathan and all the 204th... less than 300 days to go.

"And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change
and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."Matthew 18:3 (NIV)

With alotta love....
Meg

Now is the time to be brave

Well the time is quickly approaching, thankfully leave is only about 11 days away. I feel the anxiety building as i prepare for the leave and saying my final goodbyes before deployment. I think often about, when i dont see him and get to talk to him everyday, how will i make it through? Theres so much that we depend on them for, and when they are gone, what do we do? Now is the time for courage. Difficult days are ahead, we will sit alone and wonder what they are doing, or lay in the bed at night and cry.. The worry will seem to overwhelm us, and we will struggle to get through the day. But please remember, that we sacrifice our lives for the greater love in our hearts. There are innocent people in country that need our soldiers, and are always proud to see them coming. God knows what we are going through, and in times of struggle, he wants us to seek refuge in Him. We are not alone although we may feel like we are. The message at Hickory Baptist Church this morning was about God's grace. His love and mercy is at its greatest when we are at our weakest. I hope that we all pull together, cry on each other's shoulders, and look forward to the coming home ceremony. I think about today, a young lady i know that is a childhood friend, her name is Brittany McNeal. She is in her 3rd and final trimester of pregnancy, and her husband who is a Marine, Jared, is overseas and not expected to make the birth of their baby girl. But she presses on, although shes pregnant and at the house all alone, she presses on. Shes an encouragement to me. Courage, pray for it. And pray for Sgt Jonathan Walker and the whole 204th.  Ill leave you with the words of the Lion on the Wizard of Oz, talking about courage... have a great day every body!!!!


Dorothy-
our Majesty, If you were King, you wouldn't be afraid of anything?
Lion-
ot nobody, not nohow!
Tin Man
Not even a rhinocerous?
Lion
Imposserous!
Dorothy
How about a hippopotamus?
Lion
Why, I'd trash him from top to bottomamus!
Dorothy
Supposin' you met an elephant?
Lion
I'd wrap him up in cellophant!
Scarecrow
What if it were a brontosaurus?
Lion
I'd show him who was King of the Forest!
All Four
How?
Lion
How?
Courage! What makes a King out of a slave?
Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave?
Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk, in the misty mist or the dusky dusk?
What makes the muskrat guard his musk?
Courage! What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder?
Courage! What makes the dawn come up like thunder?
Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the "ape" in apricot?
What have they got that I ain't got?
All Four
Courage!
Lion
Then you can say that again!
hahah.. gotta love the lion!!!!!

"Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. - Deuteronomy 31:6

With love.... Meg

Bless all the little children...

I knew the day was coming, just watching the news can bring tears and concern... Me and Macy were watching TV last night and i just so happened to switch it to one of the news channels. They were talking about a soldier from up north that had been killed Wednesday and his body arrived back in the states yesterday. They showed his picture, which he was Army, and then his wife and children, two little boys and a little girl standing at the doors leading to the runway where the plane that carried their daddys body had just touched down... Macy turns to me, and says "Mama, why are those kids crying?" i simply told her that their daddy had gone to heaven and they were gonna miss him. She responded, "Well where was he, why was he on a plane?" I replied that he had been overseas fighting for our country and he had been killed, so they wanted to bury him here so they flew him home.. Oh the next few moments were something i had dreaded... She was quiet for a min, and looked at me when allligator tears in the corners of those eyes.... "But mama, is daddy gonna die?"

It was a hard thing to swallow, but nevertheless something that has now become a reality for my family. Some of the hardest hit people in military families are all the little children. Its not that bad for the ones that dont know whats going on, but really hard for the ones that do. In hard times, we simply must have faith. Faith is not knowing what will happen, but being confident that the best thing WILL happen, no matter what it is. I have faith that Jonathan will be okay, that he will serve his country and come home and everything will be fine. But i also have faith that if God decided to call Jonathan home on this deployment, that we would suffer through umimaginable grief, but we would be okay. Losing someone to death doesnt mean that they are gone forever, and we must have faith that we will see them again. I told Macy, that  God will take care of daddy, no matter what happens, all we can do is have faith and pray.  Think about the little children that are missing mama or daddy everyday, that God help them understand and have faith, pray for their mother or father that is still with them that cares for them everyday, that they too will have the faith to get through. PRAY for Jonathan, the 204th and all our families. 303 days to go!!!!!!!

  I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. (Psalm 34:4)

2nd place sucks....

So maybe i did something wrong, yeah maybe... Im starting to feel like, the military is invading on my time with Jonathan. I KNOW I KNOW...  "thats military life..." nada nada nada.. well how about i explain if from the military wife's side...
So Jonathan only calls me right before he goes to bed and right before he leaves from work, hes taken me from talkin several hours a day to like...... maybe 5 minutes. I know that things are changing for them and they are not as avalible as they once were. So we got into this big ol drag out about how the world doesnt revolve around me and that he knows that i dont care what they think out there but he has to deal with it... yeah yeah... but lemme say. In my eyes, my life has been put on hold, for the war. I give up what i want in life, for the war. I lose that time that i have with my husband which is not long on this earth, for the war. NOT TO MENTION, all this is going on for an ungrateful, selfish world that instead of praising efforts wanna talk about how were over there causing more trouble than good. It would suite me if they all came home and let these little mouth runners fend for themselves, OH NO, that cant happen. The world may call me selfish, but i think its pretty selfish of the world to take men and women away from their families and lives to settle disputes between people that will never change. God gave me patience, and i am trying to use it but sometimes the bottle runs low.  Patience has to mature, and God presents us with things that are out of our control to help our patience grow.... because sometimes theres nothing you can do but wait... Please continue to pray for me, the pressure is on. God bless the 204th, and the USA!!!!

  I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. - Psalm 40:1

May patience bring us through.......

Meg

Dont let the door hit you on the way out!!!

Afternoon afternoon...
I thought alot about the last few months, with lots of changes and rearranges going on, lemme just reflect.
So i didnt get into nursing school this year, and i thought that i had everything i needed to get me there... and still nothing... God shut the door.. (for now)
I thought about reconnecting with an old friend, and its pretty obvious that we have grown up and in different directions so... God shut the door
Didnt understand what happened with another friend, and the carelessness behavior that this friend takes part in now doesnt fit my wife and mother status (God shut the door)
Theres more but im giving examples..... now my thought
God closes doors for a reason, and sometimes we wanna push against the door and keep it open when the cold pleasant air is rushing out. Yeah we feel comfortable in that situation and wanna stay but then God puts us outside where we gotta sweat out the new atmosphere. I got adjusted to married life and having Jonathan here all the time, but it changed. Perhaps God feels we are at our best when we have been apart for a while, because after all... absense makes the heart grow fonder. Just because we got kicked out the house into the sunshine doesnt mean that what we want wont happen, maybe its gonna happen a little differently than we wanted. This is how He shows us that no matter what, he is still in control. I know that God knows what is best for me right now, and it wasnt what i wanted but if its meant to be then it will happen. I dont want Jonathan to go overseas where he is in danger, but God saw it fit, so it happened, and dont bother trying to change it. Be thankful i told myself, that im alive, and breathing.... But just like a mothers love, God knows that we can only stay in the heat for so long, and one day, he will open a door, maybe not the front porch door we got kicked out of, but the back door thats been unlocked all this time, we just didnt know till we stopped thinking about getting back through the front...  Have a great day everybody!!!! Continue to pray for Jonathan and the 204th....

“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us"- Alexander Graham Bell

All the blessings of rain....

I got up this morning to the usual... waking up to a 15 month old jonathan walker look a like waving at me from her crib, with bed head and a diaper that prolly weighed more than she does. Her sister sleeping sideways with her legs propped up on me. Coffee always makes the morning better, along with cartoons, cartoons, cartoons...  I enjoyed lunch with my father in law and Jonathans grandparents and the girls, came home and got ready to cut grass. I got to thinking while i pushed and pushed and sweat ran down my face how much i really felt "hot and wore out" in so many situations. Theres so many things that we dont wanna do, but we know that if we dont it wont get done. My grass, that was usually cut by my husband, has become my job along with taking out the garbage and other things that he always did. Sometimes you just gotta take care of business all by yourself. Not long after, when we thought it couldnt get any hotter, a big dark rain cloud rumbling overhead. And did it ever rain. When we feel overwhelmed, "hot and wore out", depressed, like we cant breathe, God sends us blessings of relief, just like the rain. It cools the soul, replinishes the mind, and eases the worry and stress that life brings. And we can all take comfort in that...

Tomorrow's another day, and im thirsty anyway, so bring on the rain.- Jodee Messina

Have a great day, thanks for reading, and continue to pray for Jonathan and the 204th...

308 days to go

Meg

Last min thought...

I started watching "surprise homecomings" on TLC, which is a show about soldiers coming home to surprise their families... WOW... cried through the whole thing.... This show gives me so much to look forward to, and strength is something i truely ask God for.. Ive called on Him for strength in so many situations, the death of my mamaw, a recent problem between me and jonathan earlier last year, taking care of my children, practically everything i do.... So ill leave you with a verse that always gives me hope and strength....

" I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Phil 4:13

Prayers for the 204th tonight. My husband, and all military personnal and their families... May God continue to send his grace over them....

Meg

Just another day in paradise....

So my husband has been gone for almost 50 days.... woohoo... I remember the very day that i found out, i was washing dishes and he had just gotten home a few days earlier from his regular job on the towboat. I remember feeling just this overwhelming burden on my shoulders. Oh no, am i gonna be one of those "army wives" with the yellow ribbons on the trees and the worrying and stress... well of course. But you know, I know that God does all things with purpose, and He never gives us more than we can handle, so this opportunity He has given me to draw closer to Him... We are 56 days in.... 309 days to go, on the upside, leave is coming in the near future. And i just got back from where the guys and gals are and lemme say... pray for them. Once again, pray for my family, and all the families of the 204th.

Meg