Yeah, But … October 8, 2009

My son is wonderful!  He is smart, handsome, honest, and fun…but he is also way too much like me…always asking why or needing/demanding further explanation.  As of late, his favorite and first response to me, no matter what is being said, is “Yeah, but…”  It is driving me crazy!!

Sometimes he says it about school assignments:

“J, you need to write your spelling words.”

“Yeah, but do I have to write them or can I just type them?”

Sometimes he says it in response to a chore that he’s being asked to do:

“J, you need to pick up your room.”

“Yeah, but does that mean to actually put the clothes away or can I just lay them on the toybox?”

Sometimes he says it in response to nothing…it has just become his habitual first response.  It seems that no matter what I do to try to help correct this little problem, he just doesn’t get it.  I’m not even sure that he realizes that he’s saying it.

So tonight, we were talking about something funny that happened among him, his sister, and me.  I was joking around with him, and as he was trying to explain, he said, “Yeah, but Mom…I was just….”  I interrupted him saying, “J, there you go again with the ‘yeah, but’.  Tomorrow I am going to keep a tally of all the times that you say that so that you can see for yourself…”

He in turn interrupted me with, “Yeah, but Mom…that’s keeping a record of wrongs.”

So maybe he really is listening to some of the things I am trying to teach him.  Maybe he is getting it…and learning exactly what God wants him to learn.  And instead of chalking it up for him tomorrow with his “yeah, but”…I think I will chalk one up for God that HE is working on my son in the places that matter most!

1 Corinthians 13:4-8  4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  8 Love never fails.

The stump in the yard July 30, 2009

For some reason, I got the notion in my head today that I would mow the yard for S which is a bit crazy because we have this ongoing joke about how I don’t actually mow the yard but rather vacuum it.  It cracks him up to see how I go around the yard in a haphazard fashion.  But somehow, all the blades get cut, and it ends up looking fine.

Today was my first attempt at mowing the yard at our new house.  There are several trees in the yard and worse than that…there are a couple of tree stumps, one of which is quite large.  I’m never really sure how to attack these areas because you cannot continue on the path that you are traveling and to go around the stump messes up the straight lines pattern in the grass.  So do you just make one big circle around the stump to start out with or do you mow right up to it…stop…turn around and go back, mowing all the yard on one side of the stump and then do the other side?  Or do you mow up to it…go around…and continue going straight on the other side?   I don’t really know what proper mowing etiquette is for this situation.  What I do know, however, is that the stump in the yard is very annoying, and mowing the yard would be much easier if the whole stump was completely removed.

So it is with our lives.  We all have stumps in the yard…whether they are sin, unforgiveness, anger, hurt, pain.  We may have cut them down so that the growth of these stumps is less visible, but if we have not removed them completely, they will always be in the way.  We may be on the path that God has set before us, but when we come to the stump…do we just make a circle around it and try to keep going?  Do we work right up to it and then have to turn around to go back, hoping to come at it from a different angle?  Or do we do whatever it takes to remove the stump from the yard of our lives?  Yes, it would be very difficult to remove.  It would take lots of effort, determination, and help from the Lord to get it out of the ground.  But until the stump is completely removed…roots and all…just like the stump in my backyard, it will always be in the way.

Hebrews 12:15  See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root [or stump] grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

When an aunt prays… July 30, 2009

A few years ago, my mom called me in the middle of the night on New Year’s Eve…my 15 year old nephew Micah was on his way to the hospital with stroke symptoms.  He had tried to make it to my sister’s bedroom to tell her he was not feeling well when he collapsed and was unable to move his left side or speak clearly.  She immediately called 911 and then called my parents to start the family prayer chain.  My other sister and I then reached each other by phone and began praying for at least an hour for Micah…for his health…for his safety…and for answers.  After transporting him to Children’s Medical Center in the Metroplex, he under went numerous tests only to find that the doctors had no answer.  Nothing showed up…nothing was wrong…every test came back normal.  An answer to prayer…

One other time since then, Micah has experienced these symptoms, went to the doc’s office, and discovered that these “episodes” are probably the onset of migraines …a few of which Micah has suffered the effects. 

Fast forward to this summer…his doctor wanted to do another MRI and an MRA  just to make sure all was unchanged.  My sister took him for his test and then left to go on Micah’s graduation cruise to Alaska.  While getting ready to depart, she received a phone call from the doctor telling her that Micah has a brain aneurysm.   The doctor told her that it was very small…not to worry…go and have fun on this trip and call me when you get home.  They would schedule more tests with a specialist then.  Of course, my sister called our parents to let them know.  She also called the sisters to keep us in the loop and to ask for prayer.  

I committed to my sister that I would pray for Micah 3 times a day…everyday…until she got back from the cruise and talked to the doctor again.  I stuck to my commitment and prayed every morning before breakfast…every noontime before lunch…and every evening before dinner.  I prayed that God would heal Micah, that He would remove/fix the aneurysm in his brain, and that there would be no leftover effects whatsoever.  I specifically prayed that when Micah went back to the neurologist for the next test, he would say to my sister, “There is nothing there.  I don’t see anything.  There is no aneurysm.” 

They were able to schedule his tests about 2 weeks ago and got the results back this week.  When my sister went to see the neurologist, he said to her, “Mrs. Parks, I have looked at all the tests…there is nothing there.  I don’t see anything.  There is no aneurysm.” 

Word for word what I had prayed for him.  Word for word what I had asked God to do for my nephew.  And word for word, He answered! 

I love it when God shows off like that, don’t you?

NIV 1 John 5:14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

Side note — These are pictures of Micah’s graduation gift from Aunt Ree.

    

I just have to…. June 10, 2009

While we were sitting at the dinner table the other night, J said matter of factly, “Mom, sometimes, I just feel like I have to hug somebody.  Do you ever feel that way?”  I wasn’t really expecting this comment or question from him, but I told him that yes, sometimes, I do feel that way and asked him what he does when that happens.  He told me, “Well, I find someone to hug.”  I thought that was the sweetest thing I had ever heard!

The next Sunday, we were at my nephew’s graduation dinner when J piped up and said, “Mom, I’ve got that feeling again.”  and proceeded to get up from the table and go hug Uncle Bubba.   Then just yesterday he told me that at Camp Thurman he had to hug someone, so he hugged his CIT (counselor in training) Backflip.  I thought he was talking about some song or skit they were doing, but no, he was talking about just having the feeling that he needed to hug someone.

This has started  me  thinking about his love language and his spiritual gifts and such.  But it has also started me thinking “What would happen if everytime I had the feeling that I needed to hug someone or encourage someone or call someone or pray for someone…I just got up and did it?”  WOW!  What a concept!  What an unexpected difference I might make in someone else’s life…

Do you ever have the feeling that you just have to hug/love/pray for someone?  Well, then get up and “find someone to hug!”

On the doorframes June 5, 2009

Deuteronomy 6:6-8  These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children.   Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

We don’t often have the opportunity to do this, so when we were having new carpet put into the house, we decided to take advantage of the bare floors.  Somehow, it feels like we’re standing on holy ground.

                        

April 12, 2007 & April 12, 2009 April 24, 2009

Excerpt from my journal — April 12, 2007

” ‘Under the covers, I asked Jesus into my heart.  Then at lunchtime, my parents told me to tell them about what I did.  And I told them I asked Jesus into my heart.’  J  prayed with S, repeating a prayer of salvation.  At the end, S gave J the opportunity to say whatever he wanted.  J prayed, ‘I just want you to come into my heart, and thank you for taking care of me.’  M explained baptism to J, telling him that baptism was ‘a way to tell other people about what you did, and we get baptized because we want to be like Jesus…and Jesus was baptized.’ “

 

Over the next 2 years, we spent time talking with J and teaching him more about what it means to follow Jesus.  Several times during this period, he asked about getting baptized.  When questioned about why he wanted to be baptized, he has always responded with “I want to let other people know that I have asked Jesus into my heart.” 

Finally, on April 12, 2009, Easter Sunday,  J was baptized at Marne Chapel here at Fort Stewart.  What a way to celebrate our risen Savior!

done

The Stars at Night… April 6, 2009

are big and bright…Deep in the heart of Texas…

And…at least now we’ll be close enough to see some of those stars.  S received his official orders , and we are headed to Fort Sill, Oklahoma.  He is supposed to sign in at his new duty station May 20.  We have a lot to get done between now and then…and not one free weekend available … but somehow it will all come together. 

For those of you who live close to Fort Sill (family, P’ton friends, P’ton friends who got married and moved to Lubbock, Austin friends…) we’ll see you soon!!

I think I need a nap March 18, 2009

I’m sorry that I am so delinquent in keeping the blog updated…but our days are pretty busy. Here’s a look at what we’ve been doing…

Camping at High Falls State Park                                     

           

  

 

Celebrating Daddy’s 37th B’day — Texas style

    

 

Receiving awards at the Battalion Volunteer Appreciation Ceremony

 

Changing the spark plugs

    

 

Flying a Blackhawk

 

Pumping water from a well and grinding corn at Seabrook Village

     

 

Modeling Earth’s layers, exploding volcanoes and geysers, and creating mosaics

   

 

       

 

And that’s why I think I need a nap…

Going with God or going with the Army? March 18, 2009

Now that S is home from Iraq (see previous entry if you have not done so already), it is time to find out where we are going next.  The chaplain board has met and will soon be handing out the new assignments for chaplains who are ready to move to their next duty station.   That includes us.  S was asked to fill out a preference sheet, listing 3 stateside choices, 3 overseas assignments, and 3 types of chaplain assignments that he is interested in pursuing.  The board considered these preferences and made decisions accordingly.  I have heard that a person should NOT list any place on this dream sheet that he actually wants to go because he’ll never get it. 

I don’t know about that…but I do know that figuring out what to write on that sheet is difficult.  Of course, we want to be exactly where God wants us to be, but does the Army know exactly where God wants us to be?  How in the world do we choose from all the options…and how do we pray for an answer?  It’s very frustrating because not only is the decision out of our hands,  it is in the hands of people that I don’t even know. 

Several nights ago, we were talking this over with another chaplain family, and I, of course, posed all kinds of questions.  What if the Army sends us to Alaska, but God wants us to be in Germany?  Then I would want to be in Germany.  What if the Army sends us to Germany, but we are really supposed to be in Alaska?  How am I supposed to know if we are really doing what God wants us to be doing if it’s all in the hands of some Army chaplains that don’t know me or my family?  I don’t want to go so far out as to say, “Well…we ended up in Antarctica…that must have been God’s will”  because man messes up.  Outcome A does not automatically mean that God’s will was Outcome A…if so, Eve never would have taken the fruit, and Jonah would not have been in the belly of a great fish.

My wise husband said, “It doesn’t matter where we end up.  We are called to minister to those around us [specifically soldiers and their families].  We can do God’s will wherever the Army sends us.”  True…so true…

Then the very next morning, as I was working on my Esther Bible study (by Elizabeth George, not the Beth Moore study), I came across this wonderful summation: 

                Do you ever wonder about God’s providence?  The fact that God is always directing all things toward His end?  As my pastor, John  MacArthur, puts it, ‘Providence means that the hand of God is in the glove of human events.’…we’ve witnessed [in the beginning chapters of Esther] the efforts of humans to impress, to direct, to rule, and to control.  And yet, in and through these incidents, God has been using people, events, and circumstances to bring about His perfect will. (p 47) 

She goes on to say, “True beauty and strength believes in the complete oversight of God, even over the minutia of life.  We find His beauty as we rest in His providence, and His strength as we count on His providence.” (p 48)

So I guess it doesn’t really matter where the Army sends us because God will go with us, and we will go with Him, doing the work that He has called each of us to do.  In a way, going with the Army IS going with God.  He will work out every event, every circumstance, every opportunity, and every PCS and duty station for His purposes if we allow Him to do so…even if the Army gets it completely wrong.

 

We’ll let you know something as soon as we do….

 

George, Elizabeth.  Becoming a Woman of Beauty and Strength.  Eugene:  Harvest House Publishers, 2001.

Re-deployment and Disney January 28, 2009

Things are getting back to normal….there is laundry to do, trash to take out, and schoolwork to finish…and Daddy is home to see it all!  After spending time with family during the holidays, we came home and got ready for our family trip on a Disney cruise.  We had a fabulous time!  I thought I would share a few photos.  In the next few weeks, I plan to share more insightful things that we’ve learned during the last 15 months, but for now, it’s all about the fun!

Disney Cruise Photos