February 20, 2010

Well today is the day!!! I have to say I have dreamt of this day for over a year now. I can remember when we were in the Marine Corps I would hear about the Army's deployments for 12 plus months. I would feel so sorry for the Army wives and thought I could NEVER do that!




Well God had other plans for us. When John told me he was coming into the Army, God instantly put it in my spirit that he would deploy right away. God had been working on preparing me for this deployment a good 6 mo. out.



Well Feb 22, 2009 came and it was one of the hardest days of my life. It was cold, rainy, at o dark thirty that we had to say “See you later” because we don’t say goodbye! I remember a gut wrenching feeling that well I know I will experience again, however it does not make it any better.



As I pulled out of the parking lot and looking into our Baby Girls eyes well I really lost it. I felt so horrible for John. We had prayed and wanted our precious gift from God for years. Now he was going to miss out on a year of her life. I knew at that time, my husband was making more than the normal sacrifice of a deployment. I knew that God would see him and me through it. I also knew I would take TONS of pictures (as you can see from my many albums) as for him not to miss out on too much.



The 1st night was horrible!!! I did laundry that day and well waited to fold and put it away that night (never again). Seeing his clothes and putting them away for a year hurt so bad. I remember calling my Mom at midnight my time and well 3 am hers. She was there ready to talk. She told me don't look at it as a year. Take it one day at a time. That night I know God was there in our room holding me and rocking me to sleep. I could have never gotten to sleep any other way.

Hannah-Grace's 3rd BD came and well I have to say it was one of the hardest for me. I remember the glowing look on John's face when he saw her born. I just want him to be here for this too. Yet another sacrifice he made for this country he loves.



I have to say my several trips to NC made the deployment go by a lot faster. It gave me something to look forward to. I could never have done it without my Mom and Dad. I have to say it gave me a break from the everyday to make it easier.



I have to give God all the glory on the success of this deployment. He has taught me a deeper level of prayer. When I would not hear from John for 4 or 5 days, well what else can you do? Go crazy? Nope not an option. He would remind me in his sweet calming voice "Meredith, no news is good news." He taught me how to rely on Him as my husband. I use to rely on John for everything. Well with God and His strength and courage I did things I would never thought I could do! The Lord also showed me a deeper relationship with John. It is hard to have relationship separated by miles. God would put people or books in my way that would give me ideas to help us grow deeper! He was a source of wonderful encouragement through friends and family. He allowed me to meet and love on some wonderful friends. I have to say us Army Wives well we are a breed all our own. God gives us strength and courage that is amazing!!



R&R was wonderful. 15 days of well Bliss!! I have to say, I am very thankful for the little time we got to spend together. I would not trade it for the world. Thanksgiving and Christmas well they were tough. God taught me to look at them totally differently. It was more about Jesus than me or our family!



I have to say staying busy volunteering and sharing the light of Jesus really helped me though this year. It has not always been easy, but the outcome is not for me, it is for God!



PWOC was a saving grace. It was my weekly pick me up that I needed. Puyallup 4square church helped me keep my head up. Hearing encouraging and humorous messages from Roger well they allowed me to grow and have a deep relationship with God. Roger and Tina made me feel so special; they would always have an encouraging word or just ask how I was doing. In a church that size, they would remember me and our family!



My friends and family were always there for me no matter the day or time. Your loving e mails, encouraging words and well just listening ears helped me so much. You all keep me busy and I love you all for it.



Today is a beautiful Sunny day here in the Pacific Northwest. Today is a day that the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it!! Today is a day that God wrote in my destiny before I was even born; He amazes me with His love for me!!

Thank you Lord for your Strength and Courage to not only survive but thrive through this Deployment!!!

In the Past Decade

WOW!! It is crazy to think that 2000 was 10 years ago! Well in the past 10 years I have....
Done 2 cross country moves, Rededicated my life to Christ and really walking the walk, Baptized with my wonderful Husband, seen our marriage grow by leaps and bounds, fought to have a child for 7 years, gave up and gave it to God, Have a miracle of a 3 year old, lost 189 pounds, supported my husband as a Marine and now a Soldier, done a 1 year deployment, grown as a Christian and found relationship with Jesus not religion, made a ton of wonderful friends from all over the world, seen most of the US!
I can not wait to see what the next 10 years hold for me and my family. I do not know what my future holds, however I know WHO holds my future!! Cause when you give God control, the ride is AMAZING!!!

Solider's Wife

A Soldier's Wife
Roxie Dean
Breaking News from a desert town
Smoke and rubble on the ground
The names we do not know right now
And it cuts me like a knife
With a tearful goodbye kiss
I sent him off to this
But I've gotta stay strong for our kids
I'm a soldier's wife
I run the houseI sleep alone
I live for e-mails
And the phone calls home
I tell my children he will be all right
And I hope it's not a lie
I'm a soldier's wife
We do the things we used to do
Go to church, go to school
But you could drive a truck right through
The hole that's in our lives
My little boy shoots me a grin
And says he wants to be like him
And I feel my heart start caving in
I'm a soldier's wifeSometimes I'm angry
Sometimes confusedI live and die by
The evening news
But I tell my babies he will be all right
And I hope it's not a lie
I'm a soldier's wife
I pray for strength
I pray for peace
I pray that he comes home to me
And if you would please pray for me
I'm a soldier's wife.

“Desert Time”

S- “In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron” Exodus 2:16
O- Have you ever felt that you were in the desert? You feel like NO one care, NO one is around you to help you out and you have NOTHING. God will draw us out of our comfort zone. He will draw you from your everyday normal routine to the desert. Our move to the Army and to WA was a big drawing to the desert. We had all we needed and wanted in Havelock. We had a wonderful church that was our family, we had wonderful friends and we were very Comfortable in our lives. A- The “Desert Time” is going to be a dessert time when it is all said and done. God is my Strength, My Rock and my Sweet daily Manna during this desert time. I will rely on the Lord for my strength. I will stand on his word. I also will take is word and make it Sweet Manna to share with others.
P- Dear Lord,
Draw me out Lord to be closer to you and feel your presences in every step. Lord you are my Manna in this “Desert Time”. This growth that is being done is to Glorify You! It is going to be a sweet sweet “Dessert” in the end!
Your Princess,
MD

Strong Foundation

Strong Foundation

Scripture- Luke 6: 46-48"Why do you call me Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who come to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck the house but could not shake it, because it was well built."

Observation- We got thru building times in out faith. We add more stones to our foundation. We build it up for the upcoming storms in our lives. Sometimes those storms are foreseen and sometimes they are not. Sometimes they come one right after another or at the same time.

Application- During thease storms, I will remember the building times. Look back over sermons, scriputres, SOAP's and continue to seek the Lord. My foundiation is in Christ! I can weather ANY STORM!!!

Prayer- Dear Lord,Please help me to remember you are my foundation,. You will see me thru it all! I can trust you and know you are here for me. You will see me thru the darkest times!Your Princess,Meredith

You Tube lays out the facts.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5tZc8oH--o

We have to educate people about this! I have been educated. I also feel like I just to a hard core econ class and man, it makes a lot of sense. Remember what is going on here in the US is not ALL the president's fault. See he can only put bills in from of our lawmakers and they deciede weather to pass it or not. Remember the Checks and Balance. Well I think it needs to be revised.
So yes we have had a Republican president for 8 years, HOWEVER our Lawmakers (checks and balance system) has been majority democrates. So YES, the election for President is VERY important, however our Congressmen/women and Senators is even MORE important, cause they are the ones doing the checks and balance. Oh and by the way, when we had a Democrate for president (removed) Bill Clinton, we had a REPUBLICAN checks and balance... HUMMMMMMMMMM..... You do the math! Just make sure your friends and families are educated before November 4th!

Because God said so.....

Well getting into WA was a big worry fest for me. I tend to do that all the time. Well I would stay up to 4am most morning back in NC. I was trying to figure out the lay of the land, where we would live, cool churches that we might be interested in. Well see God has showed me that He is my source. I know this, and now I see it!!!
See coming thru the US we stopped in Idaho Falls. We wanted to have a nice lunch. Turning to Tom Tom we looked to see what was available. Well there it was OLIVE GARDEN! John and I love this place but have only eaten there may be 3 times. So we thought, YUM Olive Garden! Well low and behold we had gone past it by 5 miles. We still thought that is cool. So we turned back and went to Olive Garden. We had a wonderful waitress. She was very friendly and knew right off we were in the Army and heading to Ft. Lewis. Odd I thought. We got our YUMMY salads and breadsticks and bowed our heads to pray. Bringing us our lunch she said, "I love how God puts Christians at my table." Then she asked us if we had looked at churches online in the area? I told her yes and we had a few in mind. Well in bringing us our check she told us that her mother lived in Tacoma and went to a church there called Foursquare. I asked her what is Foursquare? She told me it was a non-denomination church in Tacoma. It sounded interesting when she started to explain it. I told her in my searching that I had not come across this church. Then she handed me a piece of paper with her mother’s name and number on it. I thanked her and placed it in my purse and we went on to Boise.
Well John had a great friend of his from receiving and school in Fort Leonard Wood that was being stationed out here with us. He had been out here and looking for places for awhile. He called us to tell us that he had found a place in Puyallup. We were like where e is Puyallup? So he told us we are north of the post and right outside Tacoma. He told us what the entire apartment had to offer. It has indoor/outdoor pool, basketball court, and home movie theater, business center, gym, sauna, Jacuzzi and a cabana.
He also told us about the 3 bedroom and 2 baths what all they offered. So we thanked him and when we got to Boise we looked it up on the computer. We were in awe of the place, prices and amenities. So we prayed that night Lord, if this is where you will have us, please let us know. So the next morning we were driving into WA, we called and talked with the leasing agent. She was due to leave at 5, but would stay for us to come in. We would be there about 5. We thought ok. So when we got here, she showed us 2 bedroom 2 baths, they were nice, but we needed more. Then she showed us 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. We feel in love and it felt like home.
So we filled out the application, praying ok Lord, if this is where you want us, it will be. She came back and told us we had been approved and that we just need to put down the deposit. So we did. We told her we would be back to sign the lease either Monday or Tuesday. She told us you can come back and sign whenever you want. So upon leaving we decided to see how far the Foursquare church was from here. Low and behold it is only 2 miles!!! OK, Lord we see where you are leading us.
So Sunday morning we got up and headed to church at Foursquare. Well you see the fair was in town and our church is like a block from the fairgrounds. Well we were in traffic for like 30 mins to get thru the fair and on the church. We were NOT letting anything stop us! So we went to church. HG went in her room, no fussing and told us Bye! OH MY!! We went to the service. The music was wonderful. It was really neat how God had brought us here. Ok, so the church is a perfect blend of Liberty and C3!! John and I were blown away. We told each other going to get HG, this really feel like it. So we get HG and get her into the car, and then Pastor Roger comes up to us. He starts talking with us about us and being 1st time guest and where we have come from. He was very nice and really made us feel an extra welcome. He then told us they have a new comer’s dessert at 2, if we thought we might want to come.
John and I went on the lunch and then we talked about the dessert. We went to the dessert and feel in love even more with the church and what he has to offer all of us! We then knew that in Puyallup is where the Lord wants us. So we called the leasing agent and she told us we could come and sign today if we wanted. So we went and signed. See I had in mind where I thought we would live and go to church. When I should have been praying and seeking God, I was up worrying myself SILLY!
See God knew all along where we would live and attend church. God has put people in my path to shine light on what we need to do. So we have to feel the soft nudges of the Lord and know that He is in control, not matter how much we try to take the reins! See, this is God’s will for us. When he said to go into the Army, we accepted it, Because God Said So! When it was time to find a place to live and worship I did not rely on the Because God Said So. I relied on Meredith. When all along God Said So…..
Lord, I give You all the Glory and Honor for our new home and church. It was You who showed us where to live and serve You!