This last week was a really neat week. It started on Saturday with the girls, Jen, and my sister experiencing (very mildly) a "deployment." They went through a deployment line; they toured a C-130 and a Blackhawk Medivac Helicopter. They came back to Base X, where they tried MRE's, ate lunch, put on chem gear, and more. My sister's favorite experience was driving the bomb robot! It was really well-done. If you'll go to www.warren.af.mil next week, you had ought to be able to see a pic or two. I'll try to post some next week here as well.
We left on Sunday for Oklahoma to visit my mom. It was a horrible, wicked, no good, very bad day! I was cranky; Jen was cranky; we hit a concrete abutment and flattened a tire (Thank you, Lord, for safety!); we hit at least one bird, and a doe walked up to the edge of the road. It's already a 13-hour drive, which didn't help at all! However, we did eventually make it to a very green and wet Oklahoma--most unusual for late June!!! In fact, not many people could remember this wet of an OK summer. Be praying for them--wet ground makes harvesting difficult, if not impossible! We stayed in OK until Jen and I left on Thursday. My Grandmother is 92, and suffers from dementia. She is skin and bones, and often refuses to get out of bed. We had a great time with her! She enjoyed going on rides around the country; she did puzzles with our youngest; she was cracking us up. She told me she was going to cry when I left. I did indeed almost cry, because I don't think I'll ever see her on this side of heaven again. However, I'm really grateful that I was able to spend some time with her. She has always been very proud of me for being a pastor--in fact, one year for Christmas, she gave me a box of clippings to use for sermon illustrations! She loves bright colors (finding the flowering shrubs, etc., while we were riding around was always a plus), so Jen bought her two yard ornaments--the spinny kind. I grew in appreciation of this wonderful woman this week, and the wonderful woman--Mom--who honors the Scriptural mandate of taking care of one's family. It was a bittersweet week. My Dad is buried there, Mom's gravestone is also there. My uncle is buried there, as are my great-grandparents. When Grandma dies (she thought I called her "granny" this last week and got hot!) and Mom leaves, my family will be out of a town lived in for many years. Nevertheless, what a great opportunity to be with family we had! The girls remained, giving Mom much-needed "Mimi" time and help, so Jen and I are enjoying our time alone.
Tomorrow's sermon begins a series on the Book of James. It's titled "Revolutionary Living." May your lives be filled with the revolution of the love of Jesus Christ, and may you revolutionize the world around you! Happy Independence Day (such a misnomer for Christians)!
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Yikes! I'm in 7th-grade!!!
Hi! This is Kayla. I'm in 7th-grade now, and I'm a little nervous. I've visited my school with the rest of my class, and I should get my schedule soon. They showed us a play (a la Cinderella) that I really liked. We got to ask questions. I don't like that we MUST dissect a frog (Dad thinks it's cool--ugh!!!).
Saturday, sister and I are going to "deploy." It's called S.P.A.C.E. Jr Deployer. We get to experience what Dad does when he deploys. It's not exactly the same, but it's pretty close. I think it's going to be cool. We've received our orders already. We get ID's (even though I have a real one) and dogtags. We get to wear Daddy's clothes, if we want to (just the shirt and hat). It's gonna be cool.
Friday, June 8th, multiple things happened. 1) We got out of school. 2) The Father-Daughter Banquet happened. It was AWESOME!!! We danced with Dad, and ate supper, and had dessert, and had our pics taken, and all sorts of stuff. I loved it!
In case any of you don't know, my Aunt's horse (Expresso) had a baby (DoubleShot). She was really stubborn about having it, though. We kept waiting and waiting and waiting, and she waited another week to have it! I can't wait to see her. Here's a picture of her:
That's all for this week. Come back next week for MORE!
Sincerely,
The Smiths
Saturday, sister and I are going to "deploy." It's called S.P.A.C.E. Jr Deployer. We get to experience what Dad does when he deploys. It's not exactly the same, but it's pretty close. I think it's going to be cool. We've received our orders already. We get ID's (even though I have a real one) and dogtags. We get to wear Daddy's clothes, if we want to (just the shirt and hat). It's gonna be cool.
Friday, June 8th, multiple things happened. 1) We got out of school. 2) The Father-Daughter Banquet happened. It was AWESOME!!! We danced with Dad, and ate supper, and had dessert, and had our pics taken, and all sorts of stuff. I loved it!
In case any of you don't know, my Aunt's horse (Expresso) had a baby (DoubleShot). She was really stubborn about having it, though. We kept waiting and waiting and waiting, and she waited another week to have it! I can't wait to see her. Here's a picture of her:
That's all for this week. Come back next week for MORE!
Sincerely,
The Smiths
Friday, June 15, 2007
Who Knew?
Sierra was tested for a gifted program within the county, and scored a 134 on the Wischler IQ Test (#4). Must be a genetic anamoly somewhere!!!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Breathe in--breath out!
Wow! What a week it's been!!! I'll start from last Friday (8 June).
* Girls got out of school.
* The Base Chapel held its first ever Father-Daughter Banquet (led by me). It was an amazing time. Nothing preachy; just wanted to get Dads and daughters together to have a good time and enjoy each other's company. Andrew Ralon came out (thanks, Andrew!) and played his violin (called a "touch of class" to have him strolling around playing). It was awesome. I received this e-mail today in regard to the Banquet:
...I wanted to say how great the Father daughter dance was. All the
girls there including my own were smiling from ear to ear. It was the
first time I have really danced with my 15 year old daughter and a night
that I will forever remember and cherish. I received an honest heart
felt unprompted "I love you dad" for the first time in a long time. It
was something that I and a lot of military dads are missing out
of--quality one on one time with our daughters. Thank you so much for
that opportunity. I hope you are able to do it again next year.
I almost cried. God truly blessed that night. I cannot begin to tell you how meaningful of a night it was. If you want to see a pic of the girls and myself, shoot me an e-mail.
Saturday, 9 June
* Hiked Vedawou with the girls and Andrew (http://www.rockclimbing.com/photos/Misc/Vedawou_bouldering_58075.html)
* Received call to be at Base Command Post by 0600 Sunday morning for possible Active-duty death.
Sunday, 10 June
* Arrived 0600 to find out that A1C Eric Barnes, from our base, had been killed in Iraq.
* Preached the 0800 service.
* Commander's Call at A1C Barnes' squadron to inform squadron. Gave some pastoral care to grieving and shocked Airmen.
* Preached 1100 service.
* Took 2 hour nap (after the service, of course).
Monday, 11 June
* Worked with squadron and began memorial service plans.
* Had a funeral service in the morning. While preparing the sermonette (a.k.a., "Words of Comfort"), Sierra looked over my shoulder and said, "He enjoyed life?!!!! Life is not fair; how could he enjoy life?!!!!" I'm sorry my child is so abused).
* Jen and girls took Andrew back to the airport.
* Talked with dorm residents where Eric lived at 1700.
Tuesday, 12 June
* Visited with squadron.
* Worked on memorial service.
* Received call from Command Post re: another Active-duty death on base. Really strange circumstances there.
* Another Commander's Call for another squadron for another death.
* While Kayla went to CAP, I struggled with my "words of comfort" for A1C Barnes' memorial service on Thursday. Didn't get very far.
Wednesday, 13 June
* Worked on the script for the memorial service.
* Visited the squadron.
* Finished the "words of comfort" for the memorial service tomorrow. If you want to see what that looks like, let me know.
* Did take the family out for supper and a Tops In Blue performance (http://www.topsinblue.com/).
Thursday, 14 June
* Breakfast with squadron and A1C Barnes' family--0800.
* Invocation for another squadron's Change of Command (0930).
* Memorial Service for A1C Eric Barnes--1300.
In all of that, include counselings, sermon prep, etc. It's been a busy week! You might keep our base in mind. One person's death never affects a small group only. Couple that with two deaths in one week, and the effects can be overwhelming. Pray also that I might give God's comfort during this week.
* Girls got out of school.
* The Base Chapel held its first ever Father-Daughter Banquet (led by me). It was an amazing time. Nothing preachy; just wanted to get Dads and daughters together to have a good time and enjoy each other's company. Andrew Ralon came out (thanks, Andrew!) and played his violin (called a "touch of class" to have him strolling around playing). It was awesome. I received this e-mail today in regard to the Banquet:
...I wanted to say how great the Father daughter dance was. All the
girls there including my own were smiling from ear to ear. It was the
first time I have really danced with my 15 year old daughter and a night
that I will forever remember and cherish. I received an honest heart
felt unprompted "I love you dad" for the first time in a long time. It
was something that I and a lot of military dads are missing out
of--quality one on one time with our daughters. Thank you so much for
that opportunity. I hope you are able to do it again next year.
I almost cried. God truly blessed that night. I cannot begin to tell you how meaningful of a night it was. If you want to see a pic of the girls and myself, shoot me an e-mail.
Saturday, 9 June
* Hiked Vedawou with the girls and Andrew (http://www.rockclimbing.com/photos/Misc/Vedawou_bouldering_58075.html)
* Received call to be at Base Command Post by 0600 Sunday morning for possible Active-duty death.
Sunday, 10 June
* Arrived 0600 to find out that A1C Eric Barnes, from our base, had been killed in Iraq.
* Preached the 0800 service.
* Commander's Call at A1C Barnes' squadron to inform squadron. Gave some pastoral care to grieving and shocked Airmen.
* Preached 1100 service.
* Took 2 hour nap (after the service, of course).
Monday, 11 June
* Worked with squadron and began memorial service plans.
* Had a funeral service in the morning. While preparing the sermonette (a.k.a., "Words of Comfort"), Sierra looked over my shoulder and said, "He enjoyed life?!!!! Life is not fair; how could he enjoy life?!!!!" I'm sorry my child is so abused).
* Jen and girls took Andrew back to the airport.
* Talked with dorm residents where Eric lived at 1700.
Tuesday, 12 June
* Visited with squadron.
* Worked on memorial service.
* Received call from Command Post re: another Active-duty death on base. Really strange circumstances there.
* Another Commander's Call for another squadron for another death.
* While Kayla went to CAP, I struggled with my "words of comfort" for A1C Barnes' memorial service on Thursday. Didn't get very far.
Wednesday, 13 June
* Worked on the script for the memorial service.
* Visited the squadron.
* Finished the "words of comfort" for the memorial service tomorrow. If you want to see what that looks like, let me know.
* Did take the family out for supper and a Tops In Blue performance (http://www.topsinblue.com/).
Thursday, 14 June
* Breakfast with squadron and A1C Barnes' family--0800.
* Invocation for another squadron's Change of Command (0930).
* Memorial Service for A1C Eric Barnes--1300.
In all of that, include counselings, sermon prep, etc. It's been a busy week! You might keep our base in mind. One person's death never affects a small group only. Couple that with two deaths in one week, and the effects can be overwhelming. Pray also that I might give God's comfort during this week.
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