One Year Later...with a Full Heart

It has been one year today since I started this blog. I'm in the works of changing up the address so be on the look out for that. It has been quite a year. My cousin-in-law (is that even a word?), Megan, got my feet wet to the blog world a few months before I actually began my own last February. I was reading hers and those she linked and who they linked...and so on. I just became one of those lurkers, I mean readers, who rarely commented. I decided to start my own since I had been journaling less frequently and had a lot of thoughts running through my head through Matt's deployment. (I even created a separate blog just for Matt and I to write to each other and send videos, pictures, and encouragement while he was gone.) That's when I realized I could connect with other Christian Military wives also. I cannot begin to describe the blessing that was for me to receive such encouragement from godly women walking in similar shoes. I developed some friendships I craved being so far removed from military bases (thank you Heather!) and received support just by reading other's blogs. "Civilian" wives and mothers have also given me "Proverbs 31 women" to look up to as well. Now, as I transition from wife to wife and mother, I appreciate these women even more and hope to emulate the love, guidiance, care, and training they give to their children while being the help meet they were created to be for their husbands. I know, they aren't perfect, no one is (but maybe they're pretty close...hehe, just kidding), but I know they are seeking the Lord as they live each day. So, in short, I find it absoultely amazing God will even use simple blogs to reach people, as we attempt to glorify His name. There is such a ripple effect...people won't even know the lives they are affecting until we meet in heaven (because I know there are lots out there like me who don't always comment!). Feel free to visit the links I have on the right side of my page!

So with the blessings of old and new found friends my heart is full of joy and heartache as we go through this thing called life. There are wonderful things happening, people coming to know Christ or coming closer to Him, young couples getting married, military families being reunited, babies developing and coming into the world, the joys of young children doing young children things, and on and on. However, in the midst of these times, for others there are trials and heartaches.

When I began posting, my heart ached being separated from my Matt. This time last year was one of those difficult instances where communication was slim and I hadn't heard his voice in a while. There are certainly countless wives and children missing their husbands and fathers while they continue to serve our country. Their are some who have lost those dear men and women in their service. With the joy of babies being born, others are experiencing loss through miscarriage, still births, complications, cancers, and unknowns. Some are marrying, some are finding their loved ones to have left the household. We live in a broken and imperfect world, a world tainted by sin. How we wish and long for the calm during the storms. How blessed we are to have a Creator and Savior Who is the calm during the storm, Who is the peace that passes all understanding, Who is the arms that pick us up and surround us....He tells us we will have trouble in this world, but though we have trouble, we have Him. "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (1 John 16:33). Because of His great love for us, this life is not the end. Our lives here on this earth are only a tiny, yes important, fragment of time. This does not mean our hurts and sorrows are insignificant, nor are our joys insignificant. My heart aches as I read about the losses, the trials, and the absolutely anguishing times dear ones are going through and my prayers are with them. Oh, how much more our Lord cares for us. And, this is not the end. He came to rescue us from our sins and death and despair, so that we may have life eternally...with Him! This is our hope...He is our hope.

I know this is not coming out as eloquently and maybe even as accurately? as I'd like. Thoughts are still churning. Often times my posts are a reflection of the silliness of the day or just "quick" (or maybe not so quick) updates from the M&B house. I think I needed this post for myself. It's been awhile since you may have heard from my heart. We have been discussing hope in the hard times during our Young Adult Bible Study, and there seems to be so much happening around us (evil, sin, the Devil) trying to muddle up that hope or strip it right from us. But, we know Who has overcome the world. To hear more about the hope we have, or can have, in a more direct, comprehensible (as much as can be), inspiring way, I recommend looking up Louis Giglio. We've been hearing a lot from him at Young Adults. Anyway, I'm sure there's more to come...