Authors Corner

Many times in my life, I question the purpose of some people in my life along with the purpose of their friendship. I have always been a strong believer that God brings people in and out of our lives for a reason. Many times it has nothing to do with us and many times it is all about us.

I often wonder why sometimes it seems we have an abundance of friends to share things with and other times in our lives it seems barren and lonely. Today is one of those days for me when I am spending an extreme amount of time thinking about friends: old friends, new friends and the transitioning friends. I guess it is just that time of year for the military to do its yearly shift of positions.

We all sing that pretty praise song in church but do we really mean it? How many times have you stopped and thought about your life and how great God really is? I am not even talking about those moments in our lives that are so fantastic that no one could deny is a miracle from God. I am talking about the daily grind we call our lives. The things that we take for granted and walk right past without a thought much less a thankful heart.

Driving down the road the other day, I had many chaotic thoughts of all the turmoil in my life and the lives of the ladies around me. If you were a fixer like me then you would understand how my thoughts went to, "what can I do?" At that moment God allowed one clear thought to come charging through. The thought was concerning the things I should or should not be doing in my life.

Last Christmas, my mother told me a wonderful testament on exactly what count your blessing looks like in action. My mother had a companion that shared this story. For Christmas morning the companion had her husband and all her grown children over. As everyone was busy unwrapping his or her gifts, the companion noticed that there was not one gift under the tree for her. Feeling the normal feelings one would feel in this circumstance, the companion stood up and went to the bathroom. As she sat in the room she asked God to help her focus on and count her blessings. After a few minutes of God showing the many blessings in her life, she was able to leave the room and go out with the rest of her family. Soon, each family member began to tell the companion why or where her gifts were. Some were backed ordered and some the shipping was delayed. What could have been a major war ended up being a blessed demonstration of this cliché in action.

I love the Bible. Most Christians feel this way about God's word. Some of us Christians may have won our Bibles in a church contest while other Bibles we own may have been given to us as a gift from a loved one. Some fortunate souls even have their families Bible with the Christian lineage carefully written in the front covers. My personal everyday Bible has large print for my weak eyes, which I have carefully marked up with different writing utensils. There are papers and bookmarks all shoved in certain spots of the Bible that may not seem like it but really are in purposeful spots. At the very back of my Bible is a picture of my mom that was placed there while planning her funeral, which I still do not have the heart to remove.

Like many Christians my Bible is a daily part of my life. Daily because after church I place it next to my purse when I come in the front door. Then on Monday, I may move it to the desk in my office. From my desk I may place it in a chair or on the floor to get it out of my way. Sometimes I even carry the Bible to the chair in my room so I can remind myself I have not read it today. Back and forth throughout my house I carry my treasured Bible so without a doubt I can say that I am a Bible carrying Christian.

A few years ago the Navy pulled one of it stunts, again and Ms. Navy wife kicked in and took care of the issue. I don't remember the incident that sparked my husband's query but I will always remember his question. "What ever happened to that Southern Bell I married?"

I remember laughing and snidely remarking, "Oh, the Navy killed her years ago."

Military wives, we know fear. We know fear by many names. Some call it loneliness, emptiness, or hopelessness. Others like me call it unknown. It is the unknown that terrifies us but whatever we call fear, it ultimately boils down to the death of something we know. When Dorothy in Wizard of Oz states, "I've a feeling we aren't in Kansas anymore" she meant that things had changed. Whatever life she relied on or knew was suddenly in a split second changed.

Boaz replied to her, "All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know. May the Lord reward your work, and your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wing, you have come to seek refuge." (Ruth 2:11-12)

I love the story of Ruth. It is a story of a young lady that out of love not obligation, willing honored her husband even after death. When Naomi's husband died followed by the death of her two sons, Naomi released her daughters-in-law to return to their parents and start a new life. In versus 16-17 we see Ruth plead to stay with Naomi. This plea starts a chain of events that will eventually lead Ruth's child to the line of David. Military life to many is a road too difficult to walk. It requires one not only to leave home but also may mean you have to leave the state. It may even require you to leave the country. Did you really think about your wedding vows and what they actually would require you to do? I believe out of love we would step into a fire but is love ever enough to keep us there? Seriously, if God would have allowed you a peek into your future and showed you what being a military spouse entailed would you have taken the vows?