Together Again

This is just about as close to heaven as it gets for me!

(I had a picture of Ben by himself here too...3x's and I've accidentally messed this post up about four times. It's late and I can't upload another picture tonight to fix it. Just wanted you to know I wasn't leaving Ben out intentionally here!)

Anyway...being away this week with my sons has been amazing! One morning I read in I John, chapter 2 where John, the beloved apostle, wrote in verse 14, "I write to you young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one." Immediately, my spirit agreed with the Spirit of God as I read and I said to myself...yes! I want that for "my" young men. So, I began to pray. I put that verse in a prayer and said, Lord, make Ben, Tyler and Caleb strong in You and the power of Your might. Father, may Your word live in them, and I pray that in You they will overcome their enemy! I continued praying that calling each of their names out to the Lord in prayer. Do you have sons or grandsons? Daughters or granddaughters? I encourage you to pray scripture over them. Turn God's Word into personal prayers for them. Let's ask the Lord to raise up the next generation and make of them a mighty army for His glory!

Family Day

We are having an amazing time! Spent the day with Tyler until 3:00 PM, EST. Here is a snapshot of him and Delgado! We got to meet his mom, dad and family. So cool!!! More later...

Confirmation

He made it!! We got Tyler's call this afternoon. Only 20 minutes, but hey...it was 20 minutes! He said he was so exhausted and hurtin' all over and still in somewhat of a daze, but he said, "it's over! I'm a marine!" He mentioned a little about the ceremony yesterday when he received his eagle, globe and anchor pin and how emotional it was. And he also said there were probably about 30 guys that didn't make it. They will be sent back to another company and do the last two weeks over again.

So, there's our confirmation. I give praise to our God tonight.

"I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living." ~ Psalm 27:13

News from Tyler

The crucible ended this morning around 6:45 AM our time. I give the Lord praise for bringing Tyler through. I don't know by word of his mouth that he made it yet, but I KNOW he did. Thank you for praying!

The mail just ran. I have to share a part of what Tyler wrote last Wednesday night just a few hours before beginning this final journey. We got this just now and Tyler writes:

"Something Extremely special is happening for our crucible!! The Commandant of the Marine Corps, along with 31 other Commandant's (from other countries) will be here on Parris Island to watch our crucible!! General Conway is the Commandant of the Marine Corps. He holds celebrity status among marines!!! There will be security everywhere!! Pretty crazy huh?!!"

I would have to agree...pretty crazy! I haven't had much time to process this information, but I know God had a purpose in all of this.

Tyler told us a week or two ago that he gets to call home tomorrow, Sunday, June 15th. It's called Liberty Sunday for them (I love that) and he says he can talk as long as he wants to (I hope so, but we'll see). I have a thousand questions! Maybe I'll get a few answers. One for sure...that he made it!

"He who endures to the end will be saved!" ~Matthew 24:13

Psalm 68:9

"You give abundant showers, O God; You refresh your weary inheritance."

We Wait Upon You-Ricardo Sanchez

The Crucible

Thank you all who are reading this for praying for Tyler and our family. In just a few short hours he will awaken to the call of The Crucible, his final test. You will not hear or read a testimony from anyone who has been through this that doesn't say it was the hardest thing they had ever done. I know with God all things are possible and I believe as we pray He will see Tyler through...to victory.

Please join us in prayer through Saturday morning when the test ends around 7 o'clock.

Watch Over Me

I've been dying to write all day long! I didn't know when my alarm went off this morning at 5:30 that the Lord had something so special waiting. I have my Bose set to 93.7 WDJC, which I really don't listen to that often. It just wakes me up in the morning and I almost always hit the snooze button and fall back to sleep for a few minutes. And usually I hit the snooze so quick I don't ever remember what was playing. Not today. I couldn't. Immediately when I reached for the button I woke up inside and couldn't turn it off right away. I kept hearing this guy singing, "You watch over me...la, la, la, la (somethin, somethin); You watch over me...la, la, la; You watch over me..." (you get the picture). I knew right away that this was for Tyler. I've been asking the Lord how to pray for him all along but specifically this next week. In 5 days he begins the final test, the Crucible (you can go here http://www.marines.com/page/usmc.jsp?pageId=/page/Detail-XML-Conversion.jsp?pageName=The-Crucible&flashRedirect=true for more information). And for a mom this is really tough! Well, maybe not as tough as it will be for him but tough in a different way. As soon as the song went off (and, of course, it was right at the end...the last chorus) I got up, walked straight into the kitchen as always and started the morning brew (coffee, that is) and went for the computer. I googled "watch over me" and walla...there it was. You've GOT to listen:



As soon as each person in my house got up (well Steven was at work so I had to tell him over the phone), guess what they had to listen to? Yep! Caleb pointed out that the song says "always faithful" too. That's the Marine motto - semper fidelis! I have never heard of this guy before and Tyler has been asking what new music has come out since he's been gone and he's asked Caleb & Ben to make him a CD of some songs that have been special to him while away and put some new stuff on it that he can hear when he gets back and on vacation. This is a new song! A new artist (to us anyway) and a message sent from the Lord!

Well, I couldn't stand it today. I had to run to the bookstore at lunch and find the CD. This guy, Aaron Shust, really is a Godsend. I don't know alot about him yet, but his CD cover is full of scripture and stories behind all his music about how God speaks to him and gives him these songs. There's actually quite a few songs on it that I like. And, I think my guys will really like it!

Do you have someone or many someone's that you're praying that God would watch over? Maybe you need that peace tonight that He is watching over you in your present circumstance. He is my friend. Know tonight that He is...if you're asking Him to. Receive that fresh word again whether for yourself or someone else. Seek the Lord always.

"Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall or fail)." ~ Psalm 55:22 AMP

Praise the Lord for His faithfulness.