Hurricanes Gustav and Ike were tragic for so many people, but we thankfully ended up losing only one tree.
Well, it’s not actually lost yet. I know exactly where it is. Half-way uprooted in the backyard.
I’m hoping it will just somehow completely uproot itself.
Without the help of another hurricane.
So we didn’t actually lose anything, but we did gain.
We’re down to the last days before Isaac heads to Iraq. He’s only had 10 months between getting back from his last deployment and leaving for this one, and he’s been working crazy hours the whole time he’s been back. In fact one repeating thought I’ve had these past months is that if Isaac dies in Iraq, I’m going to be really mad at the last year together that God provided for us.
And so it was such a blessing that we had three full days off to evacuate for Gustav. We got a leisurely road trip and a day playing in an awesome hotel pool in the unlikely city of Waxahachie. Then Isaac had three days of class- from 9am to 2:30pm, giving us a ton of time to spend together as a family, with absolutely no responsibilities or house cleaning.
Oh, and did I mention that it was almost completely paid for?
Then this last week, the strong winds from Ike knocked out our internet and took out the power in some parts of the city- including the base. Isaac was able to go in late and come home early for several days, allowing us more family time, and him the opportunity to see one of Chloe’s cheerleading practices. He missed the entire season when he was deployed last year, and will miss all but this first week this year, and the power outage got him out of work in time to see it.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him… -Romans 8:28
As part of my effort to connect with a big God, to remember that God has a global, eternal plan that includes me doing more than potty training and laundry, one of the things I did recently was sign up to sponsor a child through Compassion. I’ve known about them and respected their work since college, but for a long time we didn’t have the financial resources to sponsor a child.
And then for a long time after we did have the financial resources we didn’t do anything about it.
But Chloe and I went online and together chose a little girl from Brazil to sponsor, and Chloe can’t wait to write her a letter.
I also went to the Compassion Bloggers site and learned about how the global food crisis is affecting even the children that Compassion works with. In Bangladesh 95% of the children Compassion works with are affected, many of them only eating at the Compassion project.
In Haiti they’re all affected.
Honestly, besides the fact that the price of boneless, skinless chicken breasts had gone up 41 cents, the food crisis hadn’t really entered my thoughts until I read about that.
Tomorrow Compassion is having a day of fasting and prayer for their children, projects and the global food crisis. You can read more about it on their blog and join in. You can also visit the Global Food Crisis Fund page to learn more and contribute.
Dear Kate,
You prayed for me the other day, and I wanted you to know what a difference it made.
I don’t know what you prayed- just that I popped into your mind and so you took the time to pray for me, instead of writing it off as a passing thought.
We’ve all been fighting colds here, and I’ve been functioning on very little sleep. By the weekend my patience was shot. Saturday night I yelled at my kids louder than I ever have before and actually had to leave the room and give myself a time-out to recover.
Sunday wasn’t shaping up to be much better.
But then, it was.
Sunday evening we played. And laughed.
And as bedtime crept closer, I didn’t eye the clock and rush them to their rooms so that I could get a break.
Instead we rolled on the floor and laughed and wrestled and read books and sang songs.
And I enjoyed my children for the first time in days.
So thank you, for taking the time to pray for someone you’ve never met before.
It made all the difference.
