Next week Michaelyn and Michael will both be celebrating a birthday. February 3rd and 7th, respectively. During this separation, these special days are difficult to maneuver. We are excited to be celebrating these lives that are so precious to us, but it highlights our sorrow of being apart.
Eight years aqo... we welcomed our first child into the world. God opened our womb and bestowed the blessing and responsibility of a human life. She is a delight. We have been so personally challenged by this task. God calls us to give up our lives for our children. We realize these truths usually after a few difficult lessons. Thanks be to God that he makes first born children so resilient! She has been patient with her first time parents.
Michaelyn is a delightful daughter. This year she has shown maturity (appropriate for her age) in the development of her responsibilities and as a helpful and devoted big sister. She knows that God has made her the oldest and she embraces the benefits and usually the trials that come with her position. We are all learning as a family that God knows what is best in our family structure and order within our home. We all function best when we show our faith in God by submitting to his loving commands. Thank you God for this blessing of experiencing your Grace in our family through these wonderful relationships. Please strengthen us to resists the temptation to put ourselves first, and trust you to love our neighbor (or our sister) as our self.
We surely miss Daddy at the house. The Bible teaches that an evidence of new birth in Christ is that our affections change. We no longer desire (simply) to fulfill the lusts of our flesh, we desire to serve and to please and to glorify Jesus Christ. Although missing Daddy is very painful, it is an evidence of a great love that God has birthed in our hearts. He has given us the ability to love. We are thankful that God has done this work in us. We miss Michael's leadership and his affection (he is rather snuggley). We miss Daddy's light-heartedness and his spirit. Michael always does whatever he is doing with Passion! We miss his passionate presence at home. Dear Father, please comfort Daddy's heart as he is away from home on his birthday. Let him enjoy deep fellowship with You. May he know you as his Daddy, and as Your beloved son.
A few updates:
Discharge - As of this week, the paperwork for the discharge was recommended by the Battalion Commander (Woo hoo! God changed his heart! The Battalion Commander had originally been unfavorable to our request) and passed the packet on to Brigade. It is still waiting at Brigade.
Michael's health - The cat scan was completed last Thursday and Michael will meet with the Pulmonary Specialist on February 11th. Michael is very tired and has recently been administered many immunizations. Please pray for his body to be strengthened and healed and that he will be protected from adverse side-effects.
On the home front - My laptop is fritzing out. A friend's techie geek husband (I can't mention his name because I just called him a techie geek) is working on a solution. I am hoping for an inexpensive and quick solution. I appreciate my laptop's many practical and impractical benefits.
By God's Grace we are hanging in there. Some days feel like we are steeped in the riches of His Grace and some days feels more like a slow leak. Our current focus is showing our Love for God by loving one another. I think we will probably not ever master this. We would all be greatly rejoicing when Momma gets a working grasp of the eleventh commandment. (No this is not a "weird new legalistic pseudo spiritual rule") Jesus said, a new commandment I give you. Love one another. (Ten plus one equals eleven. My homeschool math is really paying off!)
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
What a God we serve
I've had a frustrating last few days. I've felt like I have been miles from God and his grace upon me. This morning I woke up and decided that I would reflect on the goodness of God and I read 1 Cor 15 which was very encouraging. What a great nutshell of the gospel message.
Even though I feel really sick today I'm encouraged in the Lord. My you be encouraged too in your quite times with the Lord.
Even though I feel really sick today I'm encouraged in the Lord. My you be encouraged too in your quite times with the Lord.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Some health concerns
On Monday, I went to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, which is part of the Kaiserslautern/Ramstein military bases, to meet with a pulmonary specialist for some breathing problems that I've had. After talking with him for a bit he told me that I may have Bronchiectasis, which is similar to Cystic Fibrosis. For anyone like me that is a non-medical type what this means is that my lungs (may) tend to trap mucus, which provides an ideal breeding ground for bacteria. Consequently, my body is always fighting infection and with each lung infection, my lungs lose some elasticity and trap more mucus, which provides a breeding ground for more bacteria, which... The doc did not specifically provide mortality data for Bronchiectasis but did say that for those diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis the average adult mortality age is 40ish.
-Considering that I'm 32 it makes 40ish sound not that far away -
He said that he won't know for sure if I have this condition until after a high resolution CT scan. Additionally, he ordered a lot of blood work to check for other issues. Ultimately, he said that for my sake, he hopes this is simply asthma since that is easily treatable.
I’m scheduled for the CT later this month. On February 11th, I’m scheduled to go back to the pulmonary specialist to have my CT results and blood work results read to me.
In my prayers, I'm praying that it's not Bronchiectasis. I'm praying that it's not asthma either. I'm hopeful that it's simply aftereffects from having pneumonia in mid 2007. By the way, the doc said that if I have Bronchiectasis, it was probably a result from having pneumonia that was untreated for three months. That will teach me to not go to the doctor!
I would sure welcome prayers for healing, negative results on Bronchiectasis, asthma and other diseases. As always, I pray that the Lord’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Strange Army news
Ok. Today I went to ACS (Army Community Services) and met with the budget counselor. We started out by talking briefly about why I was there in which I replied "I need documentation from you showing that I can support my family P.A. (post Army - my humor since the Army is full of acronyms). She said that would be fine but first she would like to show me how my family could live on Army pay. So, I handed her the detailed budget that I had already submitted for my hardship consideration...
She looked at it briefly and stated "You're spending too much on groceries". For the record, I'll state that our grocery budget is approx $1,100 per month which includes diaper expense. I estimate that our true grocery expense per month without diapers is $800 to $900 per month.
After having her look at my budget a little more and talking with her she exclaimed that "Your wife is bankrupting your family" and "She is the cause of your financial problems". It wouldn't be proper to tell anyone what was going through my mind at this point. My thoughts only worsened when she further exclaimed that "For a family your size, if you're spending more than $500 per month on groceries (without diapers) you're spending too much". I laughed hoping that would hide the true thoughts in my mind. However, I did say "WHAT DO YOU EXPECT US TO LIVE ON??? MACARONI AND CHEESE!!! (I think I said it using that same tone of voice) She said "No, but you're living too extravagantly". I fervently tried to explain to her that my wife was a very frugal shopper and that we use warehouse clubs and buy in bulk. I also explained that we do like to eat healthily and buy fresh fruit and vegetables instead of hamburger helper (which we possibly eat 4 times per year) and macaroni (that we eat more often but usually for lunch and really not that often).
In her defense, the budget counselor did say we could use WIC which would provide approximately $200 per month towards our grocery bill. Her opinion that our grocery budget should not be more than $500 per month was without regard to WIC or no WIC.
The icing on the cake of this meeting was probably when she told me "I'm not here to judge anyone and if that's how you choose to live, it's fine". Ha, I thought! You've already convicted my wife of bankrupting the family and further disparaged my experience as a financial planner
(which she knew from the papers I had given to her). The cherry was when she said that "If she were my financial planner she would call baloney (not the word she actually used) on my whole budget and that I purposefully inflated it". She then proceeded to question my integrity and ability as a financial planner and said she "worried for my clients".
It's all ok because she kept stating "I'm not here to judge anyone..."
Now the good news. She ultimately did write a recommendation for discharge based on financial reasons as she acknowledged that overall we probably could not live on Army pay. If everything I mentioned above (and more) is the price I have to pay, it's worth it.
Now for the meeting with my battalion Chaplain. He is a nice enough fellow and as I stated in earlier conversations but...
I had to get a memorandum of support from him which I did. However, after getting the statement but before I left his office I asked him if he knew how the hardship discharge process works. He replied that he didn't but proceeded to tell me that "There was a battalion training meeting yesterday and that my name really didn't come up". He further told me that "In these meetings they usually deal with important stuff like war and death, things that are important to the military". I looked at the man and said that "My family is important to me". We shook hands and I left.
For the record I want to tell my wife and everyone else that I KNOW my wife is a wise and frugal shopper. I'm sure we could possibly shave some money on groceries but not enough to make up the $1,400 per month income shortfall from the Army. Honey - you're not bankrupting the family and I think you're doing a great job. Keep up the good work! I love you.
I want to add that I'm trying to not be frustrated at the budget counselor and that not all of our conversation when badly. At one point she said that she thinks any women taking care of six little children is a "goddess" and that she regrets only having one child. She also said she would not have more since she is in her early forties. I tried to encourage her by saying that I know a family that had a surprise son in their mid forties and they also adopted a daughter. I'm not sure that she was encouraged.
Another highlight is when she said that she admires the licenses that I hold for securities and insurance along with my experience and that she would like to become more proficient in those areas. She told me she would love to have me stay in the Army if only to help counsel soldiers on savings and investments. I thought those things were very nice. I think that I'll pray for her.
With the last words I want to challenge my wife. If you could cut our core grocery budget from $850 (my best guess of the average without diapers) to only $500 per month, I'll take you on a great vacation to Puerto Rico, Cancun or anywhere else you'd like to go after 4 months of coming close to the mark. Remember though, we can't eat hamburger helper and macaroni three times a day!
Heck, why shouldn't I take my wife on a vacation? She has certainly earned it and I would reap the benefit too.
She looked at it briefly and stated "You're spending too much on groceries". For the record, I'll state that our grocery budget is approx $1,100 per month which includes diaper expense. I estimate that our true grocery expense per month without diapers is $800 to $900 per month.
After having her look at my budget a little more and talking with her she exclaimed that "Your wife is bankrupting your family" and "She is the cause of your financial problems". It wouldn't be proper to tell anyone what was going through my mind at this point. My thoughts only worsened when she further exclaimed that "For a family your size, if you're spending more than $500 per month on groceries (without diapers) you're spending too much". I laughed hoping that would hide the true thoughts in my mind. However, I did say "WHAT DO YOU EXPECT US TO LIVE ON??? MACARONI AND CHEESE!!! (I think I said it using that same tone of voice) She said "No, but you're living too extravagantly". I fervently tried to explain to her that my wife was a very frugal shopper and that we use warehouse clubs and buy in bulk. I also explained that we do like to eat healthily and buy fresh fruit and vegetables instead of hamburger helper (which we possibly eat 4 times per year) and macaroni (that we eat more often but usually for lunch and really not that often).
In her defense, the budget counselor did say we could use WIC which would provide approximately $200 per month towards our grocery bill. Her opinion that our grocery budget should not be more than $500 per month was without regard to WIC or no WIC.
The icing on the cake of this meeting was probably when she told me "I'm not here to judge anyone and if that's how you choose to live, it's fine". Ha, I thought! You've already convicted my wife of bankrupting the family and further disparaged my experience as a financial planner
(which she knew from the papers I had given to her). The cherry was when she said that "If she were my financial planner she would call baloney (not the word she actually used) on my whole budget and that I purposefully inflated it". She then proceeded to question my integrity and ability as a financial planner and said she "worried for my clients".
It's all ok because she kept stating "I'm not here to judge anyone..."
Now the good news. She ultimately did write a recommendation for discharge based on financial reasons as she acknowledged that overall we probably could not live on Army pay. If everything I mentioned above (and more) is the price I have to pay, it's worth it.
Now for the meeting with my battalion Chaplain. He is a nice enough fellow and as I stated in earlier conversations but...
I had to get a memorandum of support from him which I did. However, after getting the statement but before I left his office I asked him if he knew how the hardship discharge process works. He replied that he didn't but proceeded to tell me that "There was a battalion training meeting yesterday and that my name really didn't come up". He further told me that "In these meetings they usually deal with important stuff like war and death, things that are important to the military". I looked at the man and said that "My family is important to me". We shook hands and I left.
For the record I want to tell my wife and everyone else that I KNOW my wife is a wise and frugal shopper. I'm sure we could possibly shave some money on groceries but not enough to make up the $1,400 per month income shortfall from the Army. Honey - you're not bankrupting the family and I think you're doing a great job. Keep up the good work! I love you.
I want to add that I'm trying to not be frustrated at the budget counselor and that not all of our conversation when badly. At one point she said that she thinks any women taking care of six little children is a "goddess" and that she regrets only having one child. She also said she would not have more since she is in her early forties. I tried to encourage her by saying that I know a family that had a surprise son in their mid forties and they also adopted a daughter. I'm not sure that she was encouraged.
Another highlight is when she said that she admires the licenses that I hold for securities and insurance along with my experience and that she would like to become more proficient in those areas. She told me she would love to have me stay in the Army if only to help counsel soldiers on savings and investments. I thought those things were very nice. I think that I'll pray for her.
With the last words I want to challenge my wife. If you could cut our core grocery budget from $850 (my best guess of the average without diapers) to only $500 per month, I'll take you on a great vacation to Puerto Rico, Cancun or anywhere else you'd like to go after 4 months of coming close to the mark. Remember though, we can't eat hamburger helper and macaroni three times a day!
Heck, why shouldn't I take my wife on a vacation? She has certainly earned it and I would reap the benefit too.
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