Joy Most Desires to Live in the Heart of a Child!

This is my grand-daughter Gabby.

She wants to learn ballet, so she found a video and is teaching herself!

She was born to two Soldiers, and she is very confident and self sufficient!

She is constantly building, making, doing, creating, and loving!

She loves to write too!  She wrote five poems yesterday that are spectacular!

I will share later!

Post by Gabby Brass.

Can You Be 62 and White Hot in Love?

I spend a great deal of time bragging on my husband.  There are hundreds of reasons for that, one is that I am white hot in love with the man.  I consider myself honored by God because He has chosen me to be Randy's wife, his "help meet."  He is such an amazing person, and sometimes I tell him that I am not certain if I love him more, or admire him more.

Soldier's Babies Are Special

Christmas time is about the birth of a baby, which is always a cause for celebration, and this morning it brings to my mind one of the sacrifices that has been made time and again during the last twelve years.  In young military families there are times of deployment when an expected child is born in the absence of the father, who is in service at a duty station where his family cannot accompany him.  A couple of years or so back, a fellow blogger sent me a message that a "special" Soldier was coming home and would be seeing his new baby for the first time.  I am repeating that blog post, because it is about a baby... and it is about sacrifice, that is what Christmas is all about.

The pictures of children and babies for this post are the children of Jared and Heather Campbell, both of whom have served proudly.

Aunty Brat, my good friend and fellow supporter of the American and Coalition Forces sent me a note about a Soldier coming home on leave to see for the first time a new baby girl, born while he was deployed.  It brought such beautiful images to my mind immediately, and when I went to Aunty's blog and saw her picture... my heart just melted at her sweet little self.

http://assolutatranquillita.blogspot.com/2011/05/every-day-hero-welcome-home.html

To her parents and all her family, thanks for making my day, and thank you all for your service and sacrifice!  We are a grateful nation!

This is what I sent to the new baby and all those who love her.  May she thrive in your love, always live in liberty, and come to know of your sacrifices to the preservation of freedom.

You know, if Aunty Brat says you are a special Soldier... you must indeed be a special Solider. It is always difficult for me to put into words how I feel about Soldiers and their families. When I try to open a ketchup package, and it is difficult for me, the thought never fails to cross my mind, no matter how much I love my country, if it had to depend on me for for some of the most important of the protection needed from it's enemies, we women would all be wearing burqas (spelling ?) We must have young men and women of the caliber and skills which you possess, or our heritage of freedom will disappear.... As the sign on my gate says, "Land of the free, because of the brave."

Since my husband went to war, poetry concerning this great conflict has haunted me until I express it. Your homecoming to your new daughter caused beautiful images in my mind. I wrote words that I hope will comfort and empower your family as you serve. So here is my gift to the new baby:

 I Came Home to My Daughter

There she lay, so warm, pink, soft, and sweet.

When first we finally did meet.

I saw so much of her mother there in her eyes,

The stamp of my own features on her countenance threatened to make me cry.

Wonder at the first sight of my darling daughter,

Swept my soul, and I knew my life she would forever alter.

Feelings too tender for the battlefield,

In that moment caused all my vigilance briefly to yield.

Then I realized more clearly than ever before,

I was called to war because of an evil good people everywhere deplore.

My newborn child and all the children of the world,

Need those of us in service, the flag of liberty to unfurl.

In my daughter’s face I saw the hope of our world and our nation,

Waiting for her contributions, which true peace will hasten.

I knew that in a land far away, where long I had stood the wall,

Children were seeing first hand our intent in the service of us all.

As they watch, I know they too will learn,

Their own hearts for peace and liberty will come to yearn.

In this the power of the enemy will disappear,

The truth of all our brotherhood will finally do away with all fear.

So though my heart longs to stay,

I will again return to the war zone in just a few short days.

In my mind, images of her gentle beauty,

Will give me strength and bring complete commitment to my sacred duty. 

Father''s Day Is Coming

"I once read the sentence, "I lay awake all night with a toothache, thinking about the toothache and about lying awake."  Part of every misery is , so to speak, the misery's shadow of reflection: the fact that you don't merely suffer, but have to keep on thinking about the fact that you suffer.  I not only live each endless day in grief, but live each day thinking about living each day in grief."

 C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

A Father, Marine, Father of a Marine, Father of a Victim of Military Sexual  Trauma, Father of a Non Survivor of Military Sexual Trauma...

Washington D.C for a Cause

My Husband is Coming Home on Leave Today!

"A woman's heart must be so hidden in God, that a man has to seek Him to find her."   Maya Angelou

 

       

A Wonderful Thanksgiving in Vogelweh, Germany

We are having such a wonderful Thanksgiving in Germany!  My daughter, her Soldier, and my beautiful grand-daughters are all well and happy as a military family.  Our turkey and dressing, plus the long flight time leaves me full, and lounging contented and grateful for the wonderful life that is mine.  One of the best parts of the day for me was my grand-daughter Gabby's rendition of "You're a Grand Old Flag."  Also her teacher has taught the third grade class Gabby is in the Preamble to the Constitution.  These two little videos are great entertainment at the end of  a Thanksgiving celebration.

Of course you need a great rendition of  You're a Grand Old Flag to top off the gratitude I feel for being born in such a great country with all the personal liberties we enjoy.  She first sang this to me right after I was picked up from the airport and we were in the car on the way to the base.  It had been two and a half years since I had hugged her last, it was a very emotional moment for me.  A little tingle ran the length of my spine thinking of how much I love her, have missed her and the rest of her family, and what the cost of liberty really is.






  

Three Generations of Military Women Taking the Hill... or Heel as it May Be!

Found a $5.00 shoe sale in Germany!

Coolest place ever to shop in Kaiserslautern, Germany!

These nice ladies were so helpful!

Who Will Love Rose With Me?

This little abandoned Aghan baby girl has touched my heart. She was found abandoned in Kandahar I believe.  The story came out in this Polish publication:  http://wiadomosci.onet.pl/swiat/afganistan-polscy-zolnierze-uratowali-noworodka-po,1,5252865,wiadomosc.html#fp=info
Associated Press/Marcin Gil/Poland's Defense Ministry 

I have named her Rose, because I believe despite the circumstances of her birth she is going to rise above those circumstances. I love Rose. I see hope and beauty in Rose, and there is a woman I do not know named Julane, and I see love for Rose in her too. There is a Viking Warrior, tough as nails, and I can tell, the picture of this little one has melted his heart too. He loves her as well. There is a Bible verse, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny, and not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father?” It goes on to say how much more important each of us is to Him. I believe in prayer, and serve the God who made this beautiful little girl. There was much discussion over what we cannot do for this child, but we can pray, and where two or more are gathered in His name .... we can ask anything. I want to provide for this child, and I know a woman who perhaps can tell us how we can provide for her. I trust her implicitly.   Her life speaks for itself that even though most of it was spent in Afghanistan and has been  full of tragedy and sacrifice, light is still in her heart.  She is not defeated.  I have sent the information to her that Rose is loved, and there are those who wish to provide for her, and make sure she grows up in a loving home.  As I knew would happen, she agreed that Rose is a special child, and care must be given to provide for her every need.  Now at least four of us love Rose.  She must grow up knowing how valuable she is to the world and to God.

I have  come to believe Rose is a very special baby, a baby who speaks to the world of peace.  If one vile film can spread such violence and death, one small miracle baby can shine the light of peace and life even more quickly and powerfully.  I am sure she is touching the hearts of so many others. Look at her... So exquisite! So perfect! That she sucks her thumb as so many babies I have held just melts me, and makes me long to hold her and rock her and sing to her... Rose is a baby of peace, a baby the people of countries the world over can look at and long to hold and rock,  and sing lullabies of peace to.

Send this to anyone you think could love Rose too.  Share the picture of this beautiful and special child with the world.  Peace comes from knowing one another, and loving one another.  

 

  I changed the picture of the rose because I wanted the rose to be the Peace Rose.  There is a war story about the Peace Rose.

Here is another picture of her posted by Buzzy, it shows Polish Soldiers finding and rescuing her.  God bless them.  What made them stop to explore such a tiny rag on the ground?  How did she survive through the night on the side of the road?  Because the God who watches sparrows... watches beautiful little baby girls.

 

 

"History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid."  Dwight D. Eisenhower

Just How Far Should Professional Courtesy Go Anyway?

My husband is due in tomorrow for leave, and I am "gimpy" right now.  I traded in the original knee immobilizer, and it was such an improvement. Now it just goes from above my knee about six inches to about four or five inches above my ankle, but still getting around is so hard.  When my husband comes home on leave, I want everything perfect.  So I called in my friend Juana, and she came out with her girls to help me.  I hate accepting help, but I can get anything in the middle, but nothing low, and nothing high when it comes to housekeeping right now.  I get to spend Randy's leave having surgery to repair the injured knee.  Sigh... all that said, what I am trying to convey is, I am really busy today, and don't have time for distractions, things have to get done.

 About six weeks ago, after a week of rain Austin County desperately needed,  I made a professional courtesy.  I had been cleaning the back porch when the rain started with lightning and thunder, and I just left the trash can I was using on the porch and went inside.  It rained and stormed every day for about a week.  When I went back to the task, and started to pick up the trash can, out darted a little bird.  In the trash was a beautifully constructed nest.  Of course one mother to another we immediately had an understanding, and I just left the porch, trash can and all exactly as it was and allowed her to finish her project.

 
Every day Rosie, as McKenna dubbed 

her, (she typically names everything Rosie,) toiled away getting her nest just so-so, and then I didn't seen her for a quite awhile.  I have a large window above my kitchen sink and I can observe my kingdom as I work in my kitchen doing everything from canning, cooking, and dish-washing.  Rosie and I became pretty good buds.
I admired her work ethic, and she admired mine.

 Then I saw her coming and going again, now she was bringing rollie pollies, little worms, and other delicacies.  I began hearing little cheeping from her nest.  Still I did not venture out to the porch, well actually I thought one time I would sneak out to the nursery and catch some photos, but her protests sent me back to my kitchen.

Then this morning Rosie began acting so strangely.  She started flying right smack into the kitchen window.  Flying up she would hover, staring straight at me,  fly away, only to come right back, and she was panting.  That really puzzled me.  I maintain a bird habitat, with a stream I engineered that runs into the pond so the birds will have plenty of fresh, shallow, water.  I keep feeders there as well.  This bizarre behavior continued until I realized I needed to at least try to take her water.  When I went to the back porch carefully balancing the bowl of water, she flew straight at me, turned and flew to the end of the porch, then down behind the storage container that sits about three feet from where the dryer vent exits the house.  She repeated this behavior, and then I heard the familiar cheeping from where she was dropping down by the dryer vent.

Well, here she is, Rosie's little chick, we named her Bunnie after we rescued her from the oven like area where heat from the running dryer was definitely overheating her.  She had left the nest a bit early.  Returning her was not an easy task.  As we attempted the rescue, Bunnie, as we had named her, flew off the porch.  It was a lengthy rescue effort then, because she attracted the attention of the barn cats.  (They aren't that big on dry cat food.)

After taking photos, (after all it took a lot of my time and attention to return her to the nest,) we tucked her back in and watched from the kitchen window as Rosie gave her the lecture of her life.  Each of the girls, Maria and Suzanna, wanted their picture made with Bunnie!  She won't be around long if she keeps venturing out of the safety of her nest.  I hope Rosie realizes just how busy I was, and that I only took time out to help with her wayward child out of professional courtesy, one mom to another.  We moms have to stick together.

Genesis 1:20-23
And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." And there was evening, and there was morning-the fifth day.

Job 12:7-10 - But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. 

That was an awesome little experience I would not have believed had I not experienced it, and shared it with three friends...

Wanted.. Kidney For a Soldier, This is an Important Post

My friend Shelle from Soldier's Angels posted this... Somewhere... God is tapping a shoulder... The Still Small Voice is urging.... Is it you?

 

About

WANTED: People with Type “O” Blood to Donate a Kidney to Soldier “A” --- Contact: aKidney4SoldierA@gmail.com

Description

WANTED:
People with Type “O” Blood to Donate a Kidney to Soldier “A”

Soldier “A”, a highly respected soldier over 2 decades of service to America, is in need of a kidney. He has Polycystic Kidney Disease and has been placed on the national donor waiting list, however this wait is over 5 years long and he will need a kidney in the near future.

Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is an inherited disorder in which clusters of noncancerous, fluid-filled sacs (cysts) develop within the kidneys. The cysts vary in size and, as they accumulate more fluid, they can grow very large. Although kidneys usually are the most severely affected organs, polycystic kidney disease can cause cysts to develop elsewhere in the body, too. The disease causes a variety of serious complications.

For privacy issues, he does not wish to have his name known at this time. His family realizes the need to make this information public to assist in locating a potential donor, so this request is being made through the military community for help. His wife is a member of the milblog and national military support community.

Soldier “A” has a Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Army Commendation Medal (three awards), Army Achievement Medal (two awards), the Iraq Campaign Medal and a Combat Action Badge.

He is doctoring at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota as this clinic ranks #1 for kidney disorders in the U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals rankings. Mayo Clinic in Minnesota offers up-to-date diagnosis and treatment options for adults and children who have polycystic kidney disease. Mayo's Minnesota location has one of the world's largest groups of practicing nephrologists (kidney specialists), including a research group devoted to the study of polycystic kidney disease.

If you are interested in becoming a donor or want more information about the process, please contact aKidney4SoldierA@gmail.com

We Enjoyed the Fourth of July So Much This Year, but Now It's August

The Fourth of July and other such holidays are a big deal at our house.  Memorial Day, Flag Day, Veteran's Day, all of the holidays when our country is supposed to stop and remember where we came from are important to us.  How we were established as a republic, and what it cost not only to establish the greatest nation the world has ever known, but what it has, and will cost to continue it's existence and status as such is foundational to our values.  There is no extra decorating required at our little ranch, our color scheme is purposely a reflection of our patriotism.  We had a special meal, complete with a special cake the grand-children baked, and swimming and canoeing in the pond.  Fireworks in our backyard with the full moon, and the children happy and full of the joy of family celebration completed the evening.  

There was one little particularly interesting event in the evening.  As I was walking to the house to get my camera, I saw movement in the rabbit cage that caught my eye, and I sensed danger there.  The two little grand-daughters were following me, and as I quickly moved to the cage they followed me.  I was right, there was a big snake in the rabbit hutch, and it was wrapped firmly around the body of one of the little white flop eared rabbits.  At first I panicked, and I could not ascertain if the rabbit was even still alive as I began beating on the side of the cage.  There was not a bit of movement from the snake as I first began the rescue.  I was so surprised to see the little gray angora rabbit run out of his hutch, claw at the snake, and then bite at it.  That is not natural behavior for a rabbit.  Their only self defense is their speed to escape a predator, and here this gentle little animal attacked what turned out to be a six foot snake.  Animals never cease to amaze me.

While I was attempting the rescue, Avery and McKenna were screaming in that pitch that you wish only dogs could hear, it is so shrill and high.  They were crying as well, they were already fast friends with those little soft creatures, and their distress was heart felt. We successfully defended our little rabbit.  I beat on the bottom of the hutch under the snake with a piece of pipe my oldest grand-daughter ran and got from the barn.  That startled the snake, and he unwrapped, and went out an unseen space at the top of the hutch.  Brian, our youngest son, had run in the house, grabbed the 410, and the snake is no longer with us, nor will he ever harm any other little white flop eared rabbits.

I could not figure out how that rat snake had gotten into the hutch.  It is off the ground by 3 feet, constructed of 1/2 hail wire, and very well built.  Everything that should have been done, all of the needed precautions, yet the snake had found some overlooked hole, crawled through, and was within the safety of the rabbit hutch.  In our recent lifetime the situation of the enemy finding its way into our safety is most represented by the events of 9/11.  None of us should ever forget that on that day enemies of this country brought death to our innocent countrymen, and mass destruction in a violent attack.  Those individuals who perpetrated this heinous act had been living among us for some time.  Never should we forget that those who share their values are still hiding among us, awaiting opportunity to wrap around our security and inflict a death hold on our country.  

Our intelligence community knows that the threat against our country and our way of life is far from ended.  Never will the day come that every person, who has for whatever reason determined that our country must be overthrown, be neutralized.  There will always be threats, and we will always need good men and women willing to serve in our military to defend, with their lives if necessary, all that we hold dear.  

The absence of my husband, my daughter and son-in-law, along with their two daughters, at most of the recent holidays represents part of the sacrifice our family has been willing to make for our country.  We know in a very real way the price that must be paid to live in liberty and safety which so many others the world over may never know.  People die everyday in places where the terrorist are most free to inflict their carnage.  Just claiming a religion of one's own choice can mean kidnapping, torture, and death in many places in the Middle East.  I understand that as great as our nation is, no nation is above falling forever without the vigilance necessary for its' preservation, so reluctantly, I bear these separations.

We never forget at our house that we are the land of the free, because of the brave!  We will remember always the sacrifices that have been made, from Valley Forge until today, and the 

names of those who made them.  We will honor them everyday.

Teach your children well, tell them what the Fourth of July means... what it costs... everyday...  So, as we enter August, remember fondly your own Fourth of July, and those who made it possible.

Never Forget, We Are the Land of the Free, Because of the Brave

This video is so worth watching, Texas Country Reporter is one of my favorite television shows, and I like so very few.  I am going to take a trip over to Bay Town to see this when Randy comes home next month.  I will plan a trip with my grand-children as well.  I am committed to telling them over and over what the cost has been for their freedom and liberty, and that the cost will never be paid in full.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRGWUFEeXZw&feature=player_embedded

Nothing Is More Moving Than the Presentation of Our Nation's Colors

In celebration of Flag Day, Father's Day, and The Army's Birthday!

Beautiful Photo of a Fallen Warrior

This organization is worth following and making donation to. 

You can find them on facebook, and follow their beautiful photos of the fallen.

Lonely Brides

Across the land tonight there are lovely and lonely brides.

They try, but their glistening tears they cannot hide.

War’s cold heart has taken their love to a foreign land.

And there he has fallen by the cruel enemy’s hand.

All the sweet promises that love had made,

Now are gone and their sparkling light has begun to fade.

In their place dark pain and regret now reside.

There is no place from their searing wounds to hide.

They were warriors who stood as protectors of our country.

A threat took them far across a gray and crashing sea.

Distant drums had played to each of them freedom’s song,

Called their hearts to go where violence from the enemy took the strong.

Those tears from young and beautiful eyes call out to me,

Because the preservation of my liberty is what caused this to be.

 Across the land tonight there are lovely and lonely brides.

It falls to me their glistening tears to brush aside.