I praise You God for protecting my son for what all You still have ahead of him to accomplish and to for what you still have for him to hear from You.
!Joshua and Caleb together in Mosul earlier this year
Happy birthday Caleb! I know this isn't the first birthday he, my husband, or any of our three oldest sons have spent away from home and in the war zones of the Middle East, but I am hoping that it is the last. My prayers continue to be for Caleb's safety and well -being and for God to grow Caleb's faith deeper and stronger through this latest tour of duty and the very many MANY hardships it has brought with it. God is so able and so willing, when WE EACH lay our lives before His throne in surrender. I continue to pray that this will ultimately be a time of spiritual victory for Caleb. I am so painfully aware that his struggles have very little to do with being in a war zone.Its as if that is "just" the background for the many other things God is working on in his life, and yet he must be so ever aware of all the background details as he processes all the foreground details as well. How thankful I am that we prayerfully and publicly dedicated each of our children to the Lord when they were babies ,and that we have contiued to pray for and with them over the years. Those years of nurturing and insulating, teaching, and praying have set a course of peace for all of us. As the mom and wife of soldiers (and yes uniform or not Joshua IS also a soldier) I have God's absolute peace about the geographical locations of my family members. They were in God's hands every moment they were "safe" in the USA and they are every bit as "safe" in Iraq, or where ever God places them. For me to worry over them now would be to take back every prayer of dedication and every word spoken and taught that "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but power , love, and a sound mind" or that God's "Perfect love casts out fear" . the verses flow from my mind like flood waters....."fear not, do not be terrified, for I the Lord Your God am with you........." and yes I have peace. My "default verse" stands as an ongoing prayer for my children.."ALL your children shall be taught of the Lord and GREAT will be the peace of your children..."
Have peace today Caleb. I can't give you any "thing" which would have much lasting meaning right now, but I can pray blessings of peace over you and
OH YES that is what I am doing today to mark the wonderful, amazing, 45 minute labor and Spartan Village, Michigan State University housing home birth of Caleb Christian , 26 years ago at 10 PM CST. Thank you so much Father that I have been blessed to be the mom to this terrific baby, little boy, young man, grown man.
Caleb......
And one more thing to be thankful for: Caleb was able to call and talk for a good long while, on his ultra clear connection which does not cut out or echo or have a 3-6 second delay! SO good to talk to my son, I'm sure it was good for him to be able to touch base with home! Word is he may actually be home for Christmas!! We are READY!
4 comments:
Hopped over to your blog from the Riggs' site. My cousin has spent 2 tours in Iraq and just left last week for Afghanistan. It is so hard. Glad your sodier is home safe!
It's got to be so hard with him away like that!! I just can't even imagine!
You must be a very proud mama! Happy Birthday to Joshua! Glad you go to talk to Caleb. No matter what his job is - his importance is that of any other soldier out there. I'm thankful for their service to this country and for protecting me and my family - even though they have never met us!
Beautiful post!
Praying & Praising with you.
We were so BLESSED by our time with your family. THANKS for the hospitality. We've had a GREAT month on the road ... but are ready to get home at the end of this week.
Hugs!
Laurel
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