Service, Love & a Cold Fighting Soup: Living Like Jesus

Moms don't have time to get sick, and Military Wives whose spouse is deployed or away, dreads the thought of falling ill.

Never in my adulthood had I ever caught the flu....until my hubby was on his last deployment. That's how it goes, right?

Well, I got it, and got it BAD!

Woke up drenched in sweat, chills, fever, the whole nine yards, yet I still needed to care for my kiddos. A mom's job, well, we all know it's never done.

I'm not one to ask for help, or share my burdens on social media, but that day, I wrote a simple message about being ill and needing prayer to get better soon.

An outpouring of love and support ensued. Several ladies brought soup, movies, meals, and crafts to keep my youngest occupied. They watched my youngest, made sure I didn't have to prepare supper for a few days, called to check on me, and even helped pick up my house! Kinda makes me wanna get sick again, ha. :) 

These wonderful women demonstrated love by taking a moment to step away from their life, their obstacles, their problems, and their to-do-lists to help a friend in need. What a blessing they were to our family!

1 Corinthians 13: 7 says, “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 

No one lived out this verse better than Jesus. He continuously demonstrates his love for us, but in this particular instance we find Jesus not only living out love, but giving us an insight to how to handle our trials and hurts. In Matthew 14 we find Jesus in mourning after the gruesome death of His cousin and friend, John the Baptist. He takes a moment to be alone and grieve, and then we see Him get up, and go out to serve and meet the needs of others.

When we shift our eyes from our burdens, busy schedules, hurts, and trials to meet the needs or serve someone else, we live out love. We live like the ladies who helped me in my time of need. We live like Jesus, and that's the best way to live.

Think of ways to serve others. Think of ways your family can join in, and though it can be difficult, remember it's okay to be the person who may need help.

And if there's ever a need for a hearty, cold battling soup for family, friends or yourself? I got ya covered! Check out the recipe below, and it's GLUTEN FREE:

 

Fight a Cold Soup

5-6 cups of Chicken broth (I'm sure veggie broth would be okay too)

2 Whole Carrots

3 Celery Stalks

1 Half of Onion Chopped

2 Tblsps of Minced Garlic

Kale & Baby spinach

1 1/2 tsp of Sea Salt

1 1/2 olive oil

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 50-60 minutes

Chop or dice carrots, celery, and onion. In a pot large enough to hold the soup, heat up olive oil on medium-high heat, and sauté the carrots, celery, and onion. Add in the garlic. Stir constantly. Add in 1/2 of broth, cover pan, set to simmer for 10 minutes. Add the rest of the chicken broth, and sea salt. Bring to a low boil and add the kale and spinach (use as much as you'd like; I do a handful of each).  Let boil for 5-7 minutes, then simmer for 30-40 minutes. Check the tenderness of the veggies and serve when they've reached desired firmness or softness. Feel free to add to or take away. Hot sauce and paprika goes well in this soup too. ENJOY!

Click to Tweet: Service, Love & a Cold Fighting Soup: Living Like Jesus http://ctt.ec/ePf6Q+

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Heartwarming Homecomings: Holding our Heros

Sure to Melt Any Heart...

Homecomings. There aren't many words to accurately express the experience of holding your soldier in your arms after a long deployment. Watching them march in, the cheering crowds, tears, waiving flags. It's one of those things you never forget. Dropcam is a company that helps make those homecoming moments even more memorable.

Tiffany Pham, Dropcam's Community Manager says, "Dropcam cares deeply about our service men, women and their families. We want them to know that we’re thinking about them this holiday season. We put together a compilation of the best holiday soldier homecoming videos on the web."

Grab a box of tissues, and some comfort food before viewing these tear inducing videos that add a little hero to your holiday. I'm sniffling all ready!

Intermission=just enough time for you to grab more tissues



Take a second to dry your eyes. :)

Thank you Dropcam for supporting America's Military and their families. To those who are missing their soldier this Holiday season, hold tight, your homecoming is on its way. Many Blessings, and Merry Christmas.



Welcome Home Ceremony! Oh YES We waived our flags!

Us, pushing play on our lives together again! :)

HOME AT LAST!

Ten Months, 12 Days since I last kissed my Hunky Hunk of Love'n Husband (he loves that name, lol). 

Not our longest deployment, but long enough! Hours of waiting in an airplane hanger, temperatures that made the equator look like a pansy, surrounded by anxious family members donning patriotic clothing, and no shortage of American flags--now those are the ingredients for a good 'ole Welcome Home Ceremony! 

Spirits were high, the energy higher! Anticipation doesn't even scratch the surface of what I was feeling. Nervous? You bet. Excited? Um, yeah. Just plain ready to get my man back? Totally. Ready to to get out of my high heels? Please Jesus make it soon! lol. We waited, AND waited. Then waited some more. And when we were done waiting, guess what? Yup. There was more waiting! :) BUT SOON, we all tunneled toward the runway, and searched the skies for the plane...waiting once more. :) 

You wouldn't believe the sound that erupted from the crowd as the plane touched down! Their cheers...my cheers, lol...grew louder as the men filed from the plane. Everyone had been waiting for this moment. Our men were home safe, boots on the ground, and would be in our arms soon.

Like most families there, we weren't new at this deployment bit, so I knew when the soldiers were released, a flood of families would pour from the bleachers spilling into the sea of camo. Staying put, up high on the bleachers was my best chance of him finding us--and he did!! To see him again...kiss him...hold him...watch him grab our children up in his arms...my friends, there are no words to describe. Priceless. One of those moments in life that you store in your heart and treasure, pondering how unspeakably precious it is.  

So he's home!!!! I want to thank you all for following us through this journey, and I would love to share a bit our excitement with ya'll. Please enjoy the video clip, and pictures below! Feel free to leave comments & share this post with your friends and family. :) XOXOXO! :) 

Here they come!

All the pics!

I've Been Waiting: When I Finally Make it Home Video

The wait is almost over!

The next time I post it will be pictures of our family REUNITED! In the meantime, enjoy the video and song by Mercy Me. LOVE it!! 

Redeployment Ready: The Crazy Ways We Prepare

Image from www.entertainmentwallpaper.com

Oh, I've been more than ready for this deployment to end. For months I've been wishing time would fly faster, and honestly it  has flown. 

At the beginning of the deployment I made a to do list  of all the things I wanted to accomplish while my hubby was away. I'll get to the list later, but today I want to discuss all the ways I'm preparing for his return.

click here to see my deployment list update (some things just didn't get done, lol)

It's occurred to me that we, Military Wives, do some crazy stuff to get ready for our Other Half to come home. Some things are down right comical. For example, I have a good friend that went on a very special waxing adventure before her husband came home...lol...I will not go into details, just know that it didn't turn out the way she had hoped. Good times. 

Losing weight, and toning up seem to be the default things to do when our hubbies are away. Do you even wanna know how much of my money has went to Jillian Michael's workout videos? I'm telling ya, it's almost shameful.

Me with Henna Hannah Hair!

We buy bronzing creams, new unmentionables (wink), search for the perfect dress to greet our man in, schedule hair/nail appointments, or dye our own hair (see my pics), and hit the tanning beds 'cause every lady knows that if you can't get rid of fat, you might as well tan it. After months of not shaving on a regular basis--oh, don't judge me, lol, if you're hubby was gone, you would totally take a hiatus from shaving--anyway...I'm in the market for a fancy new razor. Any recommendations? My Dad suggests I start with some lawn clippers, lol, totally joking.

This is Henna, not baby poo

So yes, in lots of crazy ways I'm preparing for my husband's return, but I want to! I want to be the best possible version of me for him, because he's my husband. You know, I LOVE how giddy his return makes me feel. After nearly 10 years of marriage I feel like it's the night before our wedding, but better. I now know my husband on a deeper level, and I now have a working knowledge of what love really is, and what it isn't. I can't wait to be with him again! 

...And I can't help but see the spiritual parallels to all my preparation. The Bible makes many references to Brides and Bridegrooms.

"[...]and his bride has prepared herself.
8 She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.” Rev 19: 8

Just like I should never stop preparing myself for my husband, I should never stop preparing myself for God. The greatest way I can prepare myself for my husband, is to become even more spiritually fit. The closer I get to God, the closer I get to my Spouse...that's just how it works.

So what about you? How do you get Redeployment Ready? Or Spiritually fit? I 'd love to hear from ya. :) 

  

Beating the Easter Blues: What to Do While Your Honey's Away



It's difficult to celebrate Special Occasions and Holidays when your spouse is deployed, or away for training. It's hard to feel like celebrating when the one you love can't be there to join in on the traditions, fun and laughter.

picture from www.dreamstime.com

With Easter next week, I can't stop from wondering what our family would be doing this year if my husband were home. Where would we have went for Easter dinner? Together, we would have taken the kids to see the Passion Play at our church, and together we would talk to them about the importance of Easter in our Christian faith. I wonder how many ugly eggs my hubby and the kids would insist on coloring? Where could we hide the eggs that would keep the kids busy long enough for he and I to raid their Easter baskets, lol....we would NEVER do that.

The memories keep me going through times like this; I'd say they keep most of us going during the deployment. My memories equal hope. I think of the good times, how they make me feel, the laughs that were shared, and those memories allow me to hope for the future--that there will be even more good times to come. Easter is a good time to be filled with hope; after all, Easter is all about hope.

There are many Military families missing their loved ones this year, I just want to take a minute and encourage you. Hang in there. In the words of my Momma, "Paste that smile on, and go on." Acknowledge that you don't feel like celebrating. Cry about it if you must over a bag of those awesome Hershey candy coated eggs and a glass of milk (I may or may not have done that, lol). Once you've acknowledged these feelings, go on and get your celebrate on! Make yourself if you have to, because you need to, because your children need you to, because the others going through the same battle need you to.

Think of the good times and know more are on their way.

Beat the Easter Blues: Tips for Making this a Memorable Easter Even With Your Spouse Afar:

1.  Find a church to attend for Easter Sunday: If you haven't heard about the hope Easter is about, it's about time you heard it. :)
2.  If you're close to family, go home and hang out with them.
3.  If you're far from family, get together with friends and play games, talk, eat, laugh, hunt for eggs!
4. Color Easter Eggs with your family, or start a new Easter Deployment Tradition; maybe it's making a special breakfast, or playing bunny freeze tag where everyone hops around like bunnies---it's a blast and a calorie blaster! Be creative, and have fun.
5. Talk openly with your kids about the deployment, and how they feel about their parent missing Easter and other special occasions. Have them think of things they will do next year when their soldier is home.
6. Remember that traveling any road alone is lonely; if you're feeling down or need to share some exciting news, there's nothing like a good friend to do life with. If you don't already have someone you can confide in while your hubby/spouse is gone, and even when they're home, I would highly suggest you pray God sends you one.
7. HAVE FUN! Whatever you do this Easter, and while your soldier is deployed, try to have fun and laugh. Anytime your soldier is away, is just plain stressful. Laughter is a good prescription for stress.

The Deployment Ride

It's been right at three months since Stephen deployed--6 more to go! Six months sounds like a long time, but I won't complain, it could be worse. The last deployment ended up being 15 months--ugh--so 6 more months is so doable!

Since he has been gone, I've been working on my Deployment Bucket List that I created. :)  To read more on that, click here.  Meh, it's coming along. I have cleaned the garage, which ended up being a terrifying experience after I uncovered the world's last known prehistorically large centipede hanging out behind some boxes. Yeah, I totally screamed. Just like I wanted, I turned portions of the kitchen into chalkboards, YAY, and I have been slowly redecorating our bedroom. Still on the high priority end is to update the kiddo's rooms! 

On this deployment I have learned how to use a saw and drill without destroying my project. I have learned how to change air filters! I've learned the power of meal planning! I've also learned how to make a few mean freezer meals--I will totally share those recipes with you all soon! A lesson that I continue to learn is just how  "enough" God is for me when I'm laying in bed at night wishing Stephen was cuddled next to me, or when I'm drained from a day of chasing sticky, screaming kids...God is enough. He provides enough energy for me, enough rest, enough peace, enough protection. He provides me with enough of everything to get me through the next day, and the next, and the next.  There have been highs and lows on this deployment ride, and there will be more, but I know that God will always be enough and all that I need to get me through.  

I've also  learned that the greatest way to make the best of this crazy deployment ride is by sharing the journey. A portion of sharing that journey has opened up several windows of opportunity, to include the world of writing. Yep, I did it! I completed a novel and am working tirelessly to find a publisher to sweep me off my feet. My first interview went out recently, check it out by clicking here! :) 

Six more months to go...bring it! 

Deployment Bucketlist

Deployment Bucket List: UPDATED :) 

Disclaimer: I had to write a few things on the list that I have already done to make me feel more productive--I know you totally do that too! ;)

1: Organize the Garage  Um...I may need to do that again
2: Organize Laundry Area
3: Organize Top of the Fridge
4: Paint Kid's Rooms (And add shelving...)
5: Paint Our Master Bath  (Need to figure what design) Got a brain cramp trying to figure out what color
6: Clean Carpets (Or just pray for them)
7: Redecorate Master Bedroom
8: Start a Bible Study
9: Stencil the Book Shelf in the Living Room...and the one in our bedroom Not yet...lol
10: Spend Saturday's Playing with the Kids and creating an awesome Pinterest craft/game idea!
11: Take the Kid's Somewhere AWESOME for Spring Break  With the Fam in Ohio!!
12: Camp Out in the Living Room with the Kiddo's at least once a month   Did that like 4 times!!
13: Learn How to Sew It's just sad how bad I am...I should get a sewing machine to help me :) 
14: Figure Out Which Pinterest Crafts I Want to Do and Then Schedule Time to Do It!
15: Get a Pedicure or Massage Once a Month  um...nope...that was a lofty dream, huh?
16: Go See a Movie With No Kids With Me
17: Organize Emergency/Important Papers in the Firebox
18: Clean Out Kid's Closets
19: Make Chalkboard for the Kitchen          It looks so cute!
20: Create and Area for the Kid's Artwork      Did it! 
21: Stencil Wall in Living Room  Almost done...sorta...maybe soon...I think???
22: Create a Workout Routine
23: Finish Family Yearbooks on Snapfish     ummm...no, but there's still time
24: Pay off Student Loans!! Woohoo! (I'm so taking a pic of my smiling face with the last payment in my hand!)  ALMOST...soon!!
25: Volunteer more in the community I did! :) 
26: Have Dad teach me how to build stuff...gotta learn if I am gonna be a Pinterest Pro  Kinda did that
27: Go out of my way to encourage others (a good reason to hit up sendoutcards.com/alane )
28: Finish Reading the 5 Love Languages for Kids and begin to fluently speak my kiddo's love language
29: Pray Psalm 91 over my husband and his men every night  Did it, still doing it...won't stop doing it!
30: Clean car thoroughly!
31: Keep my car nice and tidy (yeah..that's gonna be a hard one...but I'm on my way!)  Sorta doing it...it's kind of a work in progress thing...lol

Resiliency...Army Wives Know That Word....

Ugh, Stephen leaves next week...the deployment begins. I knew it was coming, but it was still weeks away, and now it's a week away. :(. We had our pre-deployment briefing not long ago...nothing much new, same 'ole info for the most part, but I thought I might lose it if I heard the word "resilient," one more time. Yes, yes, resiliency is key to surviving in the Army/Military and basically life, but all I kept picturing in my head to conceptualize resiliency was that clown punching bag from my childhood that kept coming back for more after I  know I totally knocked that thing senseless....not a fun image...kind of frustrating actually. So I guess our family is like the clown punching bag now, and the deployment is the punch that keeps us "resilient?" That analogy just doesn't sit well with me, so I've been trying to think of other analogies to help me process the concept more thoroughly....   

Resiliency is like the elastic in my underwear that is able to miraculously go back to its original shape after each washing. LOL, well, that's true for at least some of my undies...my others, well, they need prayer.

Resiliency is like continuing to wear a pair of fabulously amazing high heels because they make you look awesome even though each step makes you cringe with pain. I totally did that on Sunday--thought I was dying!

Resiliency is like my beautiful begonias that continue to bloom against all odds--a drought, and our dog who has made my flower garden his urinal.

Resiliency is like the first batch of cookies I ever made--tough, refusing to crumble even after multiple attempts to be eaten.

So if I put these analogies together it means, basically, that if I'm resilient I am rolling with the punches, stretched--but never too far, looking amazing even when it hurts, blooming in the least likely of conditions, and too tough to crumble. Hmm...I guess being resilient isn't so bad...it reminds me of 2 Corinthians 4:8-10:

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.

Now that's RESILIENCY!

The Blessings of Being an Army Wife

With yet another deployment lurking around the corner I find myself, now more than ever, focusing on the many positive things in my life--Momma always said to count your blessings...or was that an old hymn we used to sing at church?

I could go on and on and on about the difficulties of military life, especially when it comes to deployment...it's simply not fun to send your hubby away in a war zone and then keep it all together for the sake of your kids and your sanity--it's hard to do.

SO...I'm counting my blessings...all the positive things about being an Army Wife, going through a deployment and whatever else I can come up with that will be a silver lining...I'm going to think positive!

1: This deployment is only 9 months...rumor has it, it could be shorter...
2: Deployment means that I don't have to shave my legs everyday...lol...no judging, this is seriously a perk!
3: Deployment means I can order a veggie pizza (Stephen doesn't like veggies on his pizza).
4: Army Wife Blessing: It's nice to not have to be too concerned with the health care debate/issue...our insurance is pretty nice
5: Army Wife Blessing: I've met some really amazing women, some best friends, and great experiences through moving around
6: Deployment/Army Wife Blessing: I feel like this life gives me an opportunity to live in faith...so much of what happens in the military life requires a great deal of faith, and I have been able to see God do totally cool things when I put my trust in Him.
7: Deployment Blessing: There will be extra pay which means I can finally put my student loans to death ONCE AND FOR ALL (MWWAAAHHAAHAA!), or at least chop them up smaller!
8: Deployment: Absence makes the heart grow fonder...it's true, and I always seems to appreciate Stephen more when he is gone...sad to admit that :(
9: Deployment means there should be a ball coming up soon....I LOVE BALL GOWN SHOPPING....
10: Deployment means I get to be the master of the tv remote for 9 months, lol...you laugh, but this is a nice perk!
11: I live 2 hours from my family...SUCH a blessing, especially during a deployment....if I feel like I'm going crazy, I can just drive up the road and drop the kiddos off with Mom and Dad for the day


I'm sure there will be more blessings and perks to add, but right now I have laundry to do! :) OH,

12: Deployment means less laundry to do! lol :)
13: Deployment means that I will be buying less toilet paper while he is away...not that I use more when he is home, WE use more...this is just embarrassing to talk about...lol
14: While Stephen is away I will be able to fix breakfast for supper! HELLO PANCAKES & OMELETS!