A Little Light in the Darkness

Ah, Friday, how I've missed you! Welcome back!

Well, I don't know about the rest of you but I had an incredibly rough night last night. I'm sure most of you can sympathize when I say that I spent most of my night obsessing over the "what-ifs" of this military wife life. I kept thinking that my husband will probably deploy this summer...which led me down many, many thought paths involving the worst that could possibly happen. *Insert tears here* I prayed about it, I texted my bestie who finally called me back to calm me down...I obsessively frantically cleaned my house. Still, nothing worked. I did my Bible study as usual before bed, which helped some. I read Nefertiti for a while just to take my mind off of it all. I finally got sleepy and turned off the light. An hour later, I'm back in the same spot - totally freaking out.

And then it hit me. Fear doesn't come from God. Satan is the master of fear. He plays on them to make us get weaker and make us not trust that God has the best plans for us. Satan is attacking me - my mind, my heart, my soul. I sat up in bed at this realization and stared into the blurry darkness. As I whispered "I don't believe your lies, Satan, leave me alone!" I felt some relief. I repeated it several times...laid down and finally fell asleep. I'd heard my small group leader once say that if you tell Satan out loud to leave you alone, that you don't believe his lies, it is powerful. Let me tell you...it was. I can only do that because I honestly do believe that God is protecting me, caring for me, and carrying me when I need Him to.

So today, I am resolved to not fear the future. How can I fear what I don't know? How can I be afraid of things that I haven't even seen yet? Maybe I, like many others, fear the unknown. I don't have to be afraid, because I have the most powerful ally ever. My Savior. That is what I'm going to rest in today. I'm going to clean up this house, hop in the shower, get all fancied up to see my husband, and wait for my in-laws to arrive at my house. I will not fear the future, which my Savior holds safely in the palm of His hands. He is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer!

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I can't wait to see my hubby today! I know that we're all going to have a great time today, even if our time is limited. I still need to run to the commissary for groceries, but I think it's just going to have to be a quick trip and not the ginormous trip I need it to be. Oh well. =) Can't wait to see a cute baby girl today! Oh, and her mommy. And her grandparents. Hehehehe. Hope y'all have a great weekend!

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Don't forget to email me questions for the Q&A session!! 2 more posts to go!

Prayers

Today, after reading several blogs, I found some very sad news that no military wife ever wants to hear for herself or her friends. One of my lovely followers, Mrs. P, lost her husband. From what I can tell [because I have not previously been a follower of her blog], her husband had been in Afghanistan for about 3 months. He was killed when the vehicle he was in flipped. I don't know all the details, and she gives a little bit more information in her post.

What I do know is that this precious woman - who should never have to go through anything like this - needs our prayers. I can't even fathom how distraught I would be if something happened to my hubby. We don't even have children. (Mrs. P has one baby girl.) My heart hurts for her and her little one. As my hubby is away right now, I want so badly to see him and cuddle him for a while. I plan on doing exactly that tomorrow when he gets home. You know, I don't even know Mrs. P all that well and I am sitting here crying for her over the loss of her soul mate. She will definitely be in my prayers. I ask that all of you who will read this will keep her in yours as well. Most of you are also milspouses, and know that this is our worst fear come to fruition.

If your husband (boyfriend, or fiance) is at home tonight, give him the biggest hug and kiss ever and don't let him get far from you. Remind him just how much you love him, because you might not get the chance again. I think it is truly sad that we take them a little for granted while they're here with us. Sometimes it takes this kind of shock to our system to make us realize that our husbands do have a dangerous job, and that God has only given them a certain amount of time to be here with us on this earth.

 No matter what though, I have to believe that God has bigger and better plans for us even when the storms come in our lives. He tells us that himself. It's one of my favorite verses. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  (Jeremiah 29:11) Most importantly, I know that God is here with me through everything. Through my sad times, my angry times, and happy times. He's here. I wrote about this not too long ago. You may not know this, but I write for a Christian website that targets women. It's called A Virtuous Woman. I encourage you to stop by. It's been great for me to read, as well as to write for. My most current article talks about the Promises of God. You see, God never promised us that living life for Him would be easy, but he did make us some other pretty awesome promises.

 I will leave you with this for the evening, and hope that you will continue to pray for Mrs. P and her daughter during this incredibly sad time.

Psalm 34: 17-19

         The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
       he delivers them from all their troubles.

       The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
       and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

        A righteous man may have many troubles,
       but the LORD delivers him from them all;