E-mail, Texting and Faith.
Recent text….”Auntie, it’s time for Ray to put in requests for next assignment. Will you pray with us for God’s timing and place?”
Sara is my niece and her husband is in the Navy and is currently on assignment in Djibouti, Africa.
Sara and I have been texting and e-mailing for more than five years. She keeps me posted on the good and the not so good in her life. We have lots in common despite the age difference. We not only share our faith but the life of a military wife. (Me retired Army wife)
Let me go back a few months to July as Ray was deploying.
E-mail…all is well here. I feel good, so long as I can keep my “spirit” up everything is a piece of cake. I got a call from Ray at the airport 4 hrs. after we had dropped him off to come pick him up! Sophia and I were ecstatic to say the least, didn’t matter we would be doing the farewells all over again. Ray was home long enough to read Sophia one more bedtime story, hold Elias (2 weeks old) once more, and get a good night’s rest then he would head off again on Monday.”
Ray had previously spent the last 6 months with long hours in training or weeks away from family. So goes the life of a Navy wife.
E-mail ….from Sara (several weeks later) ”Sophia is sick, her little heart is broken each time I so nicely try to tell her she cannot touch or kiss Elias (he is just a month old) right now. I feel so bad for her. She seems a little depressed as she is asking for Ray and wants to see him at work….this is all for a reason that I have no control over. This too shall pass.”
More desperate e-mails and texting…..”Elias is sick…high temperature…spinal tap…he is so little….pray…..overnight at the hospital with Sophia and Elias. Told I can no longer stay with both of them. No one to leave Sophia with…..prayer please….sister Kari will fly in to help out. Thank you Lord for all blessings.”
Text... I ask Sara to tell me what she is thinking about God’s plan for their life and what she does to remain strong in faith.
Sara’s reply… “what I do to remain strong in faith: This is especially difficult for me right now as I do not have much of a faith based support network here or a church home. (They had just moved from Washington State to Virginia and then a second move to a different house). But I can improvise and have done so by seeking out friendships that encourage Christian fellowship and who love the Lord. Some friendships are very long standing where I tend to see that person more as a Christian mentor. Some friendships are new. All the friendships however are unique in their own way for me in my faith journey... prayer is another way I am with the Lord and when my heart is with Him I seem to falter less and praise Him more. Lastly, I look all around me. I am reminded everyday with the simple things….like God’s grace and His humorJ Our Lord is awesome in every way so I cannot help but be joyful. My joy for the Lord only reaffirms and encourages my faith.”
I then asked Sara for any favorite scripture…..
Her reply: “all of the Psalms, but let’s go with Psalm 139:13-16. I have interpreted this in many ways depending on the time in my life. All the same though…..I am of and from the Lord. He knows every fiber of my being, where I have been and where I will be. I need to trust in the Lord. Follow His lead.”
“Psalm 91:1,2 this is a daily reminder for me in so many ways that I am with the Lord and He with me, at every moment. I tend to lose track of that and often, with life happenings, schedules and daily routines…..that really are not all that important for eternity. My most important relationship of all, with the Lord is not always made that important. This psalm is posted on our stairway wall so that we can see it every day, right in front of us a simple reminder.”
“Psalm 24:1 everything is the Lord’s ….we are in a way borrowing it, like my husband, my beautiful children, everything are all His. If I hurt my husband with words, I hurt the Lord. Etc…”
Please keep this family and all military families in your daily prayers. Many, like Ray, have had bounties placed on their heads, to capture or kill them as they serve in foreign countries. Recently he has served 2 tours Iraq and one Afghanistan.
.
Ray and Sara have been married 12 yrs. and they like many have spent more time apart than together. Missed birthdays, anniversaries and holidays.
Thanks to Sara for being so willing to be so transparent and share her faith with you who read the GLCC blog.
Recent text….”Auntie, it’s time for Ray to put in requests for next assignment. Will you pray with us for God’s timing and place?”
Sara is my niece and her husband is in the Navy and is currently on assignment in Djibouti, Africa.
Sara and I have been texting and e-mailing for more than five years. She keeps me posted on the good and the not so good in her life. We have lots in common despite the age difference. We not only share our faith but the life of a military wife. (Me retired Army wife)
Let me go back a few months to July as Ray was deploying.
E-mail…all is well here. I feel good, so long as I can keep my “spirit” up everything is a piece of cake. I got a call from Ray at the airport 4 hrs. after we had dropped him off to come pick him up! Sophia and I were ecstatic to say the least, didn’t matter we would be doing the farewells all over again. Ray was home long enough to read Sophia one more bedtime story, hold Elias (2 weeks old) once more, and get a good night’s rest then he would head off again on Monday.”
Ray had previously spent the last 6 months with long hours in training or weeks away from family. So goes the life of a Navy wife.
E-mail ….from Sara (several weeks later) ”Sophia is sick, her little heart is broken each time I so nicely try to tell her she cannot touch or kiss Elias (he is just a month old) right now. I feel so bad for her. She seems a little depressed as she is asking for Ray and wants to see him at work….this is all for a reason that I have no control over. This too shall pass.”
More desperate e-mails and texting…..”Elias is sick…high temperature…spinal tap…he is so little….pray…..overnight at the hospital with Sophia and Elias. Told I can no longer stay with both of them. No one to leave Sophia with…..prayer please….sister Kari will fly in to help out. Thank you Lord for all blessings.”
Text... I ask Sara to tell me what she is thinking about God’s plan for their life and what she does to remain strong in faith.
Sara’s reply… “what I do to remain strong in faith: This is especially difficult for me right now as I do not have much of a faith based support network here or a church home. (They had just moved from Washington State to Virginia and then a second move to a different house). But I can improvise and have done so by seeking out friendships that encourage Christian fellowship and who love the Lord. Some friendships are very long standing where I tend to see that person more as a Christian mentor. Some friendships are new. All the friendships however are unique in their own way for me in my faith journey... prayer is another way I am with the Lord and when my heart is with Him I seem to falter less and praise Him more. Lastly, I look all around me. I am reminded everyday with the simple things….like God’s grace and His humorJ Our Lord is awesome in every way so I cannot help but be joyful. My joy for the Lord only reaffirms and encourages my faith.”
I then asked Sara for any favorite scripture…..
Her reply: “all of the Psalms, but let’s go with Psalm 139:13-16. I have interpreted this in many ways depending on the time in my life. All the same though…..I am of and from the Lord. He knows every fiber of my being, where I have been and where I will be. I need to trust in the Lord. Follow His lead.”
“Psalm 91:1,2 this is a daily reminder for me in so many ways that I am with the Lord and He with me, at every moment. I tend to lose track of that and often, with life happenings, schedules and daily routines…..that really are not all that important for eternity. My most important relationship of all, with the Lord is not always made that important. This psalm is posted on our stairway wall so that we can see it every day, right in front of us a simple reminder.”
“Psalm 24:1 everything is the Lord’s ….we are in a way borrowing it, like my husband, my beautiful children, everything are all His. If I hurt my husband with words, I hurt the Lord. Etc…”
Please keep this family and all military families in your daily prayers. Many, like Ray, have had bounties placed on their heads, to capture or kill them as they serve in foreign countries. Recently he has served 2 tours Iraq and one Afghanistan.
.
Ray and Sara have been married 12 yrs. and they like many have spent more time apart than together. Missed birthdays, anniversaries and holidays.
Thanks to Sara for being so willing to be so transparent and share her faith with you who read the GLCC blog.
Love this! Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWhat a special post on this Veteran's Day! I'm so thankful to couples like Sara and Ray for their sacrifices and willing hearts. Thank you Sally for modeling a Christian relationship...one that happens via the most modern technology!
ReplyDeleteThanks Karen and Paula. It was my joy to share.
ReplyDeleteSally