From the Philippines, With Love........

    

In an earlier post, I promised that I had many more children and their spouses that I could introduce to you. Today gives me an opportunity to do just that. I am still amazed at how God orchestrates the events in our lives in order to bless us.

     Sometimes it just boggles my mind, as it did the Psalmist's when he wrote, 

"What is man that you are mindful of him?" (Psalm 8:4) 

For whatever reason, the Creator of the universe is interested in us.

 Isn't that amazing?

   

     I am, by nature, a homebody. 

I have no plans for adventure. 

I grew up in a very small town and planned to live there my entire life. 

God had other plans. 

My husband was offered a job in another state and that move began a series of other job offers and other moves around the country. 

I eventually got used to moving and was surprised when we ended up in Louisiana and it seemed that God had stopped moving us. 

We passed the "mile marker" of two years and we were not moving anywhere else. 

In fact, we lived in the same house for twelve years. 

A record! 

     There were several things that I didn't care for in Louisiana.....

the heat, for one. 

I can't tolerate it.  

The mosquitos seem to be a state crop.......

and pine pollen!  

Oh my.......if you have allergies, 

you do not want to discover that your 2 1/2 acre wooded lot at the bottom of a dead-end street that has PINE in the name of it will cause you to close up your house and not want to leave it from February til June. 

That was a major disappointment.  

My body still overreacts to allergens even though I'm 800 miles away.  

Back in my home state, my sinuses rebel to simple things like corn pollens that I've experienced my entire life. 

But back to Louisiana......

The people in NW Louisiana are some of the nicest I've met in my moves around the US.  

We have made many lasting friendships there as well as in Arkansas, Texas, Mexico, and Russia, all because of God moving us there. 

     Twenty-six years ago, in the Philippines, a baby girl was born. 

 She played with her cousins and ate fresh mangoes that she picked from the trees. 

She came to live in NW Louisiana when she was eight years old, 

after her mom married a US citizen.  

That was about the same time we moved to TN and began homeschooling.

 Four years later, 

we found ourselves in NW Louisiana.

      After our son graduated high school,

 he decided to go to college at NSU in Natchitoches, LA.  

He began talking about a girl in chemistry class.....he seemed to borrow her notes a lot.  

He joined the Army and went to bootcamp. 

After bootcamp, he decided that she should be his wife.

 She agreed. 

 Our family loved her from the start. 

She was supportive of his choice to join the military. 

She was willing to wait at home while he served two tours in Iraq.  

When I think of all the things that had to happen in order for my son to meet her, I am amazed. 

Obviously, he would not have gone to that university if we lived in another state. 

In fact, he almost went to another school altogether. 

     Whenever you hear someone tell how they met their spouse,

 remember that many, many choices led up to those two people meeting in the first place, 

sometimes many generations in the past.  

I think it is so cool that God works in our lives in such intimate ways. My husband and I have prayed for the spouses of our children from the time they were little. 

It is wonderful to see the answers to those prayers!

 Today is this special lady's birthday. 

Happy Birthday, L!  

I'm so happy to be your mom-in-law, or as some put it, mom-in-love! 

We hope you have a wonderful day!

    

    

photos: tropical flower from the backyard; son and daughter-in-law birthday (c) debbie richardson

Moment of Silence

     From the time I left the house yesterday, until the time I came home in the evening, I only had a chance to stop in for ten minutes. The day was filled with various co-op classes and the weekly library visit with a grocery store stop and medical appointment thrown in.  

Before I left for the day, I watched Fox and Friends who were doing their morning news show live from the deck of the USS New York. 

This brand new Navy ship was constructed with over 7 tons of steel from the ruins of the Trade Center Towers in New York. 

USS NEW YORK

     

It was stirring to watch the footage of the Marines and Sailors on board the vessel raising the colors just as they do every morning 

and to hear the stories of how the ship was

 made in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

I lived in northwest Louisiana for twelve years and remember seeing updates on the ship's progress from time to time.  

Hurricane Katrina caused obvious delays but the workers came back to finish the ship. 

It is a working ship and will carry Marines to fight terrorists. 

The Towers will have gone full circle. 

 They will be fighting back.

     On the drive to the last appointment of the evening, I heard the devastating news of the shooting at Ft. Hood in Texas. 

As an Army mom, my heart was stricken. 

Since details were very few, all I could do was speculate on the cause.  

My evening ended with few details to answer all of the questions in my mind. 

My heart was grieved for the families involved. My heart which was earlier stirred by patriotism was now subdued.

     Today, I watched as the military officials sorted out the facts for us. 

The shooter was not dead.

 He is on life support. 

He was a psychiatrist previously working with hurting soldiers at Walter Reed Medical Center. He was recently transferred to this new post. 

He had never been deployed and did not want to be deployed now. 

Other stories said he was giving away possessions. In the midst of hearing these disturbing bits of news, other stories were told.

     It was graduation at the Army Post.  

Medic Officers ran to offer assistance still dressed in caps and gowns when they heard the gunshots. A Private loaded wounded soldiers into his pick-up truck and took them to the emergency room. 

Others provided first-aid even though they were wounded themselves. 

My heart began to fill with the unmistakable sense of patriotism. 

Of being proud to be a citizen of a country where men and women daily make willing sacrifices in service to their country and to their fellow man.

     I witnessed a Moment of Silence for the fallen and their families.

 I saw the flag at half-mast. 

It was a striking contrast to the raising of the flag on the USS New York yesterday. 

In the midst of each of our opinions as to how our country should address the War on Terror, 

must be 

gratitude for the members of our Armed Forces, prayers for them and for their families, 

and thankfulness to God that 

He is ultimately in control of every aspect in our lives and in the life of our great nation.

photos: American flag at Ft. Campbell, KY (c) debbie richardson

Hey Mom, I'm Going to the Moon Today

     Today, my eleven year old, 

the astronomer, 

is going to the moon.  

Actually, he is going with about 20 of his fellow homeschoolers in our Co-op to the 

Challenger Center. 

The Challenger Centers were developed after the tragedy of the Challenger Space Shuttle which carried, along with the astronauts, the first teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe. 

It has a flight simulator and hosts many school kids to learn about science and experience space missions first-hand.      http://www.challenger.org/

 They have been working very hard for the past six weeks or so to get ready for this trip. 

Every Thursday evening, they have been building rockets, rocket-propelled cars, doing experiments and even building a habitat out of plastic sheeting and a box fan. 

They have been divided into groups, both large and small, and the night they made the "house" out of plastic, they worked together as one large group and were not allowed to speak for an entire hour. 

That's right, no talking for a whole sixty minutes. They did it.....well, the house had a few leaks and technically, they would have died for lack of oxygen, but now they know what to do. 

I believe the objective for this mission is to build a permanent station on the moon for habitation.

Maybe we can take a family vacation there some day??

I have, at different times in my homeschooling career, 

wanted to be part of a homeschool co-op. 

For one reason or another, it has not worked out. 

There were either time conflicts, or age conflicts, or a waiting list and we never seemed to get in. 

Now, in our 18th year of homeschooling and after moving 800 miles "back home", 

my youngest three kids have the opportunity to participate in a co-op. 

Everything has it's time, as the Bible says.....so this year, they are learning to play hand bells and band instruments.....

and one is going to the moon!

I will let you know how it turns out and

 if you will be able to make vacation plans 

to the moon in the future.

Singing in Harmony

My family is a musical one with musical roots. 

Mom of the Century.....well, not exactly........

Today, I have been a mom for a quarter of a century. 

Wow. 

When I mentioned this to my middle son, he said he'd never thought of it like that.

There are so many memories. 

So much laughter and tears. 

So much anxiety and so very many prayers.

God has been faithful. 

He always is. 

There is never a doubt about that.

From the very beginning, when I first knew the desire to be a mother, God began teaching me to trust Him with my children. It is not an easy thing to learn. But step by step, patiently, He showed me that He is big enough to take care of them. That He is big enough to take care of me. He has made sure that there is no doubt as to Who gets credit for how well my children turn out.

My brave soldier son has hit a milestone. 

I am very proud of him. 

I am thankful that God gave me this assignment.

......and remember.......I have six other kids to talk about, not counting the wonderful people who decided to be part of this family of their own free will....

Happy Birthday, Son!