It's that time of year for us, where we make all of our appointments: eye, dental, physical etc..My day today started with an exhausting trip to the vet clinic. It was our first trip to the vet here in Texas. Thankfully we haven't had any serious reason to take Molly in since our last annual trip in New York. I bought her a new collar for the occasion, but still needed to put on the old harness (which by the way needed to be let out a few notches) to keep a better "non-choking" grip on her. Over the years, I have mastered the art of keeping her close to me when I'm by myself at the vet. Friendly visitors that want to pet her? Other cats/dogs within a close radius? Need to fill out paperwork one-handed? I just lock her leash, and get a great thigh work out keeping her locked between my feet and legs. She usually gives up and just lays down. Today, we experienced all three of these scenarios by the way...so a few shots and a lot of shedding later...we survived our trip! She did well, and received well deserved treats and love. We won't need to go back till next summer! While filling out the paperwork- there were questions listed that they certainly don't ask at military veterinary clinics. The first question: "To better help us with your vet experience- answer one of the following 1)Do you feel your pet is one of the family? or 2)Just a pet?". I checked of course option 1 ( I mean, she is in our Christmas card pictures). A few more of the questions were about whether or not we want the best health options, diet advice etc. It asked A)"would we be willing to do whatever it takes for our pet?", or B)"would we want to do as much as possible up to a certain limit?" Chris,being the sensible one, would have probably checked option B, but I checked option A because of course at this point, I'm nervously thinking about the off chance of something horrible happening to Molly and can't bear the thought of something happening to her- so in my head it was "A!, of course, we'll do whatever it takes!". The last question was "how long do you want your pet to live?". I had to refrain from filling in the response my 6 year old self would have written of "forever!" to "as long as possible, as long as she is happy and healthy".
We are em-"barking" on yet another annual thing known as our anniversary. Yes, it will be 6 years for us in just a few weeks. We got married on Friday night, June 24th, and are celebrating (thanks to leap year) this year on Friday, June 24th. We are still deciding on ways we would like to celebrate. But, we have much to be thankful for!
I'm sure you all have read/heard about the recent tornadoes in Joplin,MO. Yesterday, I read about a woman, whose husband gave his life for her during the tornado. They were watching their house be ripped apart, when her husband laid on top of her to protect her. In that heroic act, he lost his life. It really hit me hard and I have been praying for her like crazy. Only our Father can give you the kind of love and care you need in a situation like that. It's unimaginable. The couple had a few things in common with us: they were married 6 years, were together since they were kids (although for Chris and me it was high school), and were hoping to start a family soon....to see all of those things just come to a halt- I can hardly think of many other more challenging circumstances. Along with my thoughts I had today on the possibility of losing Molly to some horrible accident or disease- I felt God testing my trust in Him. We really do hold things dear to us that are not eternal. He puts them in our lives for a reason and wants us to find fullness and joy, but it's fleeting. Do I have the kind of hope in Him that it would take if something like that happened to Chris? The thought is very painful to think about. (I mean, this is not what we would deem the most exciting part about faith.) Chris would do anything to keep me safe,including giving his life...Then I remember that someone already gave His life. How can I have hope in anything else? We have a bright future because of Him. If anyone has read "the Shack" by William P. Young, it tests just that. His daughter was taken from him in brutal way...but,God saw him through it and brought joy back into his life. I just ask that God help me to have faith in Him in the ups, the downs and the really downs. This is the place of faith that He wants to bring all of His children to. We just have to be humble and trust Him to take care of us....it's kind of funny we can't trust Him without...Him.
In thinking about joy and fulfillment, Chris and I get to spend the weekend together! And in just a few weeks, we'll be celebrating another year together. The test results have come back of a clean bill of health...and we too, are good to go for another year.... <3
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Protect and Serve
Happy late Mother's Day,everyone! I enjoyed being able to bless my mother this past weekend, and I know she enjoyed it too. SO I get a call on Cinco De Mayo evening frantic from my mom that someone has just stolen her purse! I was in the middle of Supertarget with a friend, purchasing Mother's Day gifts when her upset ring came to my cell. I did my best to calm her down ( knowing this has to be extremely frustrating) by walking through the steps she needs to take to file her police report. I ended my shopping early and made my way to her, thankful that I had an extra key to her house, where which she had an extra car key. I then took her to her car and she began the important steps of cancelling her account etc. I'm just so glad that I was here in Texas where I was able to help her in this situation. I would have been very frustrated and felt extremely helpless if I was several states away.
This whole incident reminded me of a time when I was about 6 years old. I remember just waking up to begin my day, when I heard a frantic beating at our door. It was really loud and wouldn't stop for a break. My dad opened the door and my mom ran inside, crying and upset. She had just been mugged while walking to her car. The person took her purse, but nothing else, thankfully. I remember that day was someone's birthday at her office, and she was responsible for bringing the cake. In her hurried frantic state, she through the cake in the attacker's face and ran home as quickly as possible. I remember being so thankful that nothing else happened and that she was safe in the house.
I have no idea if they ever caught the suspect, but I do remember going to the bank that afternoon with my parents while they undoubtedly closed their checking account and opened a new one. At the time, I had no idea why we were there. I actually remember thinking "Do they sell purses here? Are they going to be able to give my mom a new purse?".
Flash forward 24 years and here I am being there for my mom once again. Only my purpose isn't quite comparable to my 6 year old self doing cartwheels and saying silly things to my mom to make her feel better (although, I'm sure she would appreciate that- she is very disappointed that she paid all that money for gymnastics growing up and I'm not still able to do back flips); it's more to be the confidant and the helper. With a husband whose sole occupation for the last several years has been to protect and serve in someway, I share his desire for taking care of those who can't fend for themselves. My mom has been there for me countless times my entire life and would drop everything for anything I ever needed, and I am so willing to do that for her any chance I can get. I just want to lift my mom up and just tell her " thank you so much" for her unconditional love and support. I absolutely love her!! You have been such a wonderful support for Chris and me and I couldn't be more blessed to have you.
On another note, since our last date night blog, Chris and I have been able to go on a few more dates. Two weekends ago, being our most recent one. We were enjoying a late night steak at Texas Roadhouse (and I do mean late night- with Chris being on such a weird sleep schedule, I remained the supportive wife eating an 8 oz filet and baked potato at 10 o'clock at night- and in turn he watched the movie "Tangled" with me, which I'm sure he was thrilled about! ) when Chris brought up to me that it had officially been a year since we've been done with the military. He said "we didn't even celebrate or anything!" to which I replied, "well, we have just been too busy enjoying a wonderful life,I guess!". We were just talking about this the other night in our lifegroup. A year ago, we moved to Texas with no jobs, no house, no church...nothing-except our faith. One by one, God has taken care of every detail of every aspect of our lives. We are so grateful for everything He has done for us.Thank you, Lord, for an amazing year and we are thrilled to move onto the next!
This whole incident reminded me of a time when I was about 6 years old. I remember just waking up to begin my day, when I heard a frantic beating at our door. It was really loud and wouldn't stop for a break. My dad opened the door and my mom ran inside, crying and upset. She had just been mugged while walking to her car. The person took her purse, but nothing else, thankfully. I remember that day was someone's birthday at her office, and she was responsible for bringing the cake. In her hurried frantic state, she through the cake in the attacker's face and ran home as quickly as possible. I remember being so thankful that nothing else happened and that she was safe in the house.
I have no idea if they ever caught the suspect, but I do remember going to the bank that afternoon with my parents while they undoubtedly closed their checking account and opened a new one. At the time, I had no idea why we were there. I actually remember thinking "Do they sell purses here? Are they going to be able to give my mom a new purse?".
Flash forward 24 years and here I am being there for my mom once again. Only my purpose isn't quite comparable to my 6 year old self doing cartwheels and saying silly things to my mom to make her feel better (although, I'm sure she would appreciate that- she is very disappointed that she paid all that money for gymnastics growing up and I'm not still able to do back flips); it's more to be the confidant and the helper. With a husband whose sole occupation for the last several years has been to protect and serve in someway, I share his desire for taking care of those who can't fend for themselves. My mom has been there for me countless times my entire life and would drop everything for anything I ever needed, and I am so willing to do that for her any chance I can get. I just want to lift my mom up and just tell her " thank you so much" for her unconditional love and support. I absolutely love her!! You have been such a wonderful support for Chris and me and I couldn't be more blessed to have you.
On another note, since our last date night blog, Chris and I have been able to go on a few more dates. Two weekends ago, being our most recent one. We were enjoying a late night steak at Texas Roadhouse (and I do mean late night- with Chris being on such a weird sleep schedule, I remained the supportive wife eating an 8 oz filet and baked potato at 10 o'clock at night- and in turn he watched the movie "Tangled" with me, which I'm sure he was thrilled about! ) when Chris brought up to me that it had officially been a year since we've been done with the military. He said "we didn't even celebrate or anything!" to which I replied, "well, we have just been too busy enjoying a wonderful life,I guess!". We were just talking about this the other night in our lifegroup. A year ago, we moved to Texas with no jobs, no house, no church...nothing-except our faith. One by one, God has taken care of every detail of every aspect of our lives. We are so grateful for everything He has done for us.Thank you, Lord, for an amazing year and we are thrilled to move onto the next!
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