Monday, December 28, 2009

A Sailor's Christmas

I know that Christmas is over, but I found this poem online today. SInce my dad was in the Navy for six years, this poem really touched my heart and made me stop and think about all those sailors spending Christmas far from home.

Twas the night before Christmas, the ship was out steaming,
Sailors stood watch while others were dreaming.
They lived in a crowd with racks tight and small,
In a 80-man berthing, cramped one and all.

I had come down the stack with presents to give,
And to see inside just who might perhaps live.
I looked all about, a strange sight did I see,
No tinsel, no presents, not even a tree.

No stockings were hung, shined boots close at hand,
On the bulkhead hung pictures of a far distant land.
They had medals and badges and awards of all kind,
And a sober thought came into my mind.

For this place was different, so dark and so dreary,
I had found the house of a Sailor, once I saw clearly.
A Sailor lay sleeping, silent and alone,
Curled up in a rack and dreaming of home.

The face was so gentle, the room squared away,
This was the United States Sailor today.
This was the hero I saw on TV,
Defending our country so we could be free.

I realized the families that I would visit this night,
Owed their lives to these Sailors lay willing to fight.
Soon round the world, the children would play,
And grownups would celebrate on Christmas Day.

They all enjoyed freedom each day of the year,
Because of the Sailor, like the one lying here.
I couldn't help wonder how many lay alone,
On a cold Christmas Eve on a sea, far from home.

The very thought brought a tear to my eye,
I dropped to my knees and started to cry.
The Sailor awakened and I heard a calm voice,
"Santa, don't cry, this life is my choice."

"Defending the seas all days of the year,
So others may live and be free with no fear."
I thought for a moment, what a difficult road,
To live a life guided by honor and code.

After all it's Christmas Eve and the ship's underway!
But freedom isn't free and it's sailors who pay.
The Sailor say's to our country "be free and sleep tight,
No harm will come, not on my watch and not on this night.

The Sailor rolled over and drifted to sleep,
I couldn't control it, I continued to weep.
I kept watch for hours, so silent, so still,
I watched as the Sailor shivered from the night's cold chill.

I didn't want to leave on that cold dark night,
This guardian of honor so willing to fight.
The Sailor rolled over and with a voice strong and sure,
Commanded, "Carry on Santa, It's Christmas, and All is Secure!"

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!! I know that it's easy to get caught up in the giving (and getting) of gifts, spending time with family, and enjoying all the new things that you've gotten, but never forget Never forget hat Jesus is the reason for the season; there would be no CHRISTmas without Christ.

We are celebrating Christ's birth today, and the greatest gift that you could give Him for His birthday is your soul. The gift of salvation would also be the greatest gift that you could receive.

All of us have sinned. (Rom. 3:23: For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.)No one can honestly say that they haven't sinned. There is a consequence of sin, and that consequence is death. (Rom. 6:23a: For the wages of sin is death:)

Through sinning, we not only earn physical death, but also eternal death. Because of our sin, we are sentenced live forever in hell, a place of great pain and torture, after our physical death. However, there is a chance to escape this death!

While we can never escape physical death, we can escape from eternal death. God gave His Son, Christ Jesus, to die so that we could have eternal life. (Rom. 6:32b: but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.) (Rom 5:8: But God commendeth his love towards us that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.)

The death of Jesus on the cross paid for your sins and for my sins. It payed for all the sins in the world. (John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.)

All you have to do is believe that Christ died for you, and that He didn't stay dead, but rose again on the third day. (Rom. 10:9: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus,and shalt believe in thine heart God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved.) The gift of salvation can be yours if you will only trust in Jesus as your Lord and Savior. (Rom. 10:13: For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.)

Please, if you have not already done so, will you pray today and accept the free gift of salvation

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

The boys

I was able to go down and see Chase and Cole tonight for the first time since I got home on break. It amazes me how much those two grown when I'm away at college!!

Chase turned 7 in September, but he talks like he's 30! He's in first grade this year, and he loves it. He can read very well. He's already up to my shoulder, if not past there, so I know that before long he'll be taller than me! There's something definitely wrong with a 7 year old being that tall!!! Of course, maybe it's just that I'm too short. :)

Cole is now 4. He'll be 5 in April. He goes to preschool right now, but this fall he'll be going to kindergarten. It's so hard to believe that he'll be old enough to go to school! Like Chase, he's very tall for his age. He comes up to about the middle of my chest. *Sigh* I guess that's one of the downsides of being short, all the little kids are taller than you! lol

We exchanged Christmas gifts with them tonight, just like we have every year since Chase was born. They were both thrilled with the k'nex (kind of like legos) sets that we gave them, and Holly and I loved the bath and body works sets that we got from them.

They just got a new cat, named Brutus (after Brutus Buckeye, of course!) and he is so cute! He'll just lay there in your arms and let you pet him, and he's oh so patient with the boys' hugs and kisses and squeezes! :D

I'll be babysitting them all day tomorrow, from about 6 am until around 4:30 or 5 pm. Since there's snow on the ground, I imagine that they'll drag me outside and convince me to play in the show with them (well, to tell you the truth, it doesn't take much convincing; I love the snow!) and go sledding with them. As is every day with thsoe two boys, it will be tons of fun and I'll be completely exhausted by the tiem I get home, but I wouldn't trade it for anything; well, almost anything. ;)

Monday, December 21, 2009

Healing

I am so thankful for a God that can heal anything, even broken hearts. This summer, I went through a very hard, painful experience: I had my heart broken. I gave my heart away to a guy and when I got it back, it was in pieces.

My heart was slowly, piece by piece, put back together again. God was able ot take all of those broken pieces and fit them together to form a heart once again. He is the true Healer of broken hearts.

God used many different tools to piece my heart back together. He use Scripture, messages that I heard in chapel, and, above all else, friends.

It's amazing how when you surrender everything over to God, He will take your life and mold it. Although I do not know exactly what He's doing in my life right now, I am looking forward to seeing what lies ahead for me.

This past semester, I finally learned to be content no matter what. One of the biggest areas in which I struggled with that was the area of dating/marriage. One of my greatest fears had always been staying single for the rest of my life. God used my experience thsi summer to teach me that I needed to wait on Him, rather than trying to take my life into my own hands. I learned to wait on Him, and let Him bring along the right person for me.

It was only after I learned to wait on God and to be content that God started doing an amazing work in my life. The week of missions conference at Ambassador, I surrendered to Missions. I don't know if God is calling me to missions or not, but I am willing to go, or as I've hear it put many times, "wanting to go but willing to stay." I don't know exactly what God is doing in my life, but it's pretty amazing, and I'm excited to see what more He has in store for me!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I love Christmastime!!! It's my favorite time of the year. I love all the hustle and bustle, shopping for gifts at the last minute, the music, seeing the smiles on other people's faces as they open their presents, and, of course, all of the decorations!

I am so happy to be home for Christmas Break and to be able to spend time with my family. I can't wait until Christmas Day, which is pretty much the one day of the year when we're all home at the same time, and the day which is set aside for family time.

This year will be a tad different from past Christmases, as Holly will be leaving on that evening to fly to Andrew's house and spend time with him and his family. This is her last Christmas at home, as next Christmas she and Andrew will be celebrating Christmas in their own house in North Carolina. It's going to seem so strange without her here next year for Christmas.

Well, it is almost time to leave for church, so I had better go get ready! I'll write more later!

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

Well, I'm finally home for Christmas break. It was quite an interesting and eventful trip, but I got home safely. The trip, which usually take 7 to 8 hours instead took over ten hours.

When we (Christie Darling, Michael Troester, and I) left school, it was sleeting. Shortly after we got out of Shelby, it started to snow. By the time we got to Statesville, NC, the snow was coming down hard and fast. Once we got to Virginia, driving was starting to get a little tricky because the roads were so slippery from the snow.

Our trek through Virgina and West Virgina was rather...interesting. While we were in Virginia, we did a 360 right in the middle of the interstate, ending up in a ditch!! Thankfully, we were able to get out without too much trouble and carefully continued on our way. While on the West Virginia turnpike, we did quite a bit of sliding around, but thankfully God kept us safe and we didn't get into any accidents, although we did come close a couple of times.

We were finally able to get ahead of the snow shortly before we got Charleston, WV. It was raining, but that was much better than snow!! From Charelston to Zanesville, we only had to deal with rain, but once we got to Zanesville, it started to snow again. Thankfully it was only a half hour to Christie's house from there, so the roads weren't too bad.

We were at Christie's house for about five minutes or so before Dad and Holly arrived to pick me up. I was very happy to see them, and even more happy when I got home. I don't think I've ever been so ahppy or so relieved to be home.

It snowed all night last night and is still snowing now. It's not supposed to stop until tomorrow sometime. It's amazing how much prettier it looks when you're nice and cozy inside!!