Every Life Counts, Every moment matters

My heart was so heavy yesterday-gets that way at the end of the year. It was Jon's birthday which meant a lot of busyness....after days and days and days of busyness...I was beginning to hit bottom. I needed to stop and pray-God was calling my heart to pray-but although I was praying without ceasing, I didn't heed the call to stop my day and get completely alone with God. I felt that nag all day and the weight increased. By the time Jon got here, 7ish, I was pretty whopped!

But, let me tell you about Jon. Jon has been a member of our church about a year now. He sits right behind us. When I first met him, he held my hand a little longer than I was comfortable with and made eye contact which I am not strong with either. He is very personable, very outspoken, very touchy feely. He definitely challenged my comfort zone. He is a single airmen with no ties to our area, just tried our church and stayed. It is such a rare thing to find a guy his age with his level of faithfulness. He wasn't chasing or scoping out the girl possibilities, really spent his time there with older women. He would sit with our widows-so he got my attention. I started praying for him. When he would miss, I would pray, and then harass him when he got back. This Christmas we invited him over to spend the day with us, and he did. I knew he would fit but wasn't sure if I would find something in him that concerned me, and I didn't. I have been trying to get Kat to talk to him for a year now, but she wouldn't. That day she did.

Katherine has been on this roller coaster for about two years now. She has hungered for a guy that would love her and be faithful to her. It has been an emotional ride for all of us. Joe started this train and the abandonment we felt when he left created this huge void. I kept praying for him, asking God to direct his heart back. He stopped in yesterday and talked to us for awhile. For the very first time in two years, I knew God was working in him, but it was too late for him to come back to us, he wasn't the one for her, and I was thankful she wasn't with him. I stopped by the dorm and prayed for all these guys that have crossed our path, as I do when I am on the base. I spent the time I had with Kat yesterday talking to her about Jon, what she felt, where she was at, and encouraging her to continually seek God in this new relationship.

I never completely comprehend what God is doing or how...I just know He is. I looked back at my journal over the past few years and found a prayer I prayed in Dec. 2006. I asked God for a faithful man for my daughter....a man who would be faithful to God first and then to her. This man, two years later, could be that man. He fits. He is comfortable with us. He is faithful.

So...he needed a potato head. We of course provided him with one. Kat put it together the night before, but he had to add his own touches. He reconfigured his potato and played with it! (Really). Wow, we laughed. His potato has taken its place among our spud family...let me introduce you...

left to right: Katherine (cowgirl hat) , Jon (elephant nose), Shawna (birthday hat), Alex (corn cousin with green ball cap), our resident fireman (came from Shawna), and Steve and I!

As another year closes and I look back over the year, I stand in complete awe of who God is-who He has brought into our lives, relationships He has restored and renewed, and every life that has changed ours and ours theirs. No one that comes through does so without leaving a mark. I pray that the mark we leave will be one of grace, one of love, one that points to Christ. Jon is already changing our lives. We have laughed and laughed with him. Every life counts...every moment matters....not all are forever, some are just for that moment, but I pray Jon is here to stay. I would like to gain a son that has the qualities Jon has.