Thankful reflections

 I get so caught up in everything time slips by...looking fwd to Highlander coming home soon and another busy weekend yard sale mania yeah!
I cant believe thanksgiving is almost here, as i reflect with thankfulness. this time last year my husband was home on his 2 week R&R , from Iraq, i was having such a hard time and i was glad to find a refreshing when he came home. I didn't marry him to be apart and yet......well you know story of my life.
I reflect at this time of year how lucky i am and how grateful i am to have such a loving spouse and 4 beautiful kids that drive me all sorts of crazy but in the best way... my 5 year old The Pillow made the A+ honor roll and both older kids made A B honor roll , it is far from easy to produce these kinds of results and truthfully i thank my lucky stars that MOST of the time i am vigilant about education reading and character so in moments when i slack off we are still afloat.....hard work really does pay off .
You ever wonder if sometimes God doesn't give us something because we want it, we ask for it, but yet we do nothing in preparation to recv it. I think its almost like an exchange , he wants something in return, sometimes its change , prayer, sometimes its acknowledgement, sometimes its repentance, he wants us to be BETTER  for the blessing. For a blessing is something that is above what we can either do or better than what we expected..
You know i have to admit as i read my bible the other night i came upon the passage in Mark that speaks of a widow who came to the treasury ..see here Mark 12 :42

41 And He sat down opposite the treasury, and beganobserving how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums.42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. 43 Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; 44 for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”

And i started to cry at how generous she was, and i started to ponder on how Jesus speaks about how the rich had given alot but they only gave out of their surplus , they could have gave more but they contributed only what they had to. I have to say that example of giving all she had , when she really had none  is so powerful because she understood it would be replenished unto her tenfold. I was very thankful for that example in such a time as this harvest season, and as i reflected on my husbands leave this time last year , i was emotionally bankrupt and i had maybe about 2 cents worth of hope left in me. But when he got here the Lord instructed me to put it all in...and i did. He wanted me to give ...even though 'I' thought i had given enough...and it was the the turning of the tide, by obedience, by love, by trust it began a healing process that allowed me to make it through the last few months until he came home. And i know in my heart because i did that, because i was willing to give my all , God blessed me with putting my husband on that first flight home. The last time he was gone he was on the last flight, and i mean THE last flight , but this time i think the Lord new things were not well. Too much time apart. It takes its toll. And now....the quest ahead of us looms and as of late uncertain things have revealed themselves. It hinges on a pinpoint, and could fall left or right. I wish we knew more and as kooky as it may seem, i prayed that God would have the war in Iraq REALLY end and that there would be no more deployments to that land. And in my heart i believed HE could make it so, and i shared it not with anyone because i already knew they were scheduled to deploy this year...and i kept praying it. And maybe he heard me. And even if they still go ..i have a odd feeling it wont last , wont be for a year, i hesitate to say this but a unusual calm has come over me about it. Even my husband noticed it and asked why i seemed so at peace, was it because i was so used to it? No , its because i have to believe there IS  a plan and whatever it is , its a good one. I HAVE to believe that. I am learning there IS a connection to what you pray in your heart vs what you just pray with your mouth.
So ...
S.O.T.D.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
 Romans 8:28
I love that..."and we know" . Listen to that certainty. There is power in that! , It does not waver it doesn't say we think or hopefully, it says "and we know" ,  and i KNOW my husband was called to be a soldier and is fulfilling his purpose.
So God IS working in all of this no matter where the road leads....