This last week has been a tough on one my heart.
The tornadoes that ripped through Alabama were terrible. And just knowing that hundreds of people lost their lives is heartbreaking. But one of the towns hit badly by those tornadoes was Ider, AL, where my friend Lisa lives. She, her husband and their four children hunkered (she'll love that I used the word hunkered!) down in their brand new house. The house they just built, and just moved into a few short weeks ago. The neighbors on either side of them lost their houses, one even losing its concrete slab! Lisa's house sustained quite a bit of damage, so much that they can't live in it right now. My heart hurts for her. She is a preacher's wife to the core, she is wanting to serve and minister to those in her community that are suffering and struggling. She is also a wife and mother to the core, wanting to see her family restored with a feeling of security again. Pray for Lisa and her community!
Yesterday we first heard of a Boy Scout Troop from Louisiana that was lost in a state park here in Arkansas. This park had been the sight of severe flooding in the recent past and 20 people lost their lives there on just one night! The park once again was experiencing a great amount of flooding. The boys were supposed to arrive home in south Louisiana Sunday night but didn't. The parents traveled here to find their boys! It turns out that the boys were stranded somewhere in the park because of the flooding. They couldn't find them in all their searching Monday and the news said that searching would resume this morning. Well, as the mom of a Boy Scout my heart was troubled. I could hardly sleep! Every time I turned or moved in bed I was thinking of and praying for those boys and their parents. I was confident they were safe, but worried about their well-being. And the parents, well, if I couldn't sleep I can't imagine what they were going through. I woke up this morning to great news! They had been found! And they were airlifted out this morning. They were safe, sound, and a bit embarrassed. Prayers answered.
This has turned into a lot of writing which means its a lot of reading for you. Sorry about that.
Sunday night Stephen and I were watching Celebrity Apprentice and I saw the crawl on the bottom of the screen saying the President was going to speak. It was 9:45! We turned the channel to FOX News, (they sometimes get on my nerves, but I like them better than the alternatives) and Geraldo was on. I thought can it get better than this?!! I mean really?! When he said that Usama Bin Laden had been killed, I smiled and clapped my hands. I believe my tweet went something like Woo-Hoo! I was proud of the military. Mom and I were texting about the Special Forces and how proud we were of them and how we had such confidence in them. It took a while to calm down and go to sleep. Then I woke up Monday morning and it seemed that on Facebook and twitter, (isn't social media grand?!) people were saying that we shouldn't be celebrating his death. That we shouldn't celebrate an unsaved person's demise. I began to wonder how people took my woo-hoo tweet. I was in no way celebrating the fact that UBL was in hell (I assume that's where he is). I was celebrating our victory! We had been searching for this man for years. Years. And after much investigation he was found. I believe it was and is worthy of celebration. It's a victory for the United States. I read a note written by a friend that referred to the story of David & Goliath. David killed Goliath, beheaded him, and the people danced in the streets. There was no discipline from God for doing so. It was a victory. Goliath was killing and making His people suffer. Much like UBL did. I wish UBL had come to Jesus, repented of his sins, and lived a life for the Lord. What a great testimony that would have been!!! But,he didn't. And our armed forces did what had to be done.
Okay, I've been on my soapbox and now I'm getting off. Feel free to comment. Remember though my feeling are on top of my shoulders and are bruised easily!! HA!
Julie
The tornadoes that ripped through Alabama were terrible. And just knowing that hundreds of people lost their lives is heartbreaking. But one of the towns hit badly by those tornadoes was Ider, AL, where my friend Lisa lives. She, her husband and their four children hunkered (she'll love that I used the word hunkered!) down in their brand new house. The house they just built, and just moved into a few short weeks ago. The neighbors on either side of them lost their houses, one even losing its concrete slab! Lisa's house sustained quite a bit of damage, so much that they can't live in it right now. My heart hurts for her. She is a preacher's wife to the core, she is wanting to serve and minister to those in her community that are suffering and struggling. She is also a wife and mother to the core, wanting to see her family restored with a feeling of security again. Pray for Lisa and her community!
Yesterday we first heard of a Boy Scout Troop from Louisiana that was lost in a state park here in Arkansas. This park had been the sight of severe flooding in the recent past and 20 people lost their lives there on just one night! The park once again was experiencing a great amount of flooding. The boys were supposed to arrive home in south Louisiana Sunday night but didn't. The parents traveled here to find their boys! It turns out that the boys were stranded somewhere in the park because of the flooding. They couldn't find them in all their searching Monday and the news said that searching would resume this morning. Well, as the mom of a Boy Scout my heart was troubled. I could hardly sleep! Every time I turned or moved in bed I was thinking of and praying for those boys and their parents. I was confident they were safe, but worried about their well-being. And the parents, well, if I couldn't sleep I can't imagine what they were going through. I woke up this morning to great news! They had been found! And they were airlifted out this morning. They were safe, sound, and a bit embarrassed. Prayers answered.
This has turned into a lot of writing which means its a lot of reading for you. Sorry about that.
Sunday night Stephen and I were watching Celebrity Apprentice and I saw the crawl on the bottom of the screen saying the President was going to speak. It was 9:45! We turned the channel to FOX News, (they sometimes get on my nerves, but I like them better than the alternatives) and Geraldo was on. I thought can it get better than this?!! I mean really?! When he said that Usama Bin Laden had been killed, I smiled and clapped my hands. I believe my tweet went something like Woo-Hoo! I was proud of the military. Mom and I were texting about the Special Forces and how proud we were of them and how we had such confidence in them. It took a while to calm down and go to sleep. Then I woke up Monday morning and it seemed that on Facebook and twitter, (isn't social media grand?!) people were saying that we shouldn't be celebrating his death. That we shouldn't celebrate an unsaved person's demise. I began to wonder how people took my woo-hoo tweet. I was in no way celebrating the fact that UBL was in hell (I assume that's where he is). I was celebrating our victory! We had been searching for this man for years. Years. And after much investigation he was found. I believe it was and is worthy of celebration. It's a victory for the United States. I read a note written by a friend that referred to the story of David & Goliath. David killed Goliath, beheaded him, and the people danced in the streets. There was no discipline from God for doing so. It was a victory. Goliath was killing and making His people suffer. Much like UBL did. I wish UBL had come to Jesus, repented of his sins, and lived a life for the Lord. What a great testimony that would have been!!! But,he didn't. And our armed forces did what had to be done.
Okay, I've been on my soapbox and now I'm getting off. Feel free to comment. Remember though my feeling are on top of my shoulders and are bruised easily!! HA!
Julie
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