Sacrifice

 

 sac·ri·fice [sak-ruh-fahys]

1. the offering of animal, plant, or human life or of some material possession to a deity, as in propitiation or homage.

2. the person, animal, or thing so offered.

3. the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.

4. the thing so surrendered or devoted. 

This past week I had the privilege of having my eyes opened a little wider, my sense of pride for my country expand a little larger, and my view of the word sacrifice deepened a lot. 

Being a military wife I understand the word sacrifice to an extent. My husband's job comes first, and then I do. So at times I realize what that word means, but this week that level of understanding was greatly broadened as I got to visit Arlington Cemetery for my husband's grandfather's funeral. He completed 30+ years of military service retiring as a Colonel, making him able to be buried at such an extraordinary piece of history.  

Now like most people I had seen pictures of Arlington. It's a lot of gravestones. Over 450,000 are buried there and that number didn't really sink in until we were following the horse-drawn carriage of my grandfather-in-law to his burial site. 

 

 As I rode past the endless rows of gravestones tears came to my eyes and I had no words I could express at the time for what I was feeling. It was a mixture of sadness, pride, and respect.

It's one thing to see something in pictures and hear about it and it's a completely different thing to experience it. I feel so extremely privileged to have seen an Arlington burial. The Honor Guard at Fort Myer did a spotless job in making this important and emotional occasion the very best possible. 

The ceremony was as beautiful as it was sad. I cried as they folded up the American Flag over the coffin and handed it with many condolences to my grandmother-in-law. 

I'm sad I never got to meet my grandfather-in-law before he passed. But I will be eternally grateful to him because without him I would not have my husband and our country would have missed out on a soul who truly understood the meaning of sacrifice.

In the letter he had prepared for his passing he made mention of his first great grandchild. I'm so honored to have brought a piece of joy to his life in some way. I can't wait until Rosalie is old enough that I can tell her about my experiences at Arlington and use it as a means to teach her what sacrifice is and how important it is not only in our country, but in our family as well. This trip will be forever embedded on my heart and memory.

God bless America and the families who daily sacrifice for this country. 

Thanks for reading. 

 

Inadequate

in·ad·e·quate 

 
[in-ad-i-kwit] adjective

1. not adequate or sufficient; inept or unsuitable.

2. Psychiatry. ineffectual in response to emotional, social, intellectual, and physical demands in the absence of any obvious mental or physical deficiency.

In your mind, you're just never going to be good enough. This thought process can apply to everything we do in life. Now that doesn't mean we think we are inadequate enough to go to the store and grocery shop but we might think we're too inadequate to take those ingredients we bought and try to make a new recipe. 

We just feel inadequate at our jobs. You can always do better, sometimes John or Sue is the one who can always show you up and take all the glory. If they are and will always be better than you, why even try anymore?

Ann is the perfect mom. While you're trying not to pull your hair out and wondering how your kid got on top of the refrigerator, Ann's child sits perfectly quiet playing with a toy. Your child never listens to you and Ann's child does whatever they are told. You just want to give up and you envy Ann for her control over her kid. She's perfect and you think you never will be because you certainly aren't right now.

Joe and Jane have the perfect marriage while yours is in a rocky place. It seems like you're constantly bickering about every little thing and they are nonstop raving about how great everything is going for them. You just want to shut off and hope everything fixes itself.

You are inadequate.

⁵ “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
    before you were born I set you apart;
    I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” 
⁶ “Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

⁷ But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. ⁸ Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
  ⁹ Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth.

  
This passage is so intimate I'm so happy Jeremiah shared it with us. Let's break it down.

⁵ “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

So here we see God knows us. Everything about us. He intimately formed us in our mother's womb. Every minor detail He created and knows.

  
before you were born I set you apart;

Even in the womb He had an amazing plan for our life. We are set apart.

  I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Look at the plans God had for Jeremiah before He was even born! Can you imagine God telling you, you were born for things greater than you could ever imagine? Well He is.

 ⁶ “Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

We often answer God with an excuse. Alas is the same as but, so Jeremiah is saying "but, God...I can't." He feels inadequate to live up to the amazing plan God had designated for his life.

 ⁷ But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.

  
God is not a fan of a pity party. He loves us, His creation from before the womb, more than we'll ever be able to comprehend. How do you think He felt as Jeremiah told Him he couldn't do it? Because he felt he was too inadequate to accomplish the calling God had placed on his life? I think God's heart breaks when we give up, when we say "I am inadequate." If you're a parent, or a sibling, or a friend, and your child/sibling/friend comes to you and says 'I just can't do it." You don't say "Well of course you couldn't! I knew that from the very beginning!" You encourage them! Of course they can do it, how silly of them to think otherwise. Doesn't it break your heart when someone you love downplays how strong they really are and they are defeating themselves?

⁸ Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.

What a beautiful, comforting Word from the Lord! Don't you just want to yell "Amen!!!" You are probably right, you are inadequate by yourself. God knows this and He's there to say I will rescue you. Amazing.   

 ⁹ Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth.

Don't be afraid of the challenges of cooking new recipes, or your "perfect" coworkers at your job, or those friends who are the "perfect" moms, or those neighbors with the "perfect" marriage. God is always, always, ALWAYS on your side. In our weakness He makes us strong. In our inadequacy He makes us adequate. He reaches out His hand to us and wherever we are struggling He is there to lift us up.  

I fully believe I am living out the plan God has for me. My main reason for posting this was because I was feeling inadequate. God is forming a baby girl inside of me and I feel inadequate. It's scary knowing in a few short months I will be a mother and I don't know if I can handle it...and I can't. Thankfully I'm not alone because God is reaching His hand out to me saying I will put the words in your mouth, the strength in your body, and my spirit to restore and renew that feeling of adequacy. 

You are inadequate. Aren't you glad God makes up for it? Smile, He's there with a helping hand, don't forget to take it. 

In God, you are adequate. 

Thanks for reading! 

God bless America and our troops!   

Prosper

pros·per  (pros'per)

intr.v.pros·pered, pros·per·ing, pros·pers

To be fortunate or successful, especially in terms of one's finances; thrive.

 

 

 Prosper. Everyone's heard the word at one point or another.

I know one thing that jumps into my head when I think prosper...

Yes, you thought it too, didn't you? Money. Lots of money shows you're prospering!

Or so the world says.

Yes, money is important. It's needed to survive in this day and age. But if you don't have a lot of money, does that mean you're not prospering? 

Absolutely not!

 

Life is all about perspective. What we deem very important, important, less important, or unimportant. Everyone has a view on everything because we are humans, we can't help but make an opinion on everything we've ever encountered. For example:

I still remember to this day going to a veeeery nice steakhouse called Ruth's Chris when I was a lot younger. I remember them bringing the steak out to me. It still sizzled and popped because the plate and the steak were so hot. That steak melted in my mouth and was amazingly tender, juicy and perfectly seasoned. It is to this day the best steak I've ever had. I have formed that opinion and that view until that opinion and view is changed if ever a better steak makes it's way onto my plate.

I'm sure if you were to think of everything you've ever come across in your life that you can remember, and you will have a view on it.

Perspective is a powerful thing.

You know, last time I wrote my blog post about living long, I was writing it at 3 am (just couldn't sleep) and all of a sudden as I'm typing away on my computer in bed I hear a loud crash and the sound of shattering glass. Yes, I did jump and my first thought was my cat has gone and jumped up on the counter and knocked over something breakable. Well I climb out of bed and make my way to the living room, I don't see anything broken, so I walk over to the kitchen. Somehow, someway, my wall clock fell off the wall and the glass face shattered on the kitchen floor. So I stop my blogging to grab a broom and dustpan and I sweep up the shards (after putting on some shoes). I return to blogging, finish up and go to sleep. So I sleep, wake up that morning and then go and vacuum the kitchen floor since my vacuum has a hard floor setting. Yay, all safe! I was in a somewhat okay mood so I decided to do the dishes (haha.) Well I start loading up the dishwasher and not paying full attention to detail, I hit a drinking glass on a hard part of the dishwasher and yes, you guessed it. It broke. Oh the frustration. I carefully throw the glass away and clean up the shards in the dishwasher and finish loading the dishes.

I had hit my limit then and it wasn't even 9am. I slept terribly, my clock broke, I had to clean up the glass at 3-something-am, slept terribly till I woke up again, now when I decide to do the dishes more glass breaks!

At this point, I am ashamed to say, I was complaining away in my head. I mean, I was frustrated. I was pretty tired and I was surely tired of cleaning up shards of glass. 

The complaining and frustration had made me hungry. I decided on a bowl of cheese grits with some eggs.

I take out the carton of eggs to grab a couple to cook (remember I'm still complaining in my head) and I open the carton and right there on the inside of the carton was written;

"For this is the day that the Lord has made;

 I will be glad and rejoice in it." - Psalms 118:24

 

I laughed. I laughed a great laugh because God just trolled me with an egg carton. Right then and there my perspective on my morning was changed in an instant. Why was I complaining? I felt ashamed. I smiled and thanked God for how truly blessed I was. I sang worship songs the rest of the time I cooked.

That's just one personal example of how perspective effects our way of thinking which effects our every day lives.

Any-who I've gotten a little off beat about prospering. What I'm trying to get at is prospering means more than having money. Prospering also means to thrive. I think that can be applied to how we view what we do have in our life and how we value what we have. We aren't prospering much in the money department, but our friends, family and happiness departments are overflowing! You form an opinion on everything in your life, so in your opinion is having money more prosperous than having family? or friends? or happiness? or a right relationship with God?

I think everyone is prospering in some way or another. Some of my friends have such an infectious joy you can't be unhappy around them! My other friends are so supportive out here in Oklahoma since none of my family is close that I feel like they are family. My family is loving and supportive from afar and cares about me. God is always there, reminding me when I'm less than happy that I should rejoice and be glad because I really don't have a reason not to!

I am one overly blessed woman who is prospering! 

 

If you don't feel like you're prospering I implore you to check your perspective on everything. I guarantee you are prospering in one way or another! There's a saying, "count your blessings", and when times get hard it's a good one to remember because I bet you can't count them all! God is too good. All the time. Just know next time you complain, if you have eyes to see, or ears to hear, or an open heart to receive, God may just speak to you through an egg carton. (;

 

Happy prospering, and thanks for reading!

 

God bless America and our troops!