Dear Papaw...

Dear Papaw,
I love this picture of you. I took it this past Christmas, remember? You were laughing at the great-grandkids playing on the floor at your feet. I think they were playing their pretend "aminals"game (as Ben calls it). And you were chuckling and sneaking them dollar bills when they came over for hugs. After dinner you even treated them to a short chorus of "Old Dan Tucker". It was such a hit that we're still singing that around my house these days! Makes me remember when I was one of those little kids playing at your feet...
Oh how Kim and Stephi and I loved to come "over to the country" to be with you and Nannie! We would beg Mom to bring us. I loved curling up in bed with those old goose down pillows, listening to the fire crack and pop in the dark, and drifting off to sleep as Nannie sat up and read her "papers" or a good book. In the night, I would hear you getting up to stoke the fire with more wood. Then in the morning we always woke to the smell of sausage, eggs, biscuits and gravy. And on Saturday mornings we got the treat of watching Luney Toons. My kids love that show, Papaw. And that dumb coyote still hasnt caught the Roadrunner...
Days spent with you and Nannie were a kids dream...always a new adventure or some exciting plan, and you were never too tired or busy to accomodate us. You let us jump right in, whether it was tying tobacco, bailing hay, planting a garden or feeding the cows. And when you noticed one of us had a special interest, there was no stopping you from encouraging it. Whether it was Kim with a motorcylce, Stephi with a fishing pole or me with a horse...you had us all believing we were the best and that we could do anything we put our minds to. It never phased you one bit to be surrounded by a bunch of little girls. And I was never so happy as when I could solicite your praise -which probably wasnt too tough because you and Nannie are quite liberal with it in regards to your grandkids! But your praise and high remarks simply set a standard that we all hoped to live up to. We wanted to be in truth those kids you said we were - good girls who helped their Momma, ate everything on their plate, tough as nails, smart as whips...And you always managed to make every single one of your grandchildren feel that way. You spent time with us. You believed in us.
Even when our world rocked and shook, when things looked uncertain from other angles, you and Nannie were there. Your home was always our home. You held things steady for us.
When I was in college, I wrote that poem about you. One of the lines said "Leathery hands, holding time still, So that I...can keep up with the changes". Well, Papaw, there have been a million changes in my life since then. Lots of twists and turns in the road. I still think of your strong hands...work calloused and brown from the sun...holding onto the back of a little girls old purple bike. I hear your voice behind me saying "Don't worry. I'm right here." as you ran to keep up. Then suddenly I was riding all by myself. But you were behind me cheering me on "Keep peddling! Don't look back..."
I love you Papaw. Thank you.

Semper Fi, sis!

God never stops amazing me. He never stops awing me with His extraordinary love. I cannot remember a time in my years as a Believer when I have needed a gift of encouragement that He has not delivered...and often in the most impressive and unexplainable ways.
Stephi (my twin sister -thats her in the pink, me in blue) and her two children just left after a two month visit. Now most people would roll over and die if a relative came and stayed for two months. But Stephi is more than a relative and her children are more to me than someone else's kids. In Zambian culture, they would be considered my own children -ever as much as their birth mother's. And truly, they are the son and daughter of my heart if not my body. And Stephi, well...my kindred spirit, my greatest encourager...and being a fellow Believer makes our relationship all the more close and precious.
Thats why I was so happy when she came out to stay. It was another one of those big gifts from God, when I most needed it. In the middle of Mark's deployment, it was as if the Lord said "Here, let me ease the burden a while. Let me lift your spirits and send someone to share the load." And He did. Within a few days, we were working together like a well oiled machine. Two Moms...our kids couldn't get away with anything! And what was better -we did everything alike. So there were no squabbles about child-rearing, household rules, even what meals to cook or how to sort the laundry. And both being female, we were able to use most of our 25,000 words a day on eachother! (ok, studies show that women need to use up that many words a day to satisfy their craving for communication -my husband can vouch that its true!)
Homeschooling was enriched as we took all six kids on field trips - things I wouldn't have done alone. And Stephanie being Stephanie she was out and about making friends as soon as she set foot on the base. Of course she left a lot of people pretty confused...they probably think I have a split personality now.
The most precious thing...our prayer times together...and times when we would just sit in the stillness of the morning, before the kids were awake, and read our bibles quietly together. Until one of us had to speak (those 25,000 words a day, you know!) and we could share from the heart what God was teaching us and what He was doing in our lives.
Having Stephi here made the last two months more than bearable, they were good. So when we got the news that her husband (also Mark -I know I know!) got orders to go with a Marine Corp unit in Japan (he's also a military Chaplain now, just finishing his training)...well, it was bittersweet for me. Somehow I harbored a hope that they would get somewhere close to us here on the west coast -maybe Pendelton or San Diego. But it was not the best. Japan is the best. I know that because I know that my God is good. So I will not question it. I know that God has a gift in it for Stephi.
So she and the kids left yesterday. Gone to pack their household goods, wait for Mark to finish training, and fly to Japan. Now I could cry about this ,and I am a little (a lot)sad, and bemoan the reality that I won't see her again for a long time. Or I can embrace the truth that God has given me a gift when I most needed it...because He loves me.
And who knows, maybe one day the guys will be on the same deployment cycle and we'll do it again...

"You thrill me, Lord, with all You have done for me! I sing for joy because of what you have done." Psalm 92:4