A Sweet Time

Before Jasen returned home, I have a friend here at Fort Riley who told me she was praying for us to have a sweet time together. God answered that prayer because our time was absolutely precious, every minute of it. We had a relaxing and fun time and I don't know where to begin, honestly. I guess I'll begin at the end....

Jasen left from the Kansas City airport on Friday night. It was painful, yes. There is no pain that compares to your five year old looking at you with the unmistakeable look of "I don't want to do this, please make it stop." But I am joyful because those situations the Army puts us in, that none of us want to go through, give Jasen and me the opportunity to talk to Grace about God's love, God's comfort. I don't know if the opportunity would present itself without yucky things like deployment. Davis just kept pointing to the back of our car, where his dad had last been, and saying "Dada? Dada?" Again, excruciating pain associated with that, but Davis presented Grace with an opportunity to look beyond herself, to try to explain to him what was happening.

A funny aside to that story, as Grace was telling Davis that Daddy had to go back to the desert to work hard to provide for our family (a common theme in our house at dinnertime prayers when Jasen is gone), she told Davis that if Daddy didn't go to the desert, we wouldn't be able to eat. Oh the hilarity!! Which gave me the chance to explain to Grace that we'd probably find a way to eat but part of Daddy's job is making sure his soldiers are taken care of. She said that made her proud of her daddy, that he works hard to take care of all of us. :)

We had a nice time on our trip to KC. Jasen and I spent the night on the Plaza alone and that was great, of course. The kids had a wonderful time with the Christensens. We really enjoyed our time at Great Wolf Lodge, but decided we are still a few years away from getting all that we can out of that place. Davis wanted no part of the water activities, which was not a surprise for me. And Grace was a little more timid about the water slides than Jasen would have liked. But we had fun.

We were able to meet up with my cousin, Jen and her hubby, Jimmy, and their son, Joe. Davis and Grace love Joe so much. Davis calls him "JoeJoe" and I can't tell you when that started. Jen is over 3 months pregnant with their second and that's exciting news. Joe will have to have surgery in early November on his legs and it's going to be a major event for them. Pray for them, too!

While Jasen was home, he was able to talk to LTC Greg Gadson. They had a couple of really good talks. Greg really needs and wants to hear from those guys that he loved and led. And I know it helped Jasen to talk to him. The Gadsons are busy, busy, with his rehab and chasing after their kids, but I think they are doing well. Keep those prayers going for them!

Jasen ended up having to spend the night in Dallas after he left here which gave him the chance to unwind a little. He was able to see my sister, Katie, and her husband, Clancey, and they had a good time. Wish I could have been there!!

The last email I got from Jasen, he was in Kuwait, waiting to move north. Please pray that God will continue to grow Jasen, to make him diligent in his Bible studying, to continue to meet with friends who will be positive influences in his life. The next 7 months (!!!!) will be busy for Jasen and there are things to look forward to, like his promotion to major, possible job opportunities after the deployment, and hopefully changing command. But there are going to be some yucky times for him and for us all, Christmas and Thanksgiving to name a couple. Please pray the time will go by quickly. When I look back over the last 8 months, I think they've gone by fast, just like most of you do. But then I remember that it's the days that go by slowly, and none are worse than the special days. Thanks for praying for us!!

I'll send some pictures soon!