American Soldier poem written for Veterans Day

Written by:  s.stansberry 08-27-2013

 

“American Soldier”

We volunteer to march along,

In perfect time with fellows strong.

We hold our own through dark cold nights,

And brave the battles heat come light.

Our mission is written deep in our hearts,

To protect our country from the fiery darts.

No matter the soil nor water we sail,

We offer our service and face the gale.

When the time comes to pass the stripes on down,

The next generation will keep us sound.

Take halt before you estimate the depths of our chests,

We are still American Soldiers when we lay our heads to rest.

 

How Great the Yield From A Fertile Field

by Helen Steiner Rice

The farmer ploughs through fields of green

And the blade of the plough is sharp and keen,

But the seed must be sown to bring forth grain,

For nothing is born without suffering and pain–

And God never ploughs in the soul of man

Without intention and purpose and plan,

So whenever you feel the plough’s sharp blade

Let not your heart be sorely afraid

For, like a farmer, God chooses a field

From which He expects an excellent yield–

So rejoice though your heart is broken in two,

God seeks to bring forth a rich harvest in you.

See my new blog "More Than Rubies" - transferring from facebook

I am going to be posting a lot for the next week at new blog location still on blogger under this same name. I have several friends who do no have facebook but would like to read the devotions posted on the More Than Rubies page that I created a couple of years ago. So you may start seeing stuff that you have already read on our facebook group. Or, you may see stuff posted that was possibly overlooked. Anyway, I pray that each devotion finds you on the exact day that you need it. I will post each one with the original date written because often I blog about actual things going on in my life at particular times of the year :) God Bless! Shawnte

High school basketball 70 years ago!!

I have been wanting to share this for awhile but kept forgetting to blog it :)

My great aunt, age 84, played basketball in her youth. She began to tell me how it was played and I was totally surprised!! First of all, I cannot imagine her playing basketball but second of all...I guess I just thought that basketball always had the same rules..NOT TRUE!

Back in her day, (hehe) it was called six-on-six basketball. the court was divided up by in four section, there were three forward and three gaurds and only the forwards were allowed to shoot, forwards stay in the front court and guards stayed in back court, and dribbling was very limited!! They had to pass the ball from one quarter of court to the next.

~I said: "Why?"
~And she simply responded: "Honey, it was not proper for girls to run in front of boys!"

I could say no more! But I chuckled inside when I thought of how the world has changed in less than a century.  I guess it really isn't funny and life back then was so much simpler but imagine if our worry was girls running in front of the boys these days....

New Years Day 2012

Well, I am not one to make New Years Resolutions and I tend to lean toward the old saying: "Resolutions are made to go in one year and out the other" but this year I have decided to make a couple of personal goals for myself....

In reverse order of importance I will share with you:

Second of all, I plan to write more...I love writing and I write a lot of stuff that sits in folders on my hard drive and never gets shared. I worry too much about it not being edited yet or if folks think I post too much and stuff like that. BUT, if I post too much then it is their choice to choose not to read it.  So, my first day here I am writing a blog :)

First of all, I was praying about a resolution to make and as in years past the same ones came to mind at first...I plan to pray more, read my bible more, witness more...all the things that I have said in the past.  God said: Shawnte, just thank ME more!  Wow. what a revelation I have had ever since HE spoke.  I thought all my ideas were great for resolutions but when HE suggested a resolution I knew it was clearly doable!!  I quickly looked up the definition of resolution - a firm decision to do something.  I immediately thought back to my very first day with the Lord...the day that HE saved me.  I made a resolution that day...I made a firm decision to do something.. and that was to follow HIM, and it was completely doable because of the gift he placed in my heart.  Sometimes I forget about the resolution I made that day BUT... HE is right there waiting on me to come back and I do not have to wait until the New Year. Actually all resolutions can be restarted during the year but we tend to wait...and waiting to restore the joy of our salvation can cause us to limit our own blessings, so if you are reading this a month from now and God speaks to you to renew your resolution to follow him then please do so quickly, do not wait til the next New Year.

God led me to a couple of verses to support my new resolution goal:

Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. this verse tells us to offer sacrifice of praise...really? praise..something so simple to do could be considered a sacrifice? why sure! God knew that the prideful nature of man...that we would count such a simple task of praise to be a sacrifice....it says to do it "continually" so in my resolution this confirms that my daily commited to thank God should be right on track....he goes on to say that the fruit of of lips is giving thanks to HIS name....most of the time our tongue/lips get us in trouble but this is a way that we could use our mouths for something positive...fruit benefits more than just us, it benefits those around us as well.
1 Thess. 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. I love this verse because it sealed the decision of my new resolution....this verse says that giving thanks is actually "the will of God"...we constantly seek the will of God in our lives and this is a very simple instruction that we can all keep. just say thank you!! we teach our children at a very young age to be polite and say thank you, in fact I demand it of my children and now they are learning to saying it in a meaningful way. God instructs us here to thank HIM, as you grow in the Lord it will be more and more meaningful when you thank HIM!
Eph. 5:20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
thank HIM for everything!!!
2 Cort. 9:11 Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. when we get to the point in our spiritual life that we realize where ALL our blessings come from...it will "CAUSE" us to give HIM thanks - ever heard of cause and effect? I love the cause and effect when it comes to God, HE always outgives us!!

*All through the gospels, Jesus takes times to give thanks to HIS heavenly father, if he knew it was important to be thankful how much more is it important for us to thank HIM!

*When we thank HIM there are benefits for everyone....
John 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. a simply thank you can lift up our Lord and draw others to see HIS goodness.
Also in times of troubles and trials when we receive the comfort that only God can give and others witness that and we still thank HIM in the face of a storm, God will be lifted up!

My resolution does not have to be your resolution but I encourage us all to give God some extra thanks this year.  I want to give HIM some random thanks that I may not normally think of, thank HIM for things that HE does when I not even paying attention, thank HIM for the rain on the day that I wanted sunshine, thank HIM for the my children being too rowdy because they have voices provided by HIM, thank HIM for the deep breath I just took because every breath in me belongs to HIM anyway!! Thank HIM for my friends who took time to read this blog that he place in my heart to share!
THANK YOU for Jan. 1, 2012!!!!!

Welcome to a fragment of my imagination!  Despite all my recent college studies, my brain is still exploding to write so I have decided to take a moment to entertain my blog readers.  What you are about to read is just the outermost surface of how I think, however, it will also expose to you a very deep spot in my heart since it is based on my child.

I have a blog waiting to be posted called: "My Pride and Joy," I want to mention it to you to display how special my boys are individually.  I have always said: My oldest is my Pride and My youngest is my Joy. It may sound strange that I could give them such particular descriptions but it has rang true thus far. This blog is about my oldest son. In contrast to my facebook page you may have noticed that I do not use names on my blogspot, just a personal preference of mine...BUT if you know me then you know who my oldest son is :)

Please be warned that this is an just a thought process of mine based on accumulated truths but "of course" there is no way that I could predict the future. Please enjoy the following letter created for an interesting read:

Dear Eldest Son,
   I write this letter to you with no intentions of ever giving it to you. Should my intuitions become reality I would then hand this letter over to you.  In the case that your life direction turns in another unique direction, this letter will be dismissed as an overactive imagination of momma...it will then remain tucked away in a journal that you may or may not come across in later years. Dear Son, I have always felt you were a different sort of child. The very first day that I laid eyes on you I felt a pride that I cannot explain. My first thought was "he looks like a little man"...I have never stopped looking at you that way, a child beyond your actual birth age.  I noticed as you mastered each new milestone, you were way ahead of schedule. At thirteen months old you became the "big boy brother" and I felt guilt that you missed out on being mommas baby.  As I look back I see things that God was doing to prepare you for your future.  I finally started adding things up when you were around age four.  My aha moment told me that...There was a very good chance that you would choose to be an American soldier.  I surpressed the thoughts and even tried to discourage you when you would insinuate such a thing. One day I went as far as to say, "You could die and I would never see you again"...you answered: "I'll come back home mom!"  You wanted your bedroom painted green and decorated in GI Joe. You wanted "real" military stuff for decor and I searched the antiques shops tirelessly for two weeks to find the perfect artifacts to represent each of the different military branches. A few times I ventured to wonder if you would be a troubled child due to your interest for guns, knives, and fighting for the things you wanted.  I began to pray to God every night, that HE would to start protecting you now and teaching me the right things to do and say, to keep you on an honorable path. July 4th after your fifth birthday, you took special interest in American flags, you and a young boy at church took a solo verse together that went like this "we live in a country, the greatest on earth, her flag stands for freedon and what it is worth, she stands in the harbor miss liberty calls, all have gave some but some have a gave all for me to be blessed." It seems you memorized the pledge of alliegence the very first day of kindergarten. Your excitement was bubbling over when you found out you would gather around the flag in honor of 9/11.  You begged to learn the words of the song that was sang at the assembly, so we looked it up on youtube and sang God Bless the USA for days.  On hat day you insisted to wear a soldiers hat that we had bought at the flea market a couple of weeks prior..you dressed in your camo and with an American flag shirt under and carried you soldier backpack proudly.  The owner of the hat had told us of the story of her brother and his illness from pre-vaccinations before leaving for Iraq. Soon after he was home his body gave away and he was confined to a wheelchair and soon his life ended.  I could not understand why she would sell such a special momento but felt a warmness that we were fortunate to have bought it.  As Veterans Day approached and I began to remember the many family members of my own who had proudly served...it hit me like a ton of bricks, "it is in your blood"...I don't know how it got there because there is no immediate family influence on you (save a first cousin of mine, being a second cousin of yours) but it must be in your blood!  Dear God...NO!! Please No!! I do not want to give my son.  I prayed for a son and indeed you blessed me two-fold BUT BUT BUT...I cannot spare even one of my children!!  This world is entirely too wicked, they are trying to remove YOU from our great America, I cannot allow him to go fight for people like that!!!
Suddenly,....In the most clear tone, the sweetest voice of God that you have ever heard said: "I know, I have been there too...Its okay!"
I began to direct my thoughts in a way that I could already see HIS divine blessings on my family.  God loved me enough to go ahead and warn me and prepare me. I am very reluctant to even think of the fact that in less than thirteen years my son could make his own decision to serve his country.  God was preparing you as well, I just know that you will accept God in your heart because I feel a strong sense that there is a job for you to do, almost like it happened with Jeremiah in the Bible--God knew him and prepared him in the womb.  Speaking of womb, you came from my womb with a scar on your left side near your ribs, I joke and say God has already prepared you a wife, my mind has ventured to explore other possible meaning of the scar, when chances are... you simply scratched yourself in utero.
Dear son, God is preparing you. I am thinking more clearly now trying to swallow down the consideration that I am the cause for such a decision, my parenting style could be interpreted as a drill sargeant in regards to be accountable, punctual, and trustworthy, demanding a daily family routine.  I see that you were born with a take-charge spirit and felt so proud of your independance to help care for your brother.  I found myself trusting you to handle the job you volunteered to do, I would almost laugh at myself when I thought of the absurdity that you could fix your own cereal, or hush your brother to sleep. I shudder to remember the protector role that you did not hesitate to armor yourself with when your daddy would experience a heath problem and you would keep your brother occupied in the next room over to be sure he wasn't scared.  My heart aches when I recall how tough you always have to be and how seldom you would admit that something hurt.  I always say "if he cries, run to him, he is hurt!" 
On the other hand I see a soft, tender love for people behind that tough boy facade.  I see a little boy who loves to give things away, you are not very materialistic at all and you have gave your toys away even at the rebuttal of your mother.  You would wince at another persons pain and beg for us to help them, your concern for animals is so intense.  Could any or all of these instances be "on purpose," ways to mold you for your future or it is clearly coincidental? Only time will reveal the the conclusion of this letter.  No matter what you are your mommas pride!"

I love you!!
Mother
11-11-11 

****Hope you enjoyed a briefing of my imagination for a day, God Bless!!****

TRUST ~ Step 2

Step 2 - Psalms 37:3 TRUST in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed,

So, now that we have learned to let our worries go...our heart is cleaned out and has plenty of room for TRUST.  If we recall a very familiar verse {Prov 3:[5] Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.} Now we know how to really apply this verse to our lives.  It says with ALL thine heart, now we have our entire heart ready to TRUST. Trust seems like it should be one of the final steps BUT actually we need to TRUST right away.  That is what Trust is all about completely relying on God.  Don't try to fix it yourself, don't even try to figure it out for that matter because you will quickly be right back to the fretting stage and we clearly agreed already that worry don't work :)

When we TRUST God, allow it to be ALL about HIM and what HE can do, when we are TRUSTING...that is our only care or responsiblilty is to just TRUST, no other ability of ours will be needed because we are leaving it to Gods ability.

God showed me an example today when I was praying about this blog.  We never question the designer or builder of the many  bridges we cross from day to day, or what about that high rise building that you work in, or the manufacturer of the vehicle that you expect to get you and your family safely from here to there...BUT somehow we automatically trust that they got it right.  So....maybe it is because we can't see God, but in fact, we can't see the other builders either, just the evidence they were there. When you look in the mirror, you see evidence that God was/is there. He created us in the likeness of HIS own image and he knows quite well how to fix our ailments, worries, and much more. {Ps. 56:13 says [13] For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?} If HE can do that then we can TRUST HIM with anything!!!

{Psalms 71:[1] In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion.} - - Ask God to help you with confusion, I have a rule of thumb that I go by... "If it confuses me, chances are...it is not of God!!!" If you keep trying to find the answer about something that you question if its right or wrong or may be someone you know questions it...I say: "Avoid, if at all possible!!" Even if it is not wrong, if it gets you in a state of confusion, you will be right back to fretting and before you know it you will be defeated about somthing that you haven't even done yet.

Going back up to end of our verse for this thought is says {Ps. 37:3....VERILY thou shalt be fed}.  Verily means "really and trully!!!!" HE means it!!

Statistically thinking: the word TRUST is used 44 times in the book of Psalms :)

I'll give you a few Bible references here for TRUST that you can look up sometime:
Ps.13:5 - Trust HIS Mercy
Ps.56:3 - Trust when you are afraid
Ps.62:8 - Trust at all times
Ps.71:5 - Trust from your youth
Ps.84:12 - Blessed who Trust
Ps.118:8 - It is better to Trust God than man
Ps.119:42 - Trust Thy Word

We will conclude with ~~~ Can GOD Trust You, to Trust HIM?? ~~~

Coming up next: Step 3 - You will be "DELIGHTED"