August-October Journey

It is hard to believe that October is here and is going by so quickly. I arrived back in MA after a precious time with the amazing Rippys. I was in Alabama over the last half of August and the month of September. It was a privilege to be able to play keyboard at Evangel Temple with their worship band and choir with Ashley....a true blessing for me. Most of all, I treasure any opportunity to spend time with "Uncle Mike and Aunt Terri." What gifts you all are to me and our family!

During this time, I was able to spend sweet time with Tiffany and Zach and their little Isaiah. We visited with Kim and my Aunt Susann and Uncle John, Linnea and her family. On the way home, I swung by to see Tiffany and Zach and Isaiah again and then saw my sister Karen and her family. What a delight it was to meet my baby sister's first grandchild, little Isabella who was born on Lonnie's birthday!

And tucked in this month was a sweet visit with my friends Laurie and Susie and her family in Virginia. How we laughed and we cried and we laughed and cried again and laughed! While in that part of the country, I was able to visit with friends from the chaplain corps. "Uncle Scott," thank you for helping me with my concerns from way across the ocean. You have been phenomenal! Lola and Keith came for a wonderful visit and brought love and encouragement to us as well. Thank you, Kristi, for having coffee with me in the mornings long distance! Jen M., you touch my heart with your words. Jan, what an amazing day it was to hear your voice on the phone (high school seems like just yesterday). Donna, the bracelet you gave me and your phone calls remind me of the sweet promise that our Lord is always with us. Linda and Dean, your prayers and words of love and hope for our family have been awesome. Cathy, your friendship means so much. I arrived home today to find a comforting message from Sheila.

I have had correspondence and cards from so many friends and family that have truly ministered to my broken heart. How thankful I am for family and friends! I know I could go on and on, and I would miss some precious person or church or chapel or group that has done something so sweet to help us along our journey. So, instead, thank you to all!

Thank you, amazing children, for welcoming me into your homes, taking such good care of your mommy, showering me with love, and for living each day for the Lord in the midst of unbelievable suffering yourselves. Our God's steadfast love has been with us throughout this year and we thank Him for His faithfulness.

Time is precious. Each moment is a gift from God. Thank you to everyone who has prayed for me and for our family through this past year. Thank you for caring for us in precious, sweet ways. I will be grateful for the rest of my life. I thank my God for you all and for your continued prayers.

Our sweet little girls---Stella and Zoe!

Sweet Sleepy Stella! I have two sleepy stories to tell about our Stella.

She is such a precious little lady. Last spring when I was visiting her up in Washington, she was ready for bed and was "reading" her Jesus Storybook Bible. I told her I would be back in a few minutes after making sure her brother was tucked in. When I came back she was sound asleep with her Bible on her head. So cute!

Jason told me that one night not long ago they arrived home from a church event and Sunnie brought Stella in from the van and told her to get ready to brush her teeth while she went back to the van to get Judah. When her mommy got back just a few moments later Stella had kicked off her shoes and jumped into bed and was passed out asleep with her clothes on from the day.

She is getting to be such a big girl!

Well now, Zoe! Girls will be girls! Zoe found her mommy's mascara. Whoops! Still a cutie!

A couple of Zoe stories, according to her mommy, she likes to read now, says "Stubucks" instead of Starbucks and her mommy says she's a lot like her daddy. She takes baby wipes and cleans up everything, and likes things in order. If she is crying in the car, the way to get her to stop is by giving her a plan. "Ok, Zoe, this is what we're doing, making a right here, getting on the freeway, passing Vons, going to be with Zac and Lacey, eating dinner and then coming home. Is that better?" She says, "Yeah." Even if they just tell her the directions home, she stops crying.

Two very precious grandaughters who bring abundant blessings into our lives and their grandmommy loves them very much! They are delightful!

My prayer for our family:

Thank you, Lord, for our wonderful children and grandchildren! Thank you for their precious lives and for the little ones who will join our family in December, March and others who may be born in the future. Please bless and guide in Zach and Tiffany's adoption efforts as well! Please protect and defend our family, be our Refuge and our Strong Fortress, our Rock.

Lord, You are Good and Your mercy endures forever! In Jesus' Name, I pray, Amen.

Grandsons

This is a fun post...baby Isaiah and his mommy and daddy came to Montgomery to visit over Labor Day weekend! I was privileged to be there as well. What a fun time we had together. Isaiah is growing up and such a sweetheart! He is all boy! How did he get such a booming voice when his mommy and daddy are so mild-mannered and soft-spoken? He fills their days with laughter. Whenever I talk to Tiffany on the phone I can hear Isaiah in the background just jabbering on and on....and with great volume!

Speaking of grandsons, one morning Elijah was praying at the breakfast table. Crystal says that as he was praying he began to include a dialogue about Christmas. "Mommy is the shepherd, I'm the baby, Logan is Joseph and Daddy is....um...the cow. Amen." Hmmm....just wondering what happened to Mary in the whole scene?

Logan was playing baseball in the backyard with Elijah. They were talking about who they were. Elijah decided he was "Lefty" and their mommy asked, "Who is Babe Ruth?" Logan said, "Babe Ruth, Babe Ruth, Lonnie Bruce, Lonnie Bruce. Mommy, did Grandaddy play baseball?" She answered that he did and he was a catcher. Logan decided then and there, "I'm Lonnie Bruce!"

Jason told me a cute little story about our Judah. When the family prays and thanks God for their meals, Judah bows his head and holds their hands and prays with them. Throughout the prayer he yells out, "AMEN!" Jason says, "Sometimes I feel like I am at a pentecostal church in my home." Way to go, Judah!

And we have a new grandson coming in December! Yeah! More stories to tell.

What are Jason and Sunnie Barker going to have in March? Another boy or a little girl? I wonder....

Stella and Zoe...don't worry...I'll be telling stories on you soon! Take note!

A Note from Lola

My sister, Lola, her husband Keith with baby Michael and Grandma Anderson at the arch in St. Louis with Lonnie and Jeremy, Jason and me.

Lola and Keith were with us from the beginning....and are still walking along side our family offering comfort and support. They came to spend time with us in San Diego (pictured below with Benji, Jen and Zoe) and we are thankful for their love, prayers and encouragement.

Yesterday Lola sent me a verse and included in it were these words: "Be strong and let your heart take courage, all who wait for the LORD!"

These same words were part of Pastor Mike Rippy's sermon last Sunday. He has been going through the book of Ecclesiastes which has been very inspiring and perfect for these times. One of the verses he highlighted was Ecclesiastes 10:10 which reads, "If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill will bring success." He stressed that we need to develop the skills of obeying God, being strong and courageous, facing the future with hope, faith and not fear, and develop the skill of adding to what others have done before us.

We have choices to make everyday. Let's choose wisely. The "little" choices we make today greatly affect our tomorrows.

And, just for fun, I leave you with one of Lonnie's favorite quotes from the musical, The Music Man. It illustrates perfectly why the choices we make today are so important.

Marian Paroo: Maybe tomorrow.
Harold Hill: Oh, my dear little librarian. You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays. I don't know about you, but I'd like to make today worth remembering.

Happy Birthday to a Sweet Little Girl

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday, dear Zoe!

Happy Birthday to you!

It seems only yesterday you were born and now you are growing up and learning so much. You sing, talk, dance, paint, praise Jesus, take care of your babies, have tea parties, and a bubbly birthday party too!

We love you, sweetheart! You bring so much life and joy to our hearts and we celebrate that God gave you to your parents and to all of us! You bless our hearts!

Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so...

I'm singing with you, Zoe!

A Single Rose

Back on January 31, 2010, Tiffany and I went out to visit Lonnie's grave site. A single rose with a rosary had been placed there. I don't know who left it but it touched my heart and I am thankful for the friends I know and those I do not know who love our Lonnie. A couple of days later, I was talking to Jason and he mentioned that one of his and Sunnie's friends had written a tribute in Lonnie's honor and had given it to them. He read it to me over the phone and also sent me a copy:

A Single Rose Fell

by Jaclyn Heistand

My bare feet step upon the cement with assurance. Heat from the sidewalk radiates through my skin, warm enough to keep my stride from lulling. It feels good. I feel good.

I walk with confidence. Hope is my guide, and I am running on faith. With my head lifted, I walk.

Don't be fooled, for it isn't pride that I wear, but a sure confidence in Christ. This is how it is.

Then...it happens, that as I walk, something comes to lay in my path. It is, that as I step, I come along a single yellow rose in the middle of the sidewalk.

I stop. I peer down, and I stare at the rose.

I am unaware of my knees bending. I am unaware of my strength leaving me. I am unaware of the heat biting my feet. The ground beneath me shakes suddenly and quickly I fall to the walk. It is also, for a moment, that I fall from that place of assurance.

With my palms on the cement, I steady myself.

The yellow rose is still there. I ponder that rose. The tarnish of age has not yet touched its petals. The blossom lay open in its full display of beauty. I look for its purpose there and cannot find any, but only as if it fell lonely and alone from off the bush that bore it. My eyes dart around, looking for the bush, and it is there. With other yellow blossoms leaning in my direction.

No, they were leaning towards the rose. Truly? Were they bowing?

I stare at the scene in front of me. This one beautiful rose, alone, and now gone with no life, fallen apart from where it belonged. And the others, still left, bowing down in mourning.

My heart aches in what I cannot change, and in what I cannot do, and in what I now miss. What a fall I have taken as I mourn. My stride is no more. I now sink deeper into the ground, my head bowed.

I cry out for my hope, for my blessed assurance. And He hears me. And I feel His tears fall upon me even as I am held.

Forever I will ponder on the life of that rose and certainly in its end. I seek now to walk again. I stand slowly, my legs tremble. I don't want to lift my head, but I do.

Cautiously, my foot steps forward.

(When Jason read the title to me, in my mind's eye, I immediately pictured a red rose. How remarkable that the flower we found just two days prior was a yellow rose placed there by someone who knew and loves Lonnie and at the same time someone on the other side of the country who had never met him would write about a yellow rose and honor our Lonnie in such a loving, heartfelt way).

Our Father is holding us in His hands and is walking with us as we take each step moving forward......and we know our Lonnie has moved forward to be with Him in heaven......just a breath away!

We can see his smiling face even now....and remember the many times when he sang praise to our Lord here on earth including the words "blessed assurance, Jesus is mine." (Another thing our new friend in Washington did not know....Lonnie's favorite hymn was Blessed Assurance.)

So thankful for that blessed assurance and we join you, Lonnie, in "praising our Savior all the day long."

Handwritten Letters

What a day this was for our family. Lonnie was leaving for a year-long remote assignment to Korea. He was so choked up about leaving his family behind. He says that it was the first time he ever had that "lump in your throat" experience. In fact, Jason looked up at him and asked him, "Are you ok, Daddy?" Lonnie could not even answer him. He tried to speak but no sound would come out. It was a sad day for us.

While he was gone, he handwrote many letters to us and I saved them all. He made "rules" for his letter-writing that year. He wrote the letters in cursive (except for the ones he wrote to Jennifer and Tiffany as they were 8 and 4 years old) and he also had "rules" for the content of his letters. I know this because one day he wrote that he had started a letter to me but had to throw it away and start over because he had broken one of his "rules."

He was always very encouraging and loving and enjoyed teasing me too. Here is an example: "Chris, please let Tiffany read this herself. She should be able to by now. Can she sing harmony yet? How often do you floss her teeth? Oh, how is she doing on her times tables? Chrissy--do you still love me?"

Yes, I do, Lonnie.

Good advice and godly wisdom were wrapped up in those letters too. On October 2, 1991, he wrote these words:

"I hope you realize how proud of you I am. Just take it a day at a time and please in all that you do--don't despair--you are everything to me and sweet to others and, above all things, remember--you can make it and I love you!!!

Phil 3:20 'Our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.' I am going to preach from I Thessalonians 4 this week on the soon return of Christ."

His handwritten letters continue to encourage and point us to Jesus today. Thank you, Lord, for Lonnie's words and life. Help us to remember our "citizenship is in heaven" and to live our lives with "eternity's values in mind."