God's Word

This morning I received a message from Jon about his Sunday morning worship service. It was from Psalm 13 and he said, "It was a very needful word." I would like to share that psalm with you and encourage you to continue to lift Jon up in your prayers. He is very tired.

Psalm 13
O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever?
How long will you look the other way?
How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my hear every day?
How long will my enemy have the upper hand?

Turn and answer me, O Lord my God!
Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.
Don't let my enemies gloat saying, "We have defeated him!"
Don't let them rejoice at my downfall.

But I trust in your unfailing love.
I will rejoice because you have rescued me.
I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me.

I was blessed by a passage shared by a good friend who writes a devotional blog. The verses that ministered to me are
Psalm 37:4-7a
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desires.
Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.
He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.
Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act.

I am taking my son to camp for the first time and to say the least I am feeling some anxiety, but I am confident that the Lord has called Joshua and me to this experience and so I am trusting Him to give me my heart's desires while I wait patiently. What a blessing to be reminded that God's Word speaks to us every day wherever we are in our journey. I pray that you will hear God's Word today and find the comfort, challenge or whatever it is you need for your journey.

Blessings,

Sheryl

Farewell for a while to the Trout Slayer

A lot has happened in Joshua and my lives since I last posted news about us, but that will have to wait. This post is to honor the memory of a special man -- my Uncle Bob, the Trout Slayer. After months of battling pain and the complications that multiple myeloma brought to his body, the Lord called Bob by name and welcomed him home on June 23, 2008.

I have found some comfort in the CD "Gloria: The sacred music of John Rutter." The words to this beautiful hymn seem appropriate at this time for someone who explored, cared for and truly loved the earth God created for us.

For the Beauty of the Earth
F.S. Pierpoint, 1835-1917, slightly altered

For the beauty of the earth,
For the beauty of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies;

Chorus:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our joyful hymn of praise.

For the beauty of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon and stars of light;

Chorus:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our joyful hymn of praise.

For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth, and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild;

Chorus:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our joyful hymn of praise.

For each perfect gift of thine
To our race so freely given,
Graces human and divine,
Flowers of earth and buds of heaven

Chorus:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our joyful hymn of praise.

Grateful to have known Bob Weaver a bit during his life.

Sheryl

News from Jarhedjon

Got this note from Jon today. Many people have asked about the temperature over there and this will give you a good idea of the heat.

"I'm doing OK, yesterday was a much more physical day than usual, I was out moving a bunch of stuff around inside a container in 114 degree heat (inside the container it was considerably hotter). I no kidding had to be careful what I touched, I was moving a bunch of black plastic Pelican cases around (there were over 80 cases that had to be organized and stacked, about 50 pounds each), and moving the cases that had been outside were so hot that I would burn my hand after more than 3 seconds exposure/touch. Where I normally consume one container of water a day (about a liter... OK, that's not counting coffee :), I consumed three liters in less than two hours, plus a 40 oz Gatorade--and I wasn't even wearing body armor... Semper Fi, Jon"

Sheryl

News from Jon

Just got this news from Jon.

I was able to connect with Agur here last week. He's a Marine friend from my church back in California. He was out here on a short visit with his command, and he called me up to meet with him for evening chow one night, but I missed him. However, his departure was delayed, affording us the opportunity to meet for lunch, that was very cool. There is very little likelihood that we will be able to see each other later in the year while he is deployed here, as we will be serving on different bases, but it certainly was an encouragement to see him, if only for a brief time.

The temperatures here have been fluctuating between 100 and 110 during the day, and one of the contributing factors is the dust. The dust actually plays a part in reducing the rays that reach the earth, making it cooler. There is a lot more dust than I remember experiencing back in 2006, partly due no doubt to the reduced rainfall over the last couple of years. There's plenty of water here, though getting it to where it's needed in usable form is another matter...

My job seems to be transitioning from planning to execution, though I still spend a lot of time in meetings. I would not have anticipated that I would prefer the meetings to the activity, but in reality, the meetings were predictable -- and in many ways easier than executing ad-hoc tasks that don't hit the radar screen with much advance warning. I expect work to increase in speed and tempo over the next three weeks, but then I expect it to slow down a little for the period following that.

Thanks for the Moto Mails, cards, letters, and prayers. Morale is pretty high (mine is, anyway, I suppose it's not fair to speak for all deployed service and support personnel), and I feel cared for and protected.

Well, I'd better get back to work. Semper Fi, Jarhedjon

A fabulous weekend

The weekend started Friday afternoon for both Joshua and me. I dropped him off at his cousin Evan's Rock Climbing Birthday Party. Joshua had a great time and then joined a few other boys in a slumber party (why do we call it that?) with Evan. My sister-in-law said that most of the boys finally fell asleep around 11:00 pm but were still all up at 5:30 Saturday morning. Yikes!

Meanwhile, I was able to enjoy a farewell party for my friend Brenda Friday night. I slept in till 7:00 on Saturday and enjoyed the morning getting chores done before heading to the San Diego County Fair at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. I have never been to this event, although many times I have been stuck in traffic on the 5 freeway due to activities at the sight. Evan's sisters, Elena and Emma, were performing with their church youth choir at the fair Saturday afternoon, so we all met up at the stage where they performed. The kids did a great job. Then my brother's family headed for home while Joshua and I stayed to enjoy the delicious but expensive food and a few attractions. I didn't see many animals, but there were lots of food booths, side shows and carnival rides. Joshua wasn't too interested in the rides, but then a lady offered us 20 unused coupons and so I got Joshua onto the Ferris wheel and a rickety ski-lift type ride that took us over the entire fair grounds -- what was I thinking? We left around 6:00 and about 15 minutes down the road Joshua was out.

On Sunday Joshua was able to talk to Jon before we headed for church to wish him a happy father's day. We sent Jon some cards, but didn't get them in the mail in time for him to get them on Sunday. After church we were invited to join some friends down at Baby's Beach in Dana Point. Our friend, Jim, recently acquired a small sail boat and he took the kids out in the harbor. His wife, Kellie, and I took it out by ourselves and didn't tip over, which was an accomplishment since we didn't know what we were doing. It was a beautiful day and a great way to end the perfect weekend.

After today only 2 more days of school, so there is excitement at our house.

Sheryl

A new hair cut

Yesterday afternoon Joshua insisted on having me cut his hair. It had gotten really long and he did not like having to wash and brush it. But I did not know how short he wanted it. I cut those long lovely curls off and then he said, "Okay, mom, you need to finish cutting it." Really? "Yes, Mom, I've told you a hundred times, I want my hair like Dad's." Well, his hair is now shorter than his dad's.

Sheryl

Happy 16th

As I type this it is already past midnight on June 13 where my husband is, so it is our 16th anniversary. I don't have an electronic picture from our wedding, but this shot was taken not long after that big day 16 years ago. What do you think -- have we changed? :) Just like everyone who gets married and makes vows, we really had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. Marriage is hard work and we didn't realize how hard it would be on that beautiful June day. Now we know and the amazing thing is that even with all the hard things we've gone through these past 16 years, we'd make the same vows all over again even knowing what we know now. Here we are on January 18, 2008, at the crack of dawn before Jon left for his deployment. This wonderful, off kilter picture was taken by our son. Ah, life is so good.

I send all my love to my husband, Jon.

Sheryl

Joshua's first Bible

This past Sunday Joshua, along with all of the 2nd graders at our church, received a New Living Translation Bible. Joshua has had many Bible story books in his 8 1/2 years of life, but this is his first actual Bible. He had been looking forward to this day for weeks, but I never realized how excited he was to get his own Bible until after he got it.

Parents and Sunday School teachers had an opportunity to sign our child's Bible after the service. Joshua decided he wanted a number of people to sign his Bible. He proceeded to ask the pastor of our Hispanic Ministry and another Spanish-speaking church leader to sign it in Spanish. When I signed his Bible I listed some of my favorite verses and he immediately started looking them up. When he was done he kept asking for more.

Sunday evening after putting him to bed, he called me in about 20 minutes later and I found him in the dark with his flashlight reading his Bible. Talk about making a mom happy. :) But he did need to put it away and go to sleep.

All week it has been the same. Jon e-mailed a list of his favorite verses yesterday and Joshua has been looking them up. If you would like to e-mail or write to Joshua and send passages of Scripture that are meaningful to you, I know he will be thrilled to look them up in his Bible. He and I are having a great time talking about the various verses after he reads them.

It has reminded me of the great gift I have in owning many copies of the Bible in my own language. I hope you are also inspired to read your Bible every day.

Blessings,

Sheryl

25th Anniversary

Yesterday I had the privilege of participating in the 25th anniversary celebration of our good friends Jeff and Shirley. Many friends and family came from across the US to celebrate this huge milestone with them. Jon and I have had the honor of knowing Jeff and Shirley for about 15 years, so it was great to be with them. The only disappointment for all of us was that Jon could not share in the day. Here is a picture of a group of us who were part of the "Young Married Couples" Sunday School class at Trinity Pres. many, many years ago. :) It was great to see old friends and enjoy dinner at Orange Hill Restaurant.

Sheryl

Twin Day and a Thank you

Today was Twin Day at Joshua's school. The kids could dress up in matching clothes. Of course our kids dress up as twins every day because we have a school uniform, but I guess that doesn't count. Joshua was actually a member of triplets. He, Max and Maxi were even invited to stroll across the stage at the morning assembly.

Then I was invited up to receive flowers as a thank you for being PTA President. I was able to say a few words and remind everyone that I could NOT have done it without the 30 PTA Board Members who work with me. I wish I could say, "Yeah the year is almost over," but I agreed to do it again next year, so we're already planning meetings for the summer. What was I thinking? :) Actually next year should be much easier since I'll have a little better grasp of what I'm supposed to be doing.

Jon is back to doing his job on his own -- can't remember if I reported that or not. Please continue to pray that he will stay healthy with the extra work load. Thanks.

Sheryl

A fun weekend

Joshua and I had a great weekend. Saturday our church supported a clean up day at Las Palmas Elementary School in San Clemente. The school is sort of a sister school to Joshua's (San Juan Elementary). Las Palmas was the first school in the district to have the Two-Way Immersion Program, which our school has only had for 4 years. The program started at Las Palmas 14 years ago. Many of our church friends send their children to Las Palmas, so we were glad to go and help. Well, I was glad and I thought it would be a good experience for Joshua. The first hour he kept getting bored and wanting to change jobs (we were cleaning up garbage from under the porches in front of the portable buildings). But then a friend arrived and someone gave him a pick to dig up dirt and two hours later I couldn't get him to leave.

We headed home and stopped off at a Marine Corps fundraising car wash in San Juan to get the Escape cleaned. This is the second time we have allowed these Marines to wash the car. Jon was always the one to wash our vehicles, so I am happy to let other Marines help me out while he's gone. :)

When we got home we did some chores around the house, Joshua did his reading homework (he's required to read 45 minutes a day, seven days a week) and then headed to the pool. A great way to wind down from a busy day. We ended the day playing a new board game. I won't go into the details but after playing this game almost a dozen times we suddenly realized that we had been playing half of the game wrong. Joshua and I were rolling on the floor laughing at our/my mistake. I had read the directions and still missed a big part of the rules.

Glad we were able to have some fun this weekend since this coming week is full of meetings for me and of course school is not over for Joshua yet. He has 2 1/2 weeks to go.

Please continue to pray for Jon. He seems to have gotten over the cold he was fighting, but now the Marine he had been working with has had to leave and Jon is back to working on his own. Pretty soon he'll be training the replacement for the Marine who left and that of course takes more time then just doing the job himself. We are starting to count the days till Jon can come home for 2 weeks this summer.

Thanks for your prayers and encouraging notes to Jon. He is so grateful to get Motomail or regular mail -- whatever works for you.

Sheryl