Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Shout Out!

Today Nick and I got a shout out from one of our Baylor friends, Katie Evans Cox on her blog. She wrote the sweetest/most touching post for Veterans Day. I'd tell you to check it out, but their blog is private so Im just going to cut and paste (Katie - I hope that's okay!)

Katie writes:
And now, I have a sorority sister and friend who is fighting her own daily battle as her husband fights in the war in Afghanistan. I am amazed at her courage and blessed by her honesty. Each day as I sign onto my blog to read-up on my Blogger Buddies, I see her blog (Texas Ex-Pats) and I remember... I remember what battle she fights every day. I remember and I pray. Would you pray for her to?

To Katie and to everyone who remembered us today, and who remembers us every day, THANK YOU! I have felt incredible peace (with a few notable exceptions) every day of Nick's deployment. I have not been a basket case, at least most of the time, and I have not moped around with a heavy heart because I know that Nick and I are constantly prayed over by our loved ones, our friends, and even total strangers.

The question of what this peace really means sometimes weighs heavily on me because here's what I am not certain of: I am not certain that everything about this deployment will work out the way that I want it to. When people say things like "Oh, he'll be fine. I pray for him every day," it sometimes upsets me because that's not what prayer does. It does not a guarantee that our desired outcome will come to pass. Our prayers are just our pleas that God's will be done and that we have the grace to deal with it, no matter what happens. To pray for anything else is tempting, but it is also ultimately futile.

That grace is what I've been so blessed with these last five months while Nick's been in Afghanistan. That grace, that peace that truly surpasses all understanding is what sustains me every single day. I am reminded of Natalie Grant's song, "Held." She says "this is...how it feels when the sacred is torn from your life and you survive...that the promise was when everything fell, we'd be held."

I know that there are lots of people who today have said "thank you" to our military men and women and their families. Today, I'd also like to thank all of you who support us with kind words and with your prayers.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love you, Lindz! Well said. Love, Mom

Katie and Justin Cox said...

PERFECT! Ministers to me in so many ways! It is a lesson for all of us who face challenges, isn't it?! Hope you're having a good day Lindsay!

Anonymous said...

You obviously have matured into the fine young woman I had hoped you would become. You express my faith perfectly, but it has taken me 82 years to get there. I think I have told you about my experience with the presence of our awesome God when I was at M.D. Anderson. That was when I came to know beyond a shadow of any doubt that we should have no fear because God is with us to uphold us in every circumstance. In spite of the experience I still worry about my future. God knows that's only human. But I do know that He will be there with me whatever that future may be. I just need to remember that and ask for that presence. Intercessary prayer is a wonderful assurance. I had that at M.D. Anderson. You and Nick have that now. I know you are relying on and trusting in that. Love you both, Bobo