Tribute to a Soldier...

My class...

Yes, they are scary!

A couple of Fridays ago, I took my students to the funeral of a 19-year-old soldier who was killed in Iraq just the week before. Christian Neff was taken by a roadside bomb. He lived in the Cridersville/Shawnee area, and was a fairly recent graduate of Apollo Career Center. I personally have never been to a military funeral, and it was so touching to see the outpouring of love and support from our community, and the rest of the U.S. Motorcycle groups came from all over and surrounded the church with large American flags to shield the family from the protesters who were scheduled to be demonstrating across the street. The director of the U.S. Cavalry came to represent our government, and presented the family with all of Christian's medals, including the Purple Heart. As I watched middle-aged, decorated military men lean over the casket and sob, I began to realize what a camaraderie these men share. We, as civilians, cannot imagine the bond that war brings to our guys. They depend on each other for their lives. After the funeral, the congregation exited the church and followed the hearse down the path to the burial plot. It was a pretty long walk, accompanied by bagpipers playing hymns.

As I listened to Taps and heard the shots of the guns saluting a fallen soldier, I was reminded that this war began shortly after Evan was born. He is now in 1st grade. As the mother of two boys in a world that will never find peace, they may choose to defend our freedoms as Christian did. In a report for school that Christian wrote at about age 12, he stated, "I want to be a soldier, even though I know I may die. I would die for my country." Wow. My prayer as a parent has been, "God, give me the strength to continually dedicate my children to your service, whether that includes a heathen mission field or a dusty war zone." Those are hard words to say, and even much more difficult to really mean. I guess this gives us all something to think about.

Thank you, Christian, Mr. and Mrs. Neff, and all of the others who have sacrificed so much to protect our country!

Fall Picnic

They must take after their dad...

Each year our school has a Fall Family Picnic. This year we were able to have it on our own property since we have more acreage. It was lots of fun, and the kids enjoyed the sack races and water volleyball the most.

Caffeine or No Caffeine?

This is a question for all of you who have been "with child":

What was your method of dealing with caffeine?

a. total abstention
b. only in case of extreme fatigue or headache
c. moderation
d. "Oh, I thought I was supposed to drink twice as much for the sake of the baby!"

Just curious. I have a heart condition (can't remember the medical term) of sorts where my heart will go into a very rapid (160 bpm) beat for a period of time. I have had this last for as much as a few seconds up to 4 hours. Usually it lasts about 45 minutes. I find that caffeine with fatigue aggravates this condition, so when I was pregnant for Kaitlynn I totally quit drinking caffeinated beverages. Even tea. I continued this until last spring. Drinking the caffeinated beverages (in moderation) didn't seem to aggravate it unless my stress levels were high. During this pregnancy I have not eliminated my caffeine, but definitely watch how much I take in. Your thoughts?

Prayer Needed For Brugger/Case Families

Please keep praying for Cathy (Brugger) Case and her 3 children, John (16), Catrina (14), and Jacey (12) in the loss of their husband and father, John Case, this past weekend.
They are such a precious family and the shock is unbelievable. John was also the brother-in-law of our good friends, Phil and Stephenie (Clemens) Brugger, and we are sharing in their grief at this time.
There will be a viewing/funeral Thurs. and Fri. in Maryland, then all of the family will be making the 10 hour trip from Maryland after the Friday funeral to Marion, OH for a Saturday morning funeral/burial. Special strength will definitely be needed.

Sad News...

As I was clicking through my favorite blogs this evening, I noticed how happy and carefree we all seem to be. Then I was reminded of the reality of life and death with the horrible, tragic news of the death of Rev. Sam Everhart, a longtime family friend. I will always remember Sam's happy smile and friendly demeanor. He was a great guy. Please pray for his dear wife Phoebe and his son and daughters. The tragic accident occurred earlier this evening. Sam pastored the Pilgrim Nazarene Church in Muncie, IN.