It is by Faith

Hi Soldier Friend!

I hope this letter finds you safe and secure!

I think in my past letters I have asked you to pray (if you do) for my son.

I suspected he was doing drugs and it has been a difficult time for us as a family.

It has not been good and there have been times when I have had to use some tough love

and I have not let him in the house when he came home high on whatever.

He has had to sleep in some pretty unconventional places when I did not let him come home.

Tough love…. It is hard on a mother…… He always told me I was “too easy”.

So being 'hard' is not 'easy' for me.

I have been filled with fear, despair and more fear.

It really had become too much for me to bear alone.

In all this fear and despair, it hit me - crap, crap, and crap again – wake up – You know better -THINK –

I had an epiphany and in that moment, I realized that I shouldn’t bear this alone.

Why, because my son is a child of God. He is not MINE alone.

God has great plans for him and has HIS name written in the palm of his hand.

I have told him this for 20 years and forgot the words I said.

Fear and despair masked hope!

The burden was not for me to bear alone!!!

I had a bigger and better partner to bear this burden with.

I realized I really had to ‘let go and let God.’

So I started praying and I will share with you the prayer.

I have prayed this constantly for my son.

Someone told me that it was a powerful prayer to pray for yourself and/or someone you love.

Here is the prayer and I want you to know it because like my son,

I am substituting your name in it

and praying it for you!

It is from Colossians 1:9-14

For this reason, since the day I heard about you,

I have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of God’s will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

And I pray this in order that you will live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way,

bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,

that you be strengthened with all power according to God’s glorious might

so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully, you will give thanks to the Father,

who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of all the saints in the kingdom of light.

For he has rescued you from the dominion of darkness and brought you into the kingdom

of the son he loves, in whom he has redemption and the forgiveness of sins.

I have prayed this all the time for my son now and I see a miracle happening.

He has a job, he has not come home high and we are becoming a loving family again.

Could it really have been that easy – to let go and “Let God”.

Have faith and let go to a power Greater and Higher than us?

I share this because I know that you are not in the best place at the best time.

If you are struggling with something, worry about someone, wish for something, do what I did.

Try some prayer.

If there is something you want, something you need or something you desire,

pray and “let God”.

Wait on God.

Here is a page from my bible that I found through all this.

I must have gone to this page many times before in my life in bad times and at some point circled some key words. I want to share it with you.

I consider you my far-away friend and I trust you enough to share my personal stuff.

I have this thing I do when I pray and ask God to give me direction.

I pray and then pull out the bible and then kind of let it fall to ‘wherever’.

Here is the funny thing! it always falls to a page where I can read an answer to my prayer.

Try it sometime! On this page I scanned. Do you notice the keyword? It is:”” written over and over.

I am sharing some personal stuff here but I am doing it, not for me, but for you!

! I want you to know that in your most difficult and trying times, Give it up to God.

Wait on God.

God is Faithful!

God will give YOU a miracle.

Pray, pray and pray some more.

He answers prayers.

God has Great Plans for your life.

He loves you so much that he wrote your name on the palm of his mighty hand.

So the next time stuff happens and it gets you down,

remember this the next time you have a doubt or someone says to you,

“Who do you think you are”, answer with:

I am the light of the world

I am the salt of the earth

I am a child of God

I am a joint heir with Christ and all the saints

I have the power of the Holy Spirit

I have been delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the Kingdom of Christ

I am chosen of God, wholly and dearly loved!

So my dear, dear friend, I will leave you with this promise.

God Loves YOU

God will give you a miracle.

Humbly,

S

Hi There Soldier!

I hope this letter finds you safe and secure and all you love and cherish safe, secure, happy and healthy.

You know I keep saying that we are strangers because – well we are. I am an unknown person who writes to you and you are just an unknown person to me. I know we don’t have anything in common.

Writing to a stranger is hard so I have to make it work for me as well as for you. It is weird sometimes. See, I am a ‘thinker’ and have to analyze everything – it makes me crazy sometimes!

I don’t like calling you a stranger. I bare my heart to you so if you don’t mind we are going to move on to friends. I hate talking to strangers. Theoretically, in my pea brain this is how we jump from strangers to friends.

One definition of the word friend is: a person who gives assistance; patron; supporter. Well, going with that definition I feel that I definitely fall into the definition of a friend.

I hope you know by now from all my letters that I am here for you as best as I can be with you there and me here. You have my complete and total support. Also,

I believe in you.

You are a brave, courageous, strong and honorable person. I wish, hope and pray that you have an abundance of blessings. I wish for you an abundance of joy, happiness, prosperity. I know that God has Great Plans for your life!

I trust you with my life.

That is a heavy statement but the truth of that matter is that without you protection, my life and the lives of all of us would be in jeopardy. You fight for our freedom.

I am here for you.

If there is any way I can help you while you do the most difficult job of your life, let me know. I am here for you as best as I can be. I may not be able to do much, but I will do whatever I can for you.

And always know that I pray for you always.

Continually!

So therefore, by that definition, I hope you would consider me your friend!

Being the ‘always questioning intellectual’ that I am.

I had to go further with this definition.

Our NEW friendship was halfway explained.

Again, I went back to the stranger thing. We have never met. We are strangers but now you can say I am a friend to you. But you are still a stranger to me!

Then it hit me - - (always happens with a BAM ). The problem is fixed! I found the rest of the puzzle.

You see there is another and better definition of a friend.

Jesus tells us what a true friend is:

John 15:13 (New International Version) ^13"Greater love has no one than this - that he lay down his life for his friends."

Now in that content, I was blown away.

According to the greatest man to ever live, You, brave and courageous soldier are a friend to all whom you fight to protect.

You would put your life on the line for ME! Not just me but anyone of US - all of us!

Your life is at threat each and every day. You would defend my freedom - our freedom with your last breath. Your bravery, dedication and commitment to all of us and your country -

humble me!

Jesus said that I could ask for no greater love..............than a friend who would lay down his life for me.

That is you Soldier.

You are the very best kind o f friend that a person could have.

So now we are friends!

Always praying for you,

S

Defeating Fear, Discouragement and Despair

My dear Soldier Friend,

I hope this letter finds you safe and secure and enjoying some semblance of happiness where ever you may be!

This was a bad week. I won’t go into all the details but needless to say, it involves the one I love the most – my son. This week was very bad and I became full of fear, discouragement and full of despair for him.

Again, you have so much to be concerned about that I don’t want to go into my details nor burden you

but through my suffering, I want to offer you encouragement.

We all feel fear, disappointment and despair but God says that we are NOT to give into these feelings.

When I am overcome with despair, I have to pull myself out of that and remember what God tells us.

God tells us that we should never surrender to feelings of disappointment, fear and despair and that we should never allow despair and fear to overcome our spirit.

We should know and remember that it is the love of God that will pierce all darkness, despair and fear.

I It is the love of God that will soften all our sorrow.

And it is the love of God that will soften and gladden our hearts.

Can you imagine feeling despair, disappointment and fear without know the love of God? There are many who go through life not know this love or even knowing about God.

This I cannot imagine!

I have cried and prayed to God from my earliest memory and If I did not have God to run to in my darkest hour, I would not survive, I would not conquer and I would not be delivered from despair and fear.

It would run rampant inside of me and I would never be free.

In my darkest time, I read God’s words and know that he will deliver me:

II Timothy 1:7 - For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Romans 8:15 - For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

I John 4:18 - There is not fear in love: but perfect love casts out fear; because fear hath torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love.

Psalm 91:1 - He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Psalm 91:4-7 - He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shall thou trust; his trust shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shall not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flies by day; Nor for the pestilence that walk in darkness; nor for the destruction that waste at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

Psalm 91:10-11 - There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

Proverbs 3:25-26 - Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.

Isaiah 54:14 - In righteousness shallthou be established; thou shall be far from oppression; thou shall not fear; and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.

Psalm 56:11 - In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me

Psalm 23:4-5 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; they rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou prepares a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou anoints my head with oil; my cup runs over.

Psalm 31-24 - Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.

John 14:27 - Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Psalm 27:1-3 - The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Through a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise up against me, in this will I be confident.

Romans 8:29-31,35-39 - For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first born among many brethren. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors though him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Hebrews 13:6 - So that we may boldy say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

So I only share this to give you hope.

If you have have trials and tribulations, you will overcome. God is faithful.

He wants you to live your lives abundantly.

If you suffer at times from discouragement, loneliness, fear, and despair; know that God is with you.

He is faithful and if you call on him he will deliver you!

This I promise!

So I will leave you dear friend with these thoughts.

Be HOPEFUL! Be HAPPY!

God loves you and he has Great Plans for YOUR Life!

Your humble friend,

S

How to fulfill God's Great Plans for your Life

Hi my Soldier Friend!

I have been praying for you all week. I do hope that you are safe and secure and as happy as you can be considering your circumstances. I understand the weather in Iraq and Afghanistan is in the 90s-100s. Ouch!

Here in Pennsylvania, it either rained or rained.

We had a few sunny days. This week it is down in the 70s. My favorite time of the year is the fall. Leaves are already starting to fall here.

I have been reading a very good book by Max Lucado called Cure for the Common Life.

Mr. Lucado writes about identifying your own uniqueness and finding what he calls your sweet spot. You know in every letter that I write that I tell you that God has Great Plans for YOU. But I never say how to figure out what those plans are. So I will now try to do that.

God has great plans for me too . The problem is that I knew what they were but wanted something more exciting! I wanted what I wanted not what God planned for me. So in this struggle of what I wanted and what I was destined to do was a big struggle and I wasted ½ of my life fighting God. Now I get this panicky feeling because I feel like I am running out of time! I wish better for you.

Any way, back to Mr. Lucado. He says that God gives assignments to people “to each according to each one’s unique ability” Matt. 25:15.

He says to look back on your life and find what you have consistently done well. We are made to do ‘something’. We need to find our uniqueness. He quotes that “The Holy Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others” 1 Cor 12:7. He says not to worry about skills that we don’t have but extract our uniqueness. That is heavy stuff. Some people are just born to do a certain thing. Like an artist, musician, teacher, or oh yea, a soldier .

He ends the first chapter with:

Use your uniqueness (what you do the best)

To make a big deal out of God (why you do it)

Every day of your life (where you do it)

Mr. Lucado calls it our ‘sweet spot’. I see it as God’s Great Plans for us.

In another chapter he quotes from Psalm 139. “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, you (GOD) saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Mr. Lucado says that God did not drop us into the world defenseless and empty- handed. He formed us perfectly and fully equipped. We dull our lives by missing this point.

In other words His Design of YOU defines YOUR destiny. This is important because in order to fulfill God’s great plans for us, we need to know what he made unique in us for his purpose and do it every day of our life.

I am reflecting on this because I feel it is important for your life.

So that is why I tell you about God’s great plans for YOU. Don’t waste your life wandering around aimlessly. Figure it out and find your uniqueness and fulfill God’s plans for your life.

Can you fill in these blanks:

I (God) wonderfully made _______________. I have made him __________, and ___________, and

_______________, and __________________. He can ___________and __________and___________

And __________ exceptionally well. I will use him to _____________, and __________ for my (God’s) Glory.

For me it would be:

I wonderfully made "S". I have made her kind and loving and gentle and strong and intelligent. She can listen and research and learn and troubleshoot problems exceptionally well. I will use her to raise a child and foster other motherless children and mend broken hearts. I will use her pain and suffering for the good of others.

That is me and I am finally ok with his plans for me. Humble but Great in it’s simplicity. i remind myself all t he time that I am finally ok with it.

So, blah blah, here I am going on rambling again but I just did not want to tell you over and over again that God has great plans for you and then you not know what that means for your life.

So young soldier, reflect on this.

It is important for the rest of you precious life! Don’t waste time trying to be and do what you are not and should not be doing. Don’t fight God’s purpose in your life. Know it and live it.

As God says in Jeremiah, “Before I made you in your mother’s womb, I chose you. Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work”. Jeremiah 1:5

Again , I am praying so hard for your safety. I pray that you come home healthy and whole!

I pray God is with you when you are conflicted with his word and your fight against evil. He knows your thoughts and hears you and is with you always. Did you know that God hears our cries and sees our tears?

So to the Holy Spirit come to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Holy Spirit himself goes to meet our supplications to God and PLEADS on our behalf with unspeakable yearning and groaning too deep for utterance. Romans 8:26

Not only did Jesus die for us but he left his Holy Spirit in each and every one of us for our comfort and protection. And that Holy Spirit hears our cries and pleads with God on our behalf.

Your prayers are always heard. Always.

You are brave and strong and courageous and honorable. The pride I feel in knowing you and praying for you overwhelms me at times. Thank you for being a friend to me! Also, is there anything you need? Just let me know.

If I can I will get you what you need. Don’t be afraid to ask.

I live by this motto, “the more you give, the more you get”. I am here for you.

Humbly,

Ps. In your prayers can you pray for my son. He is lost and his life is becoming a disaster. Ask God to give him direction in his life. I love him so much. Thanks