I Will Never Leave Thee

This week I'm finally getting to listen to a radio broadcast from Focus on the Family. It was a link that was shared with me from a friend on Facebook. This broadcast is the testimony of Darlene Deibler Rose who was a missionary during WWII. I've read her biography over and over again called "Evidence Not Seen". It has been a rebuke, blessing and encouragement to me every time I read it. To hear her speak was really special as well! I hope that you will take the time to read her book and/or listen to this broadcast.

http://www.drjamesdobson.org/Broadcasts/Broadcast?i=67964bcb-9101-4c79-8823-c6b85976459d

When you go to this link the recording is under October 3rd, 2012. It was played on the radio for three days, but it is about 75 minutes long. I hope it is a blessing to you!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving is drawing to a close in Okinawa. I am so grateful for the opportunity to thank God for the blessings that he has seen fit to give me. We had 8 Marines over today! One of the guys hasn't been away from his family for a Thanksgiving and so he was pretty quiet for most of the day. The rest of them were having a pretty good time playing on the Wii and getting thirds and fourths on food! :) They sure enjoyed the food and told me that it was just a little better than chow hall food (sarcasm). Haha! They were a bunch of jokers. :) One of them commented that the time was better than he thought it was going to be. Not sure what he meant by that, but I'm so glad they enjoyed themselves! It was like having 8 brothers here and it was a great time. It was a bit strange without another female in the house, but it was fun. :)

I realized after I closed out my last post that I didn't mention someone very important to me. My husband! Silly me. :)

Benjamin Corey Schmid. A name I love! When we met in the fall of 2008 I never imagined that four years later I would be sitting on my couch writing this. When God created Ben, he created the man I was to marry. The man who is my husband, partner, and best friend! I am thankful for the time that we have had in our friendship and marriage. I look forward to the future and what time God will give us together to serve Him!

Turkey News

This Thanksgiving will probably be the most unique so far of our marriage. It is only our 3rd, but still... :) This year we aren't with family, but we do have some special folks that we are having over to share it with us.

Thursday we will be having around 10-11 Marines (almost all of them single and the rest unaccompanied) over to our house. I'm excited for the opportunity to serve some guys who don't have family here. I feel privileged to be with my hubby here in Japan and I can't imagine what it would be like to be without anyone that you call family. We'll have LOTS of turkey, stuffin' and pie over at our place for a good ol' American Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for so much this year! It would take a long time to share with you what all is on my heart, but I'll take just a moment to share with you just a few of the people that have made my life sweeter and better than I ever could have imagined.

Family:
*Mom Brown - The woman whose strength and joy are an example to me
*Dad & Mom Schmid - The in-laws that I couldn't have handpicked better for myself
*Grandma Pashby - The sweet, loving grandmother that I have memories of from when I was very young
*Grandpa & Grandma Schmid - The wonderful grandparents-in-law that have made me feel as if I am one of their own grandchildren.
*Grandma Price - One of the first people I met after dating Ben and who opened her home to us in the middle of a snowy night so we could get to Canada and I could meet Ben's parents. :)
*4 Brothers - I couldn't have made it through life without these guys
*2 Sisters - Sweet, sweet sisters who are always there for me
*2 Sisters-in-Law - Who needs the 'in-law' part when they are practically family? I love these girls!
*1 Brother-in-Law - Well, Caleb...you're a swell guy. :)
*2 Nieces - Abby & Adi: I can't wait to meet Adi, but I love the conversations I have with both of these girls on Skype!
*2 Nephews - Thomas & Tommy: I love your unique personalities and I can't wait to play with you both!
*1 Unknown Nephew/Niece - I can't wait to meet you, little MacGill!! :D

Those who have passed away:
*Dad Brown - I sure do miss my Dad...especially around holidays. He was such a hardworking man and a lover of his family. I wish he could have met Ben and been around for some of the wonderful things that have happened over the last several years, but I'm so glad he is pain free in Heaven with Jesus!
*Lil' Squirt - You never truly understand the relationship between a parent and child until you have one. I'm amazed at how my heart can swell with love for someone I never met on this earth. Thank you, Lord, for taking care of our little one!
*Grandpa Pashby - There are so many things that I remember and love about Grandpa Pashby! McDonalds for breakfast when he worked there; toys at Christmas time; oranges (some of you know exactly what I mean!); his whistle and his wonderful jokes. Love him and miss him!
*Grandpa & Grandma Brown - I'm thankful that I at least got to know my Grandpa some before he passed away and I'm so thankful for the fact that their son was my dad!
*Grandpa Price - I did not know him personally, but I have heard about him so much from Ben that I wish I had. I know he is greatly missed by his wife, children and grandchildren.

I am THANKFUL!

The Silent Ranks

The Silent Ranks

I wear no uniforms, no blues or army greens.
But I am in the military in the ranks rarely seen.
I have no rank upon my shoulders. Salutes I do not give.
But the military world is the place where I live.

I'm not in the chain of command, orders I do not get.

But my husband is the one who does, this I can not forget.
I'm not the one who fires the weapon, who puts my life on the line.
But my job is just as tough. I'm the one that's left behind.

My husband is a patriot, a brave and prideful man, and the call to serve his country not all can understand.
Behind the lines I see the things needed to keep this country free.
My husband makes the sacrifice, but so do our kids and me.

I love the man I married. Soldiering is his life.
But I stand among the silent ranks known as the Military Wife.

 

- Author Unknown

Happy Birthday, Marines!!

On November 10th Marines will celebrate their birthday, but on Tuesday night we celebrated a bit early with our ball. This year the Marine Corps is turning 237! Here in Okinawa the balls for the Marines start at the beginning of November and go through early December because of the many units based here and the lack of a large enough building to do several in one. We had our ball at Camp Hansen (about 20 minutes south of Camp Schwab where my hubby works and about 30 minutes from home).

Ben was in the Sword Detail for the ball, so we got there a couple of hours before the ceremony started. It gave us plenty of time to talk to some folks, get pictures taken, and find our table. We were seated close enough to the front so that gave me prime opportunities to get some pictures of the ceremony as it was happening. That made me happy! :) Here are the pictures from our time at the Combat Assault Battalion Ball 2012.

Before the ball began.

Before the ball began.

Our table settings.

The band coming in at the beginning of the ceremony.

The Sword Detail - including my husband!

Ben in the Sword Detail.

The birthday cake.

The birthday cake on its way out of the ballroom.

The Color Guard.

Tashema (the FRO) and her husband, Herman.

After the ball.

Our friends, Scott & Meera Whipple.

In the car getting ready to head home!

Triple Decker Baby Shower!

This evening I am going to a baby shower for 3 different mothers! All three of them attend my church (Maranatha Baptist Church) and they are all having babies right around the same time. We are celebrating 1 boy and 2 girls! This morning I went out and found some adorable little outfits to help the kiddos look even cuter than they will be/are (not sure how to word that one since they are all in the womb still!!). :)

Here are the outfits:

All wrapped up and ready to go!

For the little boy who will be "Mommy's Big Man". :)

My personal favorite because of the adorable little hoodie! :)

Such a sweet dress!

This one deserved two pictures. :) The dress with and onesie underneath.

One thing I was thinking about as I searched through the cute clothing and toys this morning was about our little baby up in Heaven. If he or she had made it to this point we would be about 28 weeks along in the pregnancy. I would be "fat with a purpose" as my husband says. :) Some of you may be cringing right now thinking that I'm dwelling too much on my miscarriage or haven't moved on in life. Actually,  I am at the point now where I can think about it and talk about it without melting into tears or sitting on the couch staring at the floor wondering when things are going to be normal again. So, things are relatively good! The main reason Squirt came to mind this morning was that I would have been included in this baby shower this evening had our baby lived. It is just a bit strange to think about how different life would be at this point! I'm sure some of you can relate.

Chili, Candy, and Children

This week has been pretty busy for me, but it has been great! On Wednesday we had a Chili Cook Off on Camp Schwab. There were approximately 500-600 Marines and exactly 3 women. :) I was there to help (assistant to the FRO) along with Tashema (the FRO), and Carin (the advisor to the FRO). It was a day of success with 21 different varieties of chili and lots of other food present. It was a bit rainy, but the Marines playing football on the beach and corn hole never even noticed. :)

I got home that afternoon around 3pm and took a very restful nap before church. Being that it was Halloween we did have some candy on hand in case any of our neighbors popped over before church, but alas no one came by. It is a pretty rough situation because we had a lot of candy that we now have to eat ourselves. What a shame. :)

Wednesday night Ben and I were upstairs at church "in training" to take over the 4th grade class for Master Clubs (www.masterclubs.org). We are excited about this ministry opportunity as we will have around 8-10 kids to work with. They have a LOT of energy so a part of the time spent with them is corralling them. :) We are taking over for Eddie & Lisa Owens who are now going to be the leaders of Master Clubs at Maranatha Baptist Church. They are taking over for a couple that is retiring from the Air Force and moving back to the States in December.

On Thursday evenings Ben has a class for two hours after work, so I don't usually see him until around 8:30pm. To keep myself busy this week I went over to the Owens house to keep their 3 daughters busy while Eddie & Lisa went to their USMC ball. We ate pizza with stuffed crust (a new experience for L, H, and K), watched Anne of Avonlea (another new experience for the girls), and just chilled together. It was a lot of fun!

Today is Friday and I'm excited because we have this weekend together before it gets a tad bit crazy next week! Upcoming events: 237th USMC Birthday Ball on Tuesday, Officer Wives Fall Party at my house on Thursday, Teen Girls Lock-In on Friday night through Saturday morning, and much more!