Memorial Day

Memorial Day 2007

The origins of Memorial Day, as told in the book "Victorian Family Celebrations", by Sarah Ban Breathnach:



"Let us return to Columbus, Mississippi, in the spring of 1866. The Civil War has been over for a year, yet Union soldiers still occupy the town. The fires of passion and prejudice that had consumed over 500,000 American lives between 1861 and 1865 still smolder in bitterness behind closed doors.



Just outside of Columbus is a cemetary where both Confederate and Union soldiers killed at the Battle of Shiloh are buried. On April 25, 1866, four young women pay a visit to the cemetery to tend the graves of lost loved ones and decorate them with memorial garlands of flowers.



After decorating the Confederate graves, the women walk over to a small plot where forty Union soldiers are buried. Gently they scatter Southern magnolia blossoms on the Northern graves. The news of this unselfish, compassionate gesture spreads quickly and touches everyone. Newspaper editorials praise this act of reconciliation and urge the nation to come together to mourn both the "Blue and the Gray".



Soon in many small towns all over the country, people were gathering at Civil War cemeteries and holding commemorative or "memorial day" services. Afterwards, there would be parades led by a brass band, the volunteer fire-brigade, and a review to honor America's veterans. Following the parade and patriotic orations, there would be a community picnic on the town common.



During the late nineteenth centruy, Decoration Day was a major American holiday and was celebrated with even more fanfare than Independence Day. This was because the Civil War had touched or altered nearly everyone's life.



Ironically, however, even though the country came together in spirit to honor America's war dead, the North and the South still managed to commemorate independently. In 1868, General John A. Logan, commander in Chief of the GAR ("Grand Army of the Republic", a union veterans' organization) designated May 30 as "Memorial Day", while the Daughters of the Confederacy held firm with the term "Decoration Day" and a date of April 26. Today, Memorial Day is recognized as a day honoring all of those who have fought America's wars and is legally observed on the last Monday of May."

We thank each of you who have served, and who are currently serving. We mourn with those who have lost loved ones in America's wars. Please take a moment today to reflect on the sacrifrices still being made by our troops and pray for their safety. The following is a poem that Farmgirl wrote for her daddy commemorating his return from Iraq.

"Army Boots"

I wait in anticipation at the airport.
Swirling, dancing, my memories collide.
Pictures, laughter, and tears are drowned in the remembered thump- thump.
The tramp of Army boots.
I try to reconstruct his face. The smooth, kind face.
The shiny dark hair, the sunny brown eyes.
But over it all I remember the thump-thump.
The tramp of Army boots.
Those irrevocable memories of those big, shiny wonders.
The sound of them thudding grandly through the door.
The tramp of Army boots.
I close my eyes, shut them against the cheerful, careless crowds that push their traveler’s gaiety on a mind in turmoil
And I wish for the thump-thump.
The tramp of Army boots.
The doors open, and streams of civilization pour in.
High heels click and tennis shoes “thwack” unceremoniously.
But I wish for it more than anything.
To hear the tramp of Army boots.
Then I see him. The somber tan among the gay bursts of vivacious color.
I flee, flee from memories into searingly wonderful reality.
My eyes take in the face. Lines criss-cross the hardened jaw.
Gray hairs cover the dark head of my childhood.
His eyes are still brown. But they are sad. Scarred.
My eyes burn with tears, my face burns in an agony of joy.
I take hold of his arm. It is hard. Harder than I ever remembered.
Then those hard, loveless muscles wrap themselves around me with more love than they had ever held before.
The same heart was beating. I could feel it against my pounding head. It was beating for me, for us, for our family.
As we left, he held me still.
And I could hear the same thump-thump.
The tramp of Army boots.


~ to my Daddy, whose heart still beats for me.

Some News and No News....

Welcome, Archie!
Farm Girl received an early birthday gift, and we are all enjoying this wonderful addition to our family! He is a miniature schnauzer puppy, named for Archie Forbes, the hero of GA Henty's book, In Freedom's Cause. (If you are looking for a good "living book" about Wallace and Bruce, we highly recommend this one.)

Training for AB is going well, just painfully slow while we endure his nightly absence. As my brother reminded me when I began to whine last week, at least he's not living in a plywood box being shot at by Iraqis every time he goes to work.... true! So we live quietly out here in this safe haven of contentment while he readjusts to life in the world.

The land has come back to life, and we are in the throes of a beautiful spring. The flowers are in bloom, the herb garden has exploded with new growth, we are eating the first of the wild blackberries, and Farm Boy stands at the hedgerow with his face in the honeysuckle till we pull him out. The country is at it's prettiest at this time of year. The downside is the grass, acres and acres and acres of growing, growing grass.... at least we have a mower! How did they do it in the "old days"?!

We are going verse by verse through the book of Mark at church, and weekly our family gains a deeper understanding of the complex beauty of Christ's character. Each week we move closer to a more biblical, and therefore accurate picture of our Savior. It has surprised me how the culture has quietly warped my view over the years. We are so blessed to be at GfBC.

On the adoption front ~ as the old saying goes, "No news is .... well, NO NEWS!" No, it is not always good news. The process drags on. We wait and hope, but see little progress. Frustration, despair, defeat compete daily for a place in our hearts. There is no shortage of children in China. There is no shortage of waiting, adoptive families. America has purchased this stand-off in large measure with the lives of untold numbers of aborted American babies who could be filling loving homes now. The cost is great in many ways when we go begging at the door of a foreign country, wallets in hand, for a product we cannot, or will not produce on native soil. Our comfort remains in the Lord, who places orphans in families, and will place another in ours in His timing. Patience is a virtue, patience is a virtue, patience is a virtue....


As we approach Mother's Day, we are so thankful to our moms for the sacrifice they each made, giving so much of themselves so that their children would not do without. Thank you, Mom and Mom! We love you. To my children, I am so grateful and thankful to be a mom to you both. Little did I know all those years ago that my joy, my fullfillment, my purpose in life was wrapped up in a word whose real meaning the world would cast aside...."motherhood". To my little one waiting, I hope that by next Mother's Day you will be safe in my arms. To my husband, who has given me life's best gift ~ being your wife, blessed to be provided for so that I can bring up my children for Christ... thank you.

To all who are ready to brave the late spring temperatures, come by and visit. We'll be waiting on the porch with a pitcher of iced tea ....................... At the Farmhouse

My Hero Changes Courses

March 31, 2007

US Army Behind, Continental Express Ahead

He will take no credit for this difficult decision. He will, if asked, give God the credit for his decision. He will also mention the faithful men of our church (and my older brother Tony), strong, consistent advocates for his welfare and for his family, who encouraged him scripturally when he began to see that the time had come to leave. He will grin with self-deprecating good humor and show you his gray-templed head and say it was time for younger men to go to war. All true, but not all of the story.

I am so thankful to him, and how proud of him, for this sacrifice. From the time we met, Alan demonstrated a deep, patriotic love for his country, for what it had been, and for what he hoped it might be again. In 1989, he left a civilian career as a civil engineer to attend the Army Aviation flight program. Twelve years and two war deployments later, Alan has turned his heart home, and I am so humbled and grateful.

Many things we lay down in this life are given up with relative ease. Others become part of the very fabric of our being, and removal is much like surgery, painful, with a slow recovery. Besides forfeiting that which he does best, there will be other personal repercussions from this decision. Yet not one negative word, not one sigh of regret has passed his lips. What an honor it is to be married to this man! I am more proud of him today than I have ever been.

Thank you AB, for your service to your country. Thank you for trying to impart a vision to those who have crossed your path over the years. Thank you for your faithfulness to share the gospel with your fellow soldiers, and those men you encountered abroad, while providing in every way for your family. Thank you for coming home. You are my hero.

"For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh."

Recently, we had the honor and privilege of celebrating AB's parents' 50th anniversary (see more photos at http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AatWTZozctXOw). As the years go by, too often marriages fall - physically to death or spiritually to divorce. So it was a true celebration to rejoice in a marriage that has stood the test of time. As their pastor said, "We seem to perform five marriages a week, but rarely get to see these milestones reached." We were particularly glad that our children were able to witness this occasion, to see the fruit of a lifetime commitment lived out before a faithful God. As we reflected with our children on the sacrifices and blessings of a godly marriage, we were reminded that in the "If you're not having fun then you're not doing the right thing" generation, the old saying "It is necessary to do right; it is not necessary to be happy" should still hold true. The beauty of a God-honoring marriage is that as we strive to persevere, to live out God's design, we are truly happy in ways that only He can provide.

Thank you, George & Eunice, for not giving in or giving up. You are both examples and blessings to your children and grandchildren. Now PLEASE take good care of each other so that we can do it again for your 75th.....

Upon returning home to Texas, we became fairly introspective. The entire event served as a catalyst for us to examine our lives as a family, to ask ourselves what sort of legacy we will leave one day. Are the goals we have set for ourselves, our children, our family well-defined? Do we have a clear "end game" in sight to focus on, and milestones and markers to motivate us? Are those goals man-centered or God-centered? What kind of multi-generational faithfulness will be exibited by the generations to come if we are faithful in the time we are given? Hmmmmm. We must stay focused, because all of us will not live to celebrate a 50 year wedding anniversary, or even a 50th birthday. Last week we received the terrible news that AB's instructor pilot from the maintenance test pilot course had been shot down in his Apache in Iraq, leaving behind a wife and two children. We take comfort in Psalm 139:16 "And in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them". And even as we grieve for their family, we rejoice and are thankful for the love and life we share with our family and friends.
Love from the Farmhouse. Thanks for stopping by...

New Year in the country

"To be glad of life, because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look at the stars, to be satisfied with your possessions, but not contented with yourself until you have made the best of them; to despise nothing in the world except falsehood and meanness, and to fear nothing except cowardice; to covet nothing that is your neighbor's except his kindness of heart and gentleness of manners, and to spend as much time as you can, with body and with spirit, in God's out-of-doors. These are the little guideposts on the footpath of peace." - Henry Van Dyke -

Happy New Year to each of you, now well into 2007. We are later than we anticipated updating everyone! To those of you who are more faithful (and quick) at sharing with us your goings-on, we thank you.

Christmas with no extended family was quiet, but sweet and good. For the first time, we observed Advent as a family throughout the Christmas season. The children made an Advent wreath and each night their daddy would read a Bible story or Christmas related devotional. Gathered around the table with the candles glowing, we sang a different Christmas song each week and contemplated with joy the upcoming celebration of the birth of our Savior. If you don't do this as a family, we highly recommend it. Amidst the stress and activity of presents and shopping and parties and concerts, it kept our hearts anchored.

AB's arm surgery went beautifully, and he completes his last week of physical therapy next week. Last call for anybody to try to arm wrestle him and win! He will be back to normal very soon.

Dear friends left us for extended educational opportunities in Florida, and though our hearts are heavy, we count the days till they return in three years.

On New Year's Eve we welcomed our awesome nephew back to Texas (see photo above). What a delight! We are always so sad to send him home.... somehow hoping that his mom will decide that gee, she doesn't really need this tall, mathmatically minded, equestrian son of hers after all, and why not just leave him with us! Alas, as with all good things, his visit came to an end too soon, but we loved every minute!

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW... We became the proud owners of a sweet old horse over the holidays. Friends of friends needed to find a good home for their aging appaloosa, Theodore "Teddy Bear" Roughrider Roosevelt. He is wonderful, a steady, dependable trail horse who dances for his supper (really!) and loves to have us nearby. Early in his life, he worked at a riding stable, so he is very patient and slow with the children. We laugh because every afternoon around 4 he shows up at the gate to eat... "senior citizen early bird special".

Come and see us soon!