Praying for Paul

Just click the TV on or open the newspaper and you will see the results yourself. The middle east is in a mess. Fact is folks that Paul Calhoun and Jeff Rebelek (Gene's son) need our prayers. As well as all the soldiers serving our country.

I recieved a phone call from Paul today. It was nice to hear his voice and to know that so far he is doing pretty good for being in a war. Paul mentioned that if all goes as planned he will be coming home the first week of December and stays through for all the holidays. Continue to pray that these last several months go quickly and out of harm's way.

A Vacation With Granma

I arrived here in Shelbyville, Illnois on a Thursday early afternoon to have a week long visit with my grandmother. It is now Wednesday the following week and this visit has gone much too fast. I am enjoying every minute I have with her and hate to see it end. We've enjoyed movies and going out to lunch together. A couple of times we've gotten quite goofy. I will keep those moments between Granma and I. Moments to look back on when we need a good laugh. I will say that I know a granma Garard that is different than what others might know her as. She is quite the character. What did you expect? I got my personality from someone in the family. I have to say after weeks of schooling this summer its nice to have a break. What could possibly be better than spending it with my favorite person?
Every morning we wake up with devotions. We've been reading out of Philippians. After Pastor Bob read the whole book to us on a Wednesday night service at church I was quite convicted. So I wanted to share my conviction with Granma. We are learning a lot together as we read through it. We also have daily readings that we go through. So we each take turns reading our "lessons" for the day. I have to say that its so enjoyable to have this time with her. I just love the fact that I have grandmother who is a Christian and has a passion for Christ. Its so nice and is a blessing that God placed her in my life.
As Wednesday ends I am reminded that there are still four days left of my vacation. Which means four days of silly nights with my Grandmother.

Praying for Paul

Paul called me on Friday the 14th and I have some good news to pass along. His hand is doing much better and he is able to use it again. He was quite excited that he could see his knuckles again. In the mean time continue to pray for the healing of his hand and his safety.

Praying for the Military

I just wanted to remind everyone that prayer is needed when it comes to praying for the men and women in the Military. Just this past Friday I had a friend leave for Iraq. His name is Will. I also have two cousins in the service who could also use prayer and lets not forget Paul and his brother, Dan. I know family and friends reading this can think of at least one person that they know that are in some branch of the Military. I have been reminded by these people that I know, of the struggles that they face everyday including death. I pray for the people serving our country as well as our President for God to give them wisdom. Lets all take time to pray for the men and women in the Military and those who are leading our country.

Here is a picture of Will:

Flowers from Iraq

I knew something was coming through the mail from Paul but I didn't know what. I talked to Paul last week and he told me that something was coming my way around the 6th of July. Dad had left the house around 11:25am and saw the box arrive but (of course) I didn't hear the man knocking. A couple of hours later dad gets home and brings the box in. I open the box and a dozen gerber daisies (my favorite flowers) were sitting in a vase all wrapped up. Each individual flower was wrapped. As I unfolded all the flowers and cut them and put them in water I can't help but admit that I had tears in my eyes and a big smile on my face. Attached to the box was a card that he had written something in. He hoped that recieving the flowers would brighten my day. They most certainly did!