A Son At War#8:On The Home Front

We are glad to have the major holidays behind us and continue to count down the days. I was told when my soldier left to stop watching the news but I'm the kind of girl that wants to know what's going on even if it's bad. So as I hear of attacks and the death counts, the first one I run to is my God who I know is also in Iraq. I am amazed even to this day the comfort and peace that the Holy Spirit kept me wrapped in. Garrett continues to travel through out the country which increases his danger and instead of being overcome with fear I am thankful for what God is showing him.

My second place to run to is our FRG (family readiness group). Our leader has become very dear to me as have several other's. This is a group made up of those left behind and we meet once a month to give each other support as well as our soldiers. Many meetings are spent putting together care packages for our soldiers as we talked. I consider our leader a gift from God and it is clear this is a ministry for her, she represents Christ well. You know to try to hold a group of women together under the stress of their loved ones being at war together is no easy task.

After the first couple of meetings I knew we were not all on level ground, that some of these precious women would be going this alone, without God. I couldn't imagine how they would get through the coming year so I ask God to let me make a difference. I quickly found out in a group of soldiers wives, the mothers are not welcome and to be fair I realize it would be difficult to talk openly about everything with your mother-in-law in the group but I couldn't understand why information about son's was not passed along to mother's waiting on news of their son. This didn't seem to apply to me because Garrett was not married, I tried to lead a mother's group but after the first meeting it feel apart. It quickly became apparent while our soldiers had gone off to war they had also left one behind and it broke my heart. I couldn't get my head around it. My daughter-in-law is everything I prayed for and more, I love her and she loves me. I know there will be times she will be less than pleased with me but she will love me because that's the kind of person she is. There is no mistaking who lives inside her, and who she has given control of her life. That's what was missing in these other relationships, God told husbands to cleve to their wives but does that mean you have to push your husband's family out?

How in the world could God use me to make a difference in this group? I continued to attend meetings and support the leader and there were those who had the same secret weapon I had, Christ. They were a blessing to me and became part of my family while we tried to be available to anyone who was open. God bless our leader, I would say I don't know how she did it but I do know. All the drama and fires she put out and continued to reflect the spirit of Christ, what an inspiration she is.

FRG is an important group and of course it will be a mixed bag of people. It's a mixed bag of people with a very important load to bear, to carry on at home and support their soldier. What makes a load easier to carry? Someone to help carry the load, we need each other. Be in the world, not of it while you let your light shine.