A Mighty Fortress

Here's my hubby singing Luther's "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" on Reformation Day! We didn't even realize that October 31 was Reformation Day...the song was so fitting. He sang it at our church for a fundraising dinner/concert for a mission's team that will be headed to Guatemala in February. Enjoy!

My apologies for the unsteady hand and rustling...my children had just eaten chocolate cupcakes! Need I say more???

http://www.youtube.com/user/jwmellette#p/a

Remembering an American Hero

I found this really awesome website that honors our troops in a very special way. Please check out this link...

http://freedomremembered.com/index.php/pfc-brandon-m-styer/

I was pleased to see so many websites that featured Brandon, an American Hero...

http://www.militarycity.com/valor/4333999.html

A Link from The Washington Post led me to this one...

http://legacy.com/gb2/default.aspx?bookid=2577115241241

The recipient of the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star....

http://www.herobracelets.org/?p=2492

Brighter Days

On a rainy day, it's fun to reflect on brighter days!

Exaggerate

My 6th grade class has the word "exaggerate" for one of their spelling words. On Monday when I was explaining/defining the new spelling list, I gave this example for the word exaggerate...

"To exaggerate is to say, 'My husband is so hot, when I look at him my eyelids burn!'

True, he is hot, but my eyelids burning is a bit over-the-top!"

My "hot" hubby feels so bad for my students some days - he's sure they probably feel ill on a regular basis due to my "endearing" stories about my love for him!

The Joys of Being

Joy is my absolute favorite word. It's no surprise the Pretty Little Princess has JOY as her middle name! I just adore Joy - what it means academically: the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires; the expression or exhibition of such emotion; a state of happiness or felicity; a source or cause of delight AND what it means to me spiritually: it's not "happiness", but a personal decision to fully trust God - no matter the outcome or circumstance - and to exude the Delight and the Dweller of my heart - the Holy Spirit. I totally made that up, so if that doesn't make sense, forgive me!

Sometimes living "in this world" but desperately trying hard to not be "of this world" can get a little bit discouraging. Face it, we live in a sinful world. So, to encourage ya'll and to spread some joy, here are some JOYFUL BLESSINGS in my life...

Meeting a different physical therapist yesterday who just "happened" to be a Christian...how refreshing!

Okay, so I don't REALLY look like this, but after all those neck exercises, I FEEL like this!

Teaching at my Alma mater! I LOVED the time I had at home as a STAY-AT-HOME MOM, but I also LOVE TEACHING!

This is a picture of my one niece that I GET to TEACH! Not sure if she's too thrilled, but I am!

Living with my BEST FRIEND!!!

(Hands off, Ladies...he's MY MAN! I can just see my sisters rolling their eyes and getting upset stomachs!)

Being the mother to the TWO BEST CHILDREN EVER!!!

(I feel bad for the rest of you, but I'm just so blessed! wink wink)

A phone call from a college friend who lives in NYC,
An afternoon of silence,
A high school friend delivering healthy twin boys one-hour apart but on 2 different dates,
A Canadian friend announcing she's pregnant with #3,
A college friend - unable to conceive - and chooses to adopt,
A thank you note from a student,
An American Hero who died protecting our country & who is now enjoying God's presence,
An email from a friend,
AND YOU...my blogging friend!

There are SOOOO many other joyful blessings in my life, but there's not enough time or space on this blog entry to tell you.

What's a JOYFUL BLESSING in YOUR life????

Lancaster Online Tribute for a Great Hero

Conestoga Valley graduate dies in Afghanistan while serving his country

The phone rang Wednesday night in the Styer house, as it did almost every night.
Brandon Styer was making one of his regular calls home from half a world away.
The 19-year-old U.S. Army combat engineer was checking in from Afghanistan, where it already was Thursday morning.
"We're loading up," Styer told his dad, Terry. "We're rolling out on a 15-day mission. I'll see you.
"I love you, Pops."
Terry Styer said, "Me too, pal."
A few hours later, Brandon Styer was killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan.
Thursday, two soldiers in dress uniforms showed up at Terry Styer's Pennwick Road house. His wife, Diane, called Styer as he was leaving work and told him to hurry home.
"When I came in, I saw them standing in the living room," Styer said. "And I knew that was it."
Friday night, the Styer family drove to Dover, Del., to greet Brandon's body as it returned to the United States. Next week, they will bring him back to Lancaster County for a funeral and burial.
Then the community will say goodbye to the handsome kid with the big smile, the uncle who liked to pretend he was the Incredible Hulk, the role model who played football in his camouflage uniform with elementary school kids, the friend, the brother, the twin, the son.

Brandon and his twin sister, Alyssa, were the youngest of siblings that include another older sister, Angie Bauza of Lancaster. He lived with his dad and stepmom, Diane, while going to Conestoga Valley High School.
At CV, Styer played right field for the baseball team and wrestled at 152 pounds.
He injected spirit into everything he did.
Wrestling coach Trent Turner said, "Brandon will be remembered for the lightheartedness he brought to the wrestling team. Training for and competing in wrestling can be grueling at times, but Brandon often did it with a smile."
Styer's dad said his son was enthusiastic about a lot of things: his beloved bright-blue Mazda RX-8, girls, his friends.
He brought the same energy to his service in the Army, enlisting during his senior year.
"He came home one day and said, 'I'm going in the Army,' " Terry Styer recalled. "That's all he wanted. That's all he thought of. That was his life.
"He loved it."
Brandon Styer loved the camaraderie. He loved the excitement.
He did his basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri and then went to Fort Carson in Colorado for additional training.
In March, he was shipped to Iraq, where he spent seven weeks before being transferred to Afghanistan.
In both countries, he worked from an armored vehicle called a Buffalo, clearing roads of improvised explosive devices, or homemade bombs.
Styer was frustrated by the way war was waged in Afghanistan. Militants often would fire on U.S. troops and then use women or children as shields to prevent troops from firing back at them, he told his dad.
"He said, 'I will not kill a child,' " his dad recalled.
Styer became good at his job, earning a commendation medal for a lecture he gave to Army officers on handheld land-mine detectors.
It was dangerous work, but Styer never seemed nervous or anxious about it, his family said.
"I told him every time he would call, I would say, 'Hey dude, keep your head down,' " his dad recalled. "He said, 'You worry too much.' He said, 'It's all good. We're protected.' "
Said Bowling, "He was not scared. He never talked negative about the experience. He loved it."
Last month, Styer came home for a two-week leave.
"ill be home in 1 piece," Styer promised on a Facebook page he had started called "Brandon Styer is going to Iraq."
He ended his post with the Army battle cry: "hooah."
•••
During his leave, Styer and his dad went to Florida for a week.
He also visited a class at Lancaster Christian School that he got to know through his stepmom, who is a teacher's assistant there.
Styer first visited the class last year, when it was in the third grade. Tonya Gerety's son, Reilly, is in the class.
"He came in his uniform before he left for Iraq," Gerety said. "He was just so sweet. He answered all the kids' questions. He took time afterward to go out to recess and play football with them."
Styer made a huge impression on her son, said Gerety, of Lancaster Township.
"That was the first person that Reilly knew at his young age who was actually fighting over in Afghanistan," she said. "It made it real, that real people are fighting for our country. He was really a hero for him."
The children wrote Styer letters, and he came back to see them again last month. Some of the kids had their photos taken with him.
While Styer was home, he also visited with friends and family, including his three nieces and a nephew, who range in age from 3 to 11 and called him "Uncle BZ."
Styer often pretended to be the Incredible Hulk.
"They jumped on him, they wrestled with him, all four of them," Bowling recalled.
The family went out to dinner and then stayed overnight together.
"The kids put on a play for him. My niece made it up," Bowling said. "It was about him being a soldier, and coming home."
•••
Just before he returned overseas, Styer got antsy. He was bored. He wanted to be back with his fellow soldiers.
He wanted to be doing his duty.
"He said, 'Hey, somebody's got to do it,' " his dad recalled. "He liked doing it. He loved his country."
A friend set up a Facebook account called "R.I.P. Brandon Styer" on Thursday night to let his friends post messages and photos remembering him on the social networking site.
One post from a friend repeats the Army battle cry, but in a bittersweet way.
"hooah, big guy," it says. "you will be missed terribly."
cstauffer@lnpnews.com

A True American Hero: Brandon Styer

Every day that I wake up

and am able to enjoy the freedoms I have,

a USA soldier should be thanked.

Today, I would like to publicly thank the parents a one soldier who gave his life in Afghanistan to protect our liberties and freedoms here in America.

That soldier was Brandon Styer.

I had heard so much about Brandon Styer from his step mom, Diane who raised him with her hubby - Brandon's dad - Terry. Diane never had children of her own

but loved Brandon as if he were her own.

I've known Diane all my life...years ago, she helped lead my sister to the Lord. Diane's birthday is one day before mine and as a young child - many times - Diane would take me out to dinner to celebrate our birthdays. She was my piano teacher long ago and in April she became Little Bear's piano teacher. In August, she became Pretty Little Princess' Kindergarten Aide at school. Needless to say, we love Diane and grieve with her, Terry, and Brandon's twin sister, Alyssa.

In September, while on leave, Diane brought Brandon to school to meet the students who had heard SO much about him. When I met him in the hallway,

Diane told me how most of Brandon's unit were killed in Iraq,

but Brandon survived

...I told Brandon -

"Wow! You're a miracle!"

I thanked him for his service, shook his hand,

and never dreamed that would be my first AND last encounter with him.

He was killed in Afghanistan this week.

Here is a YouTube in memory of our soldiers.

Would you take a moment

and pray for the Styer family?

Pray for peace, comfort and a calm in the storm....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36w8SWm0BAo

What a Wonderful Weekend

A weekend full of fun on motorcycles, 4-wheelers, and just being with family...

My sisters, Mom and Me - being silly!

Too Cute!

Precious!

My niece who recently turned 8

My parents with their 9 grandchildren

Everyone acting SILLY!

A Wonderful Time - Why Do Weekends Go SOOOO FAST????

I'm Still Here!

Sorry to be so neglectful on my blog, my friends!

It's been a whirlwind of a week!

After I last posted, I've found myself on the phone with insurance companies and then with doctors! When the adrenaline wore off, the pain came on FULL BLAST! It started out with pain in my legs but by the end of last week, that pain went bye-bye...Thank God! I guess the knots I felt in my legs were due to the extreme breaking when I tried to avoid the collision with the red-light-runner.

But, the pain I continue to feel is in my neck...groan! I went to my family doctor's who referred me to a physical therapist (P.T.). The P.T. said it's obvious my muscles are so tight...my left shoulder is higher than my right shoulder. That explains all those headaches! After the P.T. dug around my neck yesterday, I zonked out at 7:45ish p.m.! For a night owl like me that was record-setting!

Friday a week ago, I was praying with the kiddos on the way to school - it's a tradition we have every morning. On a side note - We always begin our prayer at the exact traffic light I had my accident. Anyways, that particular Friday, I had our children in the van with me - they usually go to school later when Daddy can drop them off. But, on that morning, they came with me and we were thanking God for my minivan - how reliable and dependable it is! I didn't realize that would be the last day I'd ever drive my children to school in that wonderful minivan.

Exactly one week after my unfortunate accident, God provided the most wonderful of vehicles for me and my family! A used SUV! and, I really like it! We were privileged to choose between 3 of the exact same SUVs - the only difference really was the color of the SUVs...We Americans don't know how good we have it! Little Bear kept pushing for the metallic blue one...and his vote won! Praise God with me as I am now driving around in another reliable, dependable vehicle!

God is so good!

But - to be completely transparent - I have my down moments...the Friday before my accident was actually my final day taking the medicine for that nasty poison I had....then, on Tuesday I was put on 2 meds for the pain in my neck and another medicine for a bladder infection - oh, yes! Just for fun - I got a bladder infection around the time of the accident! On a positive note...my tummy is doing better! I still have some leftover blood that still hasn't been absorbed back into my body, but at least the pain in my abdomen is gone! Praise the Lord!

Little Bear said to me today,

"What is God doing with you, Mommy?

First your stomach and now your neck!"

It's hard to argue with that, but the Holy Spirit gave me the words to say...

"He's teaching me lots of lessons and I'm thankful!"

Only God the Holy Spirit could give me the words to respond like that!

Romans 8:26 says it perfectly...in those moments we are at a loss and don't know how to pray because we don't know what God is trying to teach us...

His Word says:

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express."

"Thank You for groaning on my behalf!"