SONSHINE: Reflections of Memorial Day Weekend

I set the alarm for 4:00 a.m., Thursday night before Memorial Day weekend. Excited about the trip to Wyoming and a chance to fellowship with Jack. The whole trip was turning into adventure.

I awoke unexpectedly at 2:00 a.m. and since I was wide awake, I decided to get up early.......I turned on the T.V. trying to catch the weather but instead came across a program honoring Medal of Honor recipients. I spent an hour listening to them retell their stories. Most were unable to do so without great emotion, all were by now old men....their wars spanned WWII-Vietnam. ALL, had this humility about themselves, realizing their lives had been spared for a reason. They often refered to prayer and God. It didn't take long before I was making spiritual comparison's with all their words and crying right along with them....here are a couple of quotes:

"This medal is not mine; I hold it in trust for all those who never got to be grandfathers."

" There is a price that was paid for our freedom, a sacrifice was made for it. I represent those who did the same thing I did but didn't live to receive the honor........after I made it back to France, I came to the gravesite of each one and there I honored them ..........in my heart."

"I hold it in trust"......."there is a price that was paid for our freedom".........."I honored them in my heart"........... how these words brought me again to the cross and to all those who have gone before.

I have witnessed such a dishonoring of my savior these last months on several forums. I've come to a clear understanding of the meaning "my soul is vexed".

So much puffing up about mens callings and giftings. I still feel raw and torn in my own heart over the dishonoring of Jesus. Men who died on the battlefield were given more honor by their brothers than some of these-whose creator stooped to give his ALL. I smarted again and cried.... With these thoughts, I hurried to catch my flight.......I had not factored in the holiday and was surprised at the crowds.....I made it to my gate with five minutes to spare, the last passenger to board before they closed the door.........Whew! The Lord knows how to get you where he wants you and share his heart with you at the same time......LOL

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My cell phone rang after I had been on the road to Jackson about three hours. Jack laughed as I shared how the Lord allowed me to rethink my "California Lead Foot" tendencies.........he said he was cooking dinner for me and needed my expected time of arrival.

New experiences all the time.........a guy making dinner for me! He certainly can cook and I enjoyed the spare ribs with all the trimmings.....Mmmmm!

Next morning we were up early to see the wonders of Wyoming. Just two streets from the house a crowd was gathering, cameras out........Jack said, stop!, we got an animal. So with camera in hand I joined the crowd, alone.

Seems Jack has an aversion to being a tourist (or with one)...and my Utah license plates made me that. Also got me the nickname UTAH, everytime I missed a turn or jumped out to take a picture.......lol

So, he missed seeing a little fox with five kits playing on the meadow next to the road. I learned from a mom who was standing with her children that the moma fox is called a vixen.....and the male fox? Well, he's a dog........ some hidden meaning I'm sure for all you symbolic types....LOL......I would visit my little fox (sans Jack) every morning. Twice, she came off the meadow and walked right in front of me on her way to the grocery store,(I think) stopping long enough for me to get a few shots of her.

My heart still thrills at all the sights I shared with my precious Jack over the next few days.

Meeting his friends and family, sharing my family recipes with some appreciative dinner guests, the Jackson Hole Theatre and a tour of the Grand Teton National Park. Yet, the sweetest time of all was when we saw and heard the Lord in each other. As I did with this precious life, Crissy and her beautiful family.....

It's been a long time since I was able to share my heart face to face with those who are alive in the Lord and on the same journey. All the wonder and beauty of Wyoming pales alongside it.

Just so you know what I was comparing it with, here's a few more pictures of this wild and wooly land......lol

Thought I was in Africa when I came around the corner and spotted these Pronghorns...........'twas beautiful indeed. As my father stooped to share his creation with me...........I felt his kiss......how I love him.......
Joian and Jack

Joian Ruth Schroff

God is good. And Joian, more than any of us, knows this. Our sister, and my best friend, rests in the Father's bosom, today. Dear Joian's sojourn, on earth, ended early last winter, after a period of illness.

Together, Joian and myself began "SONSHINE" in "07". Last June, we took our rest from the blog.

Great battles, were waged this last year, by both Joian and myself. One was taken and one was left. Neither, the taking, nor the leaving, lacks in His perfect providence, afforded each. I can't explain, nor fully understand, how each can be perfect. Never the less, I do know, Joian understands it perfectly.

Today, Joian, more than any, knows God is good.

Jack

PS. Thoughts of your joyful rest relieve my tears, tonight. I miss you, my friend. I'll see you soon.

Great Quotes

Those who believe they believe in God but without passion in the heart, without anguish of mind, without uncertainty, without doubt, and even at times without despair, believe only in the idea of God, and not in God, Himself. Madeleine L' Engle
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"If anything about my salvation or right standing with God depends on my faithfulness, I'm toast, damned to hell." Gavazzoni
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Any infinite Being who feels it is their duty to torture me for eternity, should switch to decaf. Joe
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Everyday people are straying away from the church and going back to God. -- Lennie Bruce
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"He took responsibility for all the evils that have befallen man that day He gave His life. This has never been adequately appreciated by religion. It needs to be appreciated." (Roy)
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"Isn't that what man always wants- a divine force he can control? That's actually the definition of witchcraft." (Florian)
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"Christianity is not about polyester and pot roast. It's about Christ and what He's doing in you and me at the moment." (Holly)
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"It's his life for ours. We die, he lives, and then the mystery is that we live again." (Joian)
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"God's Spirit, is a pure motive" (Cardinal)
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"I would rather train twenty men to pray, than a thousand to preach. A minister's highest mission ought to be to teach his people to pray." (H. MacGregor)
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Pretty soon, everybody will get what they deserve, which is Salvation, Reconciliation, Restitution, Restoration, Immortality and Incorruption - now ain't that the coolest thing! (Keith)
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The bible is not an owners manual and trying to apply it to our lives reeks of salvation by works. (Cam)
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I live all the daytime
In faith and in might
And in holy rapture
I die every night (Novalis)
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Where shall we find an abandonment that is as comprehensive as the will of God. (Fenelon)
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He wanted no one but God to witness what he did, just as the only reward he expected was God Himself.(description of Bro. Lawrence)
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The humility of the cross became more desirable to him than all the glory the world had to offer. (description of Bro. Lawrence)
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Prayer is helplessness casting itself upon power; it is misery seeking peace; it is unholiness embracing purity; it is hatred desiring love. Prayer is corruption panting for immortality; it is the eagle soaring heavenward; it is the dove returning home; it is the prisoner pleading for release; it is the mariner steering for the haven amid the dangerous storm; it is the soul, oppressed by the world, escaping to the empyrean, and bathing its ruffled plumes in the ethereal and the divine.(unknown)