God desires for us to celebrate and rejoice, even during the difficult times. Philippians 4:4 tells us to, “Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice!” Notice we are called to rejoice in the Lord—not in our circumstances or in the people around us, but in our Savior.

This time of celebration may lack balloons and streamers, but it is no less significant. God continues to provide and sustain, giving us strength and hope for tomorrow. During this time, we can also look back at what He has done and rejoice in where He has brought us.

In football, we watch as our team completes a pass or a runner finds a hole in the defense and picks up some major yardage. We get excited watching the huge leaps of success as they strive for the end zone, but we also experience with them their struggles to make a gain of even a yard. When nothing seems to work as it should, and we watch the team pound against the defensive line exhausted and overwhelmed, we suffer with them. So as best we can, we continue providing support and encouragement from the sidelines.

During moments when we can only cheer in support, we cheerleaders understand; we have those days too. Cheerleaders, just like players, have days when they’re sore and fatigued or their stunts aren’t working as planned. Days when they repeat the same stunt over and over, yet they still can’t land it. Days when they get to the end of a cheer and can’t stick the “ta-da!” at the end.

I’ve felt like that cheerleader many times when the weather was great, the team wasn’t doing badly, but for some reason, I was just off. Nothing seemed to work the way it was intended, and I felt ready for the game to be over so I could try it again the following day.

In those moments, as we do with the players, we have to learn to celebrate the accomplishments, as minute as they may be, and rejoice in where God has brought us. Instead of hoping to survive and waiting until the next game or next season, we have to set our minds to enjoy the abundance God has set out for us that day.

Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). Satan’s plan is to thwart the abundant life God gave us and talk us into just surviving or waiting until a better time comes. God’s desire was not for us to have abundant life periodically, but to live in such a state all the time, to live abundantly in all circumstances, to be victorious today.

The celebrations become less about the yardage gained or the score on the scoreboard. They focus more on the strength, perseverance, and without a doubt, the awesome grace of our heavenly Father. We come to realize that the celebration is not about us at all, but about glorifying God and sharing with the world all He has done. Isn’t that how our entire lives are supposed to be, though? All about Jesus.

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Kori Yates, author of Olive Drab Pom-Poms, loves the challenge and adventure of military life. Married to a soldier, she seeks to encourage other military wives to embrace the awesome opportunity this life provides and to find God’s calling on their own lives. Kori lives with her husband, Kyle, and two children wherever the Army plants them, but their home, Lord willing, will someday be back in Texas. Visit olivedrabpompoms.com for more information.

This article is excerpted from Oive Drab Pom-Poms with permission from the author and publisher.

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A friend of mine’s Facebook status read:

“Jesus can’t get into our wounds and heal them, until we open them back up and deal with them…….”

I questioned whether or not she had to remind me of this information; needless to say I wasn’t in the mood to read it. However, I do know how true it is and I’ve found a new way to apply that to my life.

I’ve been a military wife for 12 years and something common within this lifestyle is:  “Riding on If” and “Saying Goodbye.” Neither one is pleasant. Riding on If leaves you wondering, asking, praying, begging, excited and frustrated. Imagine you are hanging onto the rope of a hot air balloon with lotion on your hands…you find yourself slipping in your prayers and begging for it to go this way or that way. Then you feel guilty for begging like a spoiled child in the candy aisle. Most of all, you feel selfish because you know IF it happens this or that won’t happen. It’s a big balloon filled with a beautiful mess.

Saying Goodbye to someone you have made a real connection and built a friendship with is heart wrenching. It is also something I’ve done my whole life. My mom liked to move a lot. I was always leaving some town for some new town, some new school. Back then, I hated it. Now, when I look back, I see God was molding, shaping and preparing me for the life I would lead as a military wife.

Our first base was an hour’s drive from family, so we did not spend much time on base. Yet, my husband constantly encouraged me to make friends. I thought he was crazy. I was happy. I had him, a beautiful baby girl and if I got lonely I went to Grandma’s…what more did I need?

Then our first moving day arrived; I was excited and pregnant! I didn’t think I had a problem with moving, but I had never lived away from my mom, who is my best friend. I traveled home a lot! That 23-hour drive was not easy with two kids, not to mention the havoc it wreaked on our finances and eventually our marriage.

I did not know how to make friends, how important they were or why my husband pushed the issue. I knew what friends we capable of doing to one another and I’d been hurt enough. I understood he couldn’t be my only friend and I was okay…or so I thought.

Before long the walls of our tiny apartment began to creep in on me. The new base was in a highly populated area and I was afraid. Afraid I wouldn’t find my way home, get stuck in the four feet of snow, or worse. Slowly, I made a couple of friends. Yet, no real deep connections were made. I lacked the desire to get out of my pajamas or fix myself up. My husband would come home and ask, “Are you going to get dressed today?” That should have been a red flag, but it wasn’t.

I was depressed.

We left for our next base; I had no one to say goodbye to and my marriage was in trouble. Two months after arriving at our new home I began counseling. Then, I took a leap of faith, a risk and I was scared! What woman in her right mind enters a room of forty women she’s never met? What if they didn’t like me? What if they talked bad about me when I left? What if they didn’t want me? I doubted constantly…but I kept on walking. God held my hand, and those women became some of my closest friends. Through them we found an amazing church family. My season in Ohio ended with a memory jar of a thousand precious moments, laughter, tears, love, prayers and the heart wrenching pain of goodbye.

I’ve been in a new season for three years. I’m currently riding on if and preparing to say goodbye to a friend as she moves to Alaska to start a new season of her own. I am excited for her and I am going to miss her greatly. I can already feel the heart wrenching pain of the looming goodbye and this morning when I sat down to write, my first thought was, “Lord, how many more times do I have to do this?”

Now, pools of tears gather in my eyes as I write and yet I smile. Thankful that I have someone to say “Goodbye” to and for the blessing she has been in my life.

Jesus healed the wounds that had been cut so deeply by others whom I thought were my friends, but I had to open my heart to him first. I have learned to take a risk, to walk by faith and how important real friends truly are. I didn’t lose anything…but my heart. It didn’t cost me anything…but my heart.

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Tonya VanWinkle is a daughter of the King, Air Force wife, Mother of 2, Pet owner, and Writer. She lives in flip-flops and dreams of sunshine, talks that twang, reads constantly and enjoys traveling, photography, and scrapbooking. She currently calls England her home. www.ourtravelinshoes.com

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AN “OFF ROAD” EXPERIENCE

It was a beautiful day!  The previous day at work was taxing and frustrating.  Intense lightning and downpours of rain filled the night before.  Today, however, was a new day.  I decided to begin with my favorite cup of coffee from the local donut drive-thru.  On the way, a phone call from a friend distracted me.  While talking with her, I pulled into the drive-thru of another restaurant.  No big deal, I told the order taker that I had pulled in by mistake and I was going on through with the traffic but not ordering anything.

It is not that I was impatient or even frustrated, but on a whim, I used my big SUV power and went over the curb instead of waiting behind the three cars ahead of me.  I tried to go up slowly so as not to attract attention.  No problem, all four tires up and over fine. I point out that on my side of the vehicle, there was green grass and lots of it.  What I failed to notice was the two-foot mud hole on the other side of my vehicle because of the overnight rain.  I moved forward and I was quickly becoming mired in this mud pit.  In sheer panic, I put the vehicle in “D” and “R” methodically while also trying to turn my steering wheel to find some traction. Then I could release myself from this dreaded situation.  “Dear Lord…you have got to be kidding!” I thought to myself as mud now slung on the cars behind me in the drive-thru.

After a few seconds of grinding my tires and going nowhere, I conceded that I was stuck.  Yes,…stuck in the complete sense of the word…stuck in a fresh mud pit right beside the drive-thru of a popular restaurant at peak breakfast hour. I slumped in my seat feeling defeated. I called my husband.  Just as I got off the phone with him, I saw three official-looking restaurant workers coming towards me.  I am not sure what they were thinking…maybe damsel in distress?…stupid driver?

In utmost of humiliation, I told them why I ended up “off road,” and when I thought out loud to myself, “What could possibly make this situation any worse?”, guess who pulled in through the drive thru?  My pastor!

“O God!  This is torture!  Now, I’ll be the illustration in Sunday’s sermon!” I shrieked.  My pastor looked bewildered and rolled down his passenger window to check on me.  I assured him I was fine, just a little embarrassed…okay, a lot embarrassed.  I waved him on, flashing a fake smile trying to reassure him.

At this point the restaurant workers tried to use some flat boxes under my tires to provide traction.  They pushed, I accelerated, and before long I was free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty I was free at last!

I made a complete idiot of myself and there was no one else to blame! Fortunately, the kids were not in the car or somehow, some way, it would have been their fault.  I believe that everything happens for a reason, however, and as I thought over this whole episode on my way back to work, I had an “aha” moment.  What a perfect example of God’s Word!  God provides us with a “path” to follow in life…a Guide.  In the book of Psalms, we read, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalm 119:105, NIV) We don’t have to go looking very far for help because God has provided the Bible. My experience serves as a reminder that when we get “off-road,” we can really run into problems. Yet, if we stay on course and trust Him at His Word, then at this journey’s end, we will hear the blessed words from our Lord… “well done, my good and faithful servant.”

**DISCLAIMERS: None. This is a true story…just ask my pastor.**

Laurie Elmore Thompson has an M.Div. in Women’s Studies from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. She is an author, inspirational speaker, singer & songwriter. You can visit her website at www.lauriethompsonministries.com.

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