Thursday, September 30, 2010

notes of encouragement...


I made it. I thank the Lord for you, Katie. Waiting to open your letter was very hard, I waited till I was on the plane and O-man. Your letter was a great, great encougagement for me. You make me want to be a better man for the Lord and you. The way you told me that you see a good leader in me is better than any commander/leader saying good job. Telling me to stay in the word and pray is awesome. It shows me that you care as much as me about the Lord. I cant decribe how much that means to me. I had the hardest time watching you walk into the house. I cried all the way home and knowing that you were crying for me it killed me even worse. I can not help think of you all the time and when I will be able to hold you in my arms. HeeHee next time I will not let you win so easy in thumb wars. Well I have to go but I will write as fast as I can again

For My Angel,
Ben


This was written by Ben 4 years ago today. It was his first deployment that he left on since we had started dating. He was letting me know that he had made it and that he was safe. Two things that stood out to me in this e-mail. First, I had forgotten that we played thumb wars so long ago! We worked so hard on getting him to do it since the accident and he has been doing it for quite some time now!! God is good to refresh my memories and remind me of ALL the He is still up to!

The first part of this e-mail shouted out that Ben needs and has always needed encouragement! Every man does! Every man needs his wife to stand beside him (not behind or in front) and encourage him that what he is doing is good, he is strong enough for the task, he will suceed and that I do believe in him!
Bottom line...BEN NEEDS ENCOURAGEMENT!! I am asking a HUGE favor from all of you who read this blog and who are praying for us...
I have a door in his room that I want to see full of encouraging cards. If you are able please send a card to Ben that is full of words of affirmation, encouragement, scriptures or whatever else you feel led to write! I want to get as many for him as we can and show him how many people who care about him and that are praying for him! Right now is his phase of recovery he learns and remembers things by sight and step. I believe that when he sees all of these cards that it will be such an encouragement to him!
I will save all of the notes until Oct. 27th! Not only is this our 3rd wedding anniversary but it will make 14 months since the accident (it was Aug. 27, 2010.) I am hoping that we have a HUGE pile or cards to give to Ben and that it will fill the door in his room! If you feel led to join in on this then that would be much appreciated!!

Blessings to you all!!

***Again, I will save them all until Oct. 27 and then give them all to him at one time!!

11 comments:

Emily said...

I'll bring it up in my bible study and we can see about sending some cards out to him :)

Sandi said...

You are so awesome! What is the address to send a card to?

Anonymous said...

What a gift for your Ben to share his heart so fully with you. You have proven true to the trust he's given you. Y E S I will send cards to Ben. I am excited to see the door on the 27th. I truly appreciate the reminder of how much our men need our encouragement and standing by them. You are a gift, Marion

Michelle said...

Should we just send the cards to your Fisher House address or should we use a different one so you can surprise him?

Brenda said...

This is a GREAT idea! One thing.... where do we send them? I remember one post with an address but don't know which one it is and if that address is still the right one!

PS: Saw your mom at another NTHS game last night. A miserable ending where Rams lost in the last 34 seconds by one point. Poor Rams! It's cute; my kids say, "That Ben is Katie's brother. You know Katie, the one on that blog mom reads!"

Anonymous said...

May all our best wishes, good thoughts and prayers reach and comfort you.

Katie said...

I have been reading your blog for a while now and praying for you and Ben a lot. You are truly an amazing woman and such an inspiration. I would love to send a card to Ben. I will also ask some friends in my MOPS group to do the same. I will continue to pray! :)

Lauren said...

This is such a great idea. I will definitely send a card off once we get back to NC!

Anonymous said...

New follower here. Just wanted to tell you that my heart broke reading over the posts on the blog, learning what had happened to you and Ben. I had tears in my eyes though, reading through some of the posts that obviously showed your deep and abiding love of the Lord, and that no matter what happens, or has happened, you still trust in Him. So many times we are given a choice in life; we reach a crossroads where something terrible has happened, and we are given the choice to either trust in the Lord and believe that He is always there for us, that we can always lean on Him, or we can turn our backs to Him and blame Him for all our troubles. I applaud you for staying strong in your faith, for knowing even when the going gets tough, you are not alone. I just wanted to let you know just how much your story has touched me, and I will be a loyal reader. I would love to send a card of encouragement to Ben, and I hope you get many more.
You have my best wishes, and you will be in my prayers.

Lia

Candice Pair said...

You're a good wife!! He'll love it!

Ange said...

Found your story through "The Annoyed Army Wife". Your story touched us, and we would love to help out.

You will be hearing from us by mail.

SGT Jason Jackson
Ange Jackson