bad to the bone...

So, I was organizing the "office" slash" "dump" room today as Ben rested. It is full of office stuff, all Ben's exra supplies, boxes of medical records, pictures to be hung, goodwill piles and so many other random pieces of junk! I had to go through alot of Ben's Army stuff and found some things that really meant alot to him and I.
I also found another box of cards that people had sent us early on after the accident! I will have you know that I have saved every card that has been sent to Ben and I as get well soon, encouragements, hopes, healings and so on! They almost have filled a huge storage container. It was good to read the older cards because it reminded me of how far Ben and I have come! God is Good!

I found a notebook with some information for Ranger families before deployments how we can be prepared for our men to deploy. I was pulling the info out because it was dated and landed upon an amazing short story that was placed in there! I almost missed it and I am glad that I didn't! I don't want to gloat or be all high and mighty but as Ben would say about his Ranger wife, "you are bad to the bone!" I would have to say this about more then just me! There are alot of other military wives that I have met that meet this same standard! I almost teared up as I read it because I knew that it was something that Ben would share with me! So, here's to ALL the amazing wives that I know and the ones I don't...

The Ranger Wife...
The good Lord was creating a model for the Rangers wives and was into his sixth day of overtime when as angel appeared. She said, "Lord, you seem to be having a lot of trouble with this one. What's wrong with the standard model?"

The Lord replied, "Have you seen the specs on this order? She has to be independent, possess the qualities of both father and mother, be a perfect hostess to four or 40 with an hour's notice, run on black coffee, handle every emergency imaginable without a manual, be able to carry on cheerfully, even if she is pregant and has the flu, and she must be willing to move to a new location 10 times in 17 years. And oh yes, she mush have six pairs of hands!"

The angel shook her head. "Six pairs of hands, no way!"

The Lord continued, "Don't worry, we will make the other Ranger wives to help her. And we will give her an unusually stong heart so it can swell with pride in her husbands achievements, sustain the pain of separations, beat soundly when it is overworked and tired, and be large enough to say, "I understand," when she doesn't and say, "I love you," regardless!

"Lord," said the angel, touching His arm gently, "Go to bed and get some rest. You can finish this tomorrow."

"I can't stop now," said the Lord! "I am so close to creating something unique! Already this model heals herself when she is sick, can put up six unexpected guests for the weekend, wave goodbye to her husband from a pier, a runway or a depot, and understand why it is important to he leave."

The angel circled the model of the Ranger wife, she looked at it closely and sighed, "it looks fine, but it's soft."

"She might look soft," replied the Lord, "but she has the strength of a lion. You would not believe what she can endure!"

Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheeck of the Lord's creation. "There's a leak." she said. "It's a tear."

"A tear? What is it there for?" asked the angel.

The Lord replied, "It is for the joy, sadness, pain, disappointment, lonliness, pride, and a dedication to all of the values that she and her husband hold dear."

"You are a genius!" exclaimed the angel. The Lord looked puzzled and replied, "I didn't put it there!"