Off to Iraq. . .

Above: Austin and Brittany at Ft. Hood, TX before his deployment to Iraq. . .

In her book, the Power of a Praying Parent, Stormie Omartian has a chapter entitled "Releasing My Child into God's Hands". . Omartian said that mentally releasing your child is one of the first and most difficult things parents must do. Yesterday was one of those days.

As Austin, our oldest son, deployed to Iraq for a year, my mind was flooded with memories of having to do just that. . . releasing him to the Lord time after time as he has grown to manhood.

My first memory of releasing him was the day when I took him to Kindergarten for the first day of school. We had visited the school the day before to make sure he knew where his classroom , the bathrooms, cafeteria, and school office were located. The next day, when I pulled into the school parking lot, he jumped out of the car, waved at me and said "See you later Mom, "and ran to his classroom. I was stunned . I thought, "You can't do that. .I need to walk you to your classroom, I need to hold your hand. . you need to cling to me and cry. . This is supposed to be emotional." Instead, I sat in the car laughing and crying at the same time. "Okay God, you obviously have prepared him for this day. I need to get out of the way." Little did I know that this incident would be a snapshot of Austin's life for the next 20 years.

The next big "release" came when he got his driver's license. . .I remember standing in the driveway, watching him drive off to school for the first time in an old red/white dodge truck with his little brother and sister in tow. I remember thinking "God, there go all my chickens in one basket. I don't have any choice but to trust that you'll take care of them." Everything in me wanted to jump in a car and follow him to school. . .but with the strong urging from the Lord, I turned and walked back into the house, and spared Austin from total embarrassment.

Another time, I can still remember where I was standing in church when Austin came running up to me at age 17 and said "Mom, can I go with Wes James on a mission trip to South Africa?" I said "No, of course not. . .you are too young." Dad said "Sure." I was overruled and that was a good thing. No one in our family had ever gone overseas on a mission trip and I just knew Austin was not ready. But I was wrong and again, I had to release him to what God had opened doors for him to do. And this happened several times during the next few years as he traveled to Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala, Kenya, Uganda and China. .

The next big "release" was when he approached us about doing ROTC in college and signing a military commitment. No one in our family has a military background, so the idea was pretty foreign to us. But there comes a time when a parent realizes that he is not the "quarterback" of his child's life any more. . .the parent is simply up in the balcony, cheering him on. And the other concept we had to understand that none of this was a surprise to God. If we really believed that God orders our steps, then we had to "release' and let God be God in each child's life.

Yesterday was another step in that journey. Watching him prepare to leave with 300 other soldiers was further confirmation that God has a plan for everyone and we may not understand it or like it; nevertheless, it is God's plan being carried out. Yesterday was probably more difficult on Austin than the other events of his life, because this time he leaves behind his precious new wife for a year. . .and that is the harsh reality of military life.

I guess the biggest thing I have learned from this journey is that Fear can be paralyzing in a parent's life. Satan will use fear to try and thwart God's plan for our lives and in the lives of these children that he has given us charge over for just a few short years. But prayer and studying the Scriptures goes a long way in helping us defeat the fear that whispers in our ears. If we truly believe Psalms 139, where God tells us how intimately he knows us and loves us, then Trust becomes the invisible rock we lean on for the difficult days. . . .

Thank you all for your support for our family and please say a prayer for Austin and Brittany when you think about it. . . it will be much appreciated.

60th Wedding Anniverdary

On Easter Weekend, April 12 2009, the entire Helwig family gathered to celebrate Bill and June's (bonnie's parents) 60th wedding anniversary on the Huckabee farm and various other places. . . It's actually kinda amazing. My parents have lived on that farm all of their married lives (except for 18 months in the 1950's--had to leave and find work because of the drought) and my dad has lived on the same place all his life. . .81 years. . .and the farm has been in our family since 1901. . .Here are some pics from the family- filled weekend. .




My Parents-- Bill and June Helwig, otherwise know as " Mimi and Pawpaw" .



The Entire Helwig Clan-- can't even remember the last time we were all together.

This is my brother Bill's family--kids, spouses, grandkids. . . everyone. .

Our family-- this is about 3 weeks before Austin leaves for Iraq for a year. Austin (24), his wife Brittany (21), August (18), and Georgia (21) .

West Texas Entertainment--shooting guns at metal targets. Jodee in action !

Georgia with Brandon and Erin's kids-- Faith and Ben. . . Easter was a lot more fun with them around!

Austin and Brittany just relaxing. . .

August and PawPaw

Chad and Heather's little boy Caleb. . .

It was a great weekend and we made lots of memories. . .


Having those kinds of roots can have advantages and disadvantages. . Yes, it's great to have a family and place to call home, but sometimes it can be turned into something that it shouldn't . . .One time, when I was struggling about selling our place on Helwig Road (where we lived for 12 years), I talked to Shawn Stoever, a Christian Psychologist and friend about selling my great-grandparent's house to an outsider (someone outside the family). . .and Shawn said "Anything that keeps you from making a wise financial decision is an idol". . ouch! So although I have enjoyed having "roots", I know that this world is not my home. . I am only passing through. . and as Jesus said "Who is my family? Those who do the will of my father. . . ."

Maiden Voyage. . .

I am creating a blog so that our friends and family, both immediate and extended can keep up with the latest events of our lives easily. . . .We are entering into a new season of life. . .Our oldest son- Austin leaves for a year of military service in Iraq on April 26th and his wife of one year, Brittany will be living with us. . .August, our youngest son has graduated from high school and is traveling all summer as a staffer with WorldView Academy. He will be traveling to 7 different college campuses in the Western USA from June 1 till August 12. . .and Georgia is completing her first year of nursing school, and has trips planned to Ghana (with Mom and Brittany) in May and a trip to China (with Dr. Dan and Linda Wilson and Kelli Criner). . .so with all of us being scattered in so many different directions, maybe blogging can bridge the gap. . .

We are definately NOT empty nesters right now, as we have 4 college age girls planning to live with us this summer - -Georgia, Brittany, Jenna Jones (one of Georgia's friends) and Breanna Irvin (one of August's friends), so the house will be busy and Todd is thankful that he has his motorcycle now so that he can ride off into the sunset when the female influences get too strong!

I guess the thing that God is teaching us the most right now is about "loving my neighbor" and "loving the one in front of you.". . .both concepts sound so simple, but yet how do we literally do it on a daily basis in our own neighborhoods and with people God puts in our path. . . .We've been listening to a lot of Frances Chan sermons lately (cornerstonesimi.com-- listen to the recent sermon -- "Gospel Conference #5" for starters, or any of the "Living a life That Matters" series or on youtube.com "Lukewarm and Loving it"sermon) and I don't have any answers yet, but I do know that I was so convicted about reaching out to my neighbors that I made muffins for all of them. . and the responses were varied. . some were excited and interacted for a while and some took the muffins and quickly shut the door. . but really, how can we do ministry in every other area of the the city, nation, world and not reach out to the people living closest to us. . .I have to confess that we have lived in this neighborhood for almost 2 years and we have had very few interactions with our neighbors. . .so here we go. . ."Loving our neighbors" literally, "Loving the one in front of you" as Jesus puts people in our path. . .and "Loving the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul and your mind.". . . .

Blessings to you and see you next time. . .

bonnie and todd