2010 recap- Austin's Homecoming from Iraq-

When I look back over 2010, probably one of the favorite and most emotional events of the year was Austin's return from Iraq in April 2010.  His year-long deployment with the Army was something our family had never experienced, as we don't have any former military men in our immediate family.  

His departure had been delayed for 4 months, and the anxiety of him leaving and being  away from his new bride for a year was mounting.  The day we told him goodbye was one of the hardest things I have ever experienced, because not only was our family being emotionally and physically separated, but we watched as 300 more families were experiencing the same thing that day. 

Austin's new wife, Brittany moved in with us for eight months (which was a wonderful blessing for all of us), and we were able to talked to him fairly often on the phone.  We sent care packages each week.  The year moved quickly for us here at home, but I think it was probably the longest year Austin has ever experienced. Some days we could really hear the homesickness in his voice.  Austin flew home for his two-week break on Dec 5th, eight months into his deployment, so we were thrilled for him to be home during the Christmas season.  He returned back to Iraq a few days before Christmas, and his spirits remained good as he began the countdown to his return home date.

As April approached, we kept our schedules as free as possible as the Army does not give out definite dates when troops will be arriving home.  When we finally got a fairly firm date, we headed towards Killeen to wait. . We began our vigil at 9 pm and the buses with the troops aboard finally arrived about midnight on April 10th..

It was a sight to see.

Surrounding that lit-up parade ground were hundreds of family members holding welcome home signs, flags and flashlights.  It was a carnival atmosphere. . .The anticipation was growing as the announcer declared that the soldiers were almost there.  My favorite memory was of a pair of 18-month old twin girls in a double stroller near us who were fussy and tired as midnight approached. When the buses arrived carrying the soldiers, their mom leaned over to them and whispered to them "Daddy is here now". . .They straightened up in that stroller, stopped crying and they reminded me of hunting dogs "on point", leaning forward in their seats as they strained to see him in the sea of soldiers marching towards us. It was amazing to me to see that even at 18 months old, those little girls understood the meaning of the phrase "Daddy's home."

We saw young soldier dads being handed their own new babies that they had never seen before.  We saw teenage children almost tackle their dads and moms as they ran full force across the parade ground to hug them.  We saw young girlfriends and wives dressed up in glittery dresses and heels who were passionately kissing their soldier boyfriends and husbands. They didn't care who was watching.  We watched as parents greeted their sons and daughters with both patriotic pride and thankfulness that the deployment was over. And we also saw soldiers standing there alone, with no one to welcome them home, as their families were too far away to come for the ceremony. My heart ached for them.

I still can't think about that night without getting a bit teary. . .Never before have I realized the huge sacrifices that our military troops undertake by leaving their families numerous times during their careers to defend our country and to carry out orders given by our government leaders.Since that night, I have often said that every elected government official need to attend one of those gut-wrenching send-offs and joyful homecomings to fully understand  the effects those deployments have on military families. And I also have become fully aware of the need for those of us here at home in the US to support and care for the military families who are left behind. Life is more difficult for them than most of us can imagine.

Below is my favorite picture from that night.  It was the moment that Austin and Brittany were reunited.  That picture symbolized that the long year was over,  that they could move forward as a young married couple again, and that Austin was home safe and sound. Again, let us never forget the emotional and physical "cost" of our freedoms.

My Dad- Bill Helwig (1927-2010)

We knew the day was coming. . . 

Todd and I were returning home from an out-of-town trip when my mom called on March 2, 2010 to say that she was taking my dad to the emergency room for a possible blood clot in his leg. Dad's health had been rapidly deteriorating since last fall, after he fell and broke his hip and had a hospital stay of 38 days. However, he had rallied enough to go home by Christmas Eve, and was making a little progress in his walking and overall recovery day by day.

Dad, 81, was admitted to the hospital that day, and seemed to be doing fine until I got a phone call the next morning from my mom saying that Dad's health was failing fast and that I needed to come to the hospital immediately.  When I arrived, he has been revived by a "code" team and was very unstable, yet he was alert enough to say "Hey Bonnie, How was your trip?". Mom had to make some big decisions that day about his future health care, and because she and Dad had already discussed not doing any life extending measures, the medical staff let him slip into a coma and die peacefully that evening.

You get pretty reflective about life when you watch someone die, and lots of memories also come flooding back about your relationship with that person. Here are a few of my favorite childhood memories with Dad:

-Playing "Edelweiss" on the piano over and over for Dad.  I took years of piano lessons, and my dad enjoyed hearing me play probably more than anyone in our family.  He was extremely proud of his German heritage and this song was his favorite. . It's from the movie "Sound of Music".

-Going to the big livestock shows in Texas. . Dad was very competitive.  During our 4-H years, we showed Hereford heifers and steers, and he took great pride in us (my brother and I) showing prize winning animals.  He loved going to the livestock shows- -Abilene, Ft. Worth, San Antonio, Houston and San Angelo to compete and also visit with rural families from all over the state.  These families were some of our closest family friends while growing up. Doing 4-H and going to livestock shows are probably my best memories involving our family being together.

- Going to the Mereta Co-op Gin office. Dad worked at this same cotton gin and grain elevator for about 40 years.  During cotton harvest, I would often go to the gin office to see my dad, as he would often have very late nights and I would not see for several days in a row. The gin office was often full of coffee-drinking farmers who gathered once and sometimes twice a day for a break and to catch up on the community news.  These guys were solid rock kind of men- usually weathered, tough looking guys who often had good sense of humors and were great story tellers.  These were some of my dad's closest friends.

-Studying maps at the dining room table. Dad loved to travel, both outside and inside the state of Texas. Sometimes at night, he would drag out a Texas or United States map and name a city for me to look up, and then have me plot the best route to get there.  It was a great exercise in geography and it caused us to dream about places where we wanted to visit someday.

- Long wild car rides to Montana for vacations.  During my years at home, I think we made 3 trips to Whitefish, Montana to visit my mom's aunts, uncles, and cousins who lived there.  Dad would sometimes drive 800+ miles in a day to get there and he NEVER drove slow.  I remember driving up to Aunt Annie's house in July and she was standing at the door, waving at us to hurry and come watch the TV. . .she said "They are landing on the moon right now. " Going to Montana gave me my first taste of what it's like to experience a cool summer.  I didn't know cool weather in the summer time existed till we visited there. And I fell in love with the Rocky Mountains on those trips.

-Working on the farm together.  When my brother left for college, I became Dad's farm hand, and in the summer, almost every evening when I was home, we would go and move 40 ft. irrigation joints by hand down on the river bottom where cotton and milo were growing. It was often at least 95 degrees in the evenings while we were doing this.  . .no wonder he had a heart attack when he was 52.  I was teased at school often in the fall about having the strongest biceps in the school, but working on the farm really shaped my work ethic for the rest of my life. Doing farm work taught me that there is great value in manual labor, and you will always survive if you are willing to work. . .work hard. . .and do a job right.

As with most children, there are many things I wish I could have changed about our relationship through the years. It was not perfect, and all of us have faults. . . .but he did all that he knew how to do to raise my brother and I to be high achievers and good citizens in our communities.  I am thankful that Dad's mind was sharp until the day he died, and that he was always reading and studying.

The Bible says in James 4:14 "What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."  Watching my dad pass from this life into another really made me think about the purpose and value of each day of our lives. I have learned that one's health is really a gift, that we have one shot to use our time for something of worth and purpose , and that life is not about us, it's about Jesus. . .if we really are sincere about calling ourselves Christians. Treasure this day . . .there is no promise of another one.

Tommy. . .

Someday I went to grow up and be like Tommy.

When I met Tommy during our first trip to Ghana, I felt like I was talking to an old family friend. He was just like the men I had grown up with . . Tommy is from a rural community in Alabama, was a part-time farmer and had owned a auto mechanic shop . He is a salt-of-the-earth, blue-collar kind of guy. Kind of weathered and tough looking, he loves Jesus as much as anyone I know, . . .and it shows. . .

Now in his mid-seventies, he has lived full-time in Ghana for around 10 years as a missionary in the village of Nalerigu and the surrounding communities. He had done short-term missions with his wife to Ghana, and following her death from cancer, he moved to Ghana to live with and love the people there. He is amazing. He is completely fluent in the native local language, and as I watched him interact with the local folks, he is truly loved and respected by the people. And he has a toughness and sparkle in his eye that keeps him young way beyond his years. . .I loved watching him zip around the compound on his little motorcycle. He has the same grin while he is riding it as my 20-year old son.

Tommy has built a home in the village and has a farm outside of town. He has a preaching and teaching ministry to the nearby communities, and he works with the farmers on improving their farming techniques. Tommy had a small tractor shipped to Ghana, so he could help the local farmers plow their fields, which are typically worked by hand. Our culture so exalts book knowledge and brains, but Tommy’s giftedness with his hands was beyond compare. He can fix anything.

As Todd and I enter the “empty nest” and approach the retirement stage of life, the discussion of what to do with the rest of our lives comes up often. . .I am asking the Lord that I just want to be like Tommy, living and loving people with a Gospel kind of love for the rest of my life. And if the Lord sends us to another part of the world to serve, so be it. . .but there are also tons of folks right here in our community who are crying out for someone to love them in Jesus’ name.

In our culture, retirement has been so exalted and lifted up as one of the ultimate goals as we grow older, that we often think we are “entitled” to years of hobbies, trips and social outings. . .but retirement is mentioned nowhere in the Bible. We may “retire” from our daily jobs, but where do we get the idea that we can rotate hunting, fishing, golfing, crafting and other time-consuming hobbies for the rest of our days here on earth? A majority of Moses’ ministry didn’t get started till he was 40 years old. . .and he led the people daily till he simply went up on a mountain and “was gathered to his fathers”. . .

When we chose to serve Jesus all of our days as Tommy has done, there is often a cost. . . he has given up years of living near his grown children and their families, and he struggles with not being near his grandchildren and being part of their daily lives. . ..Tommy goes home about once a year, but his love for the people of Ghana keeps drawing him back. He knows there will be a day when he will need to go home for good, and that day may be sooner than later. . .but in the mean time, he is serving  and showing Jesus to folks who need all the hope they can get.

I wanted to write about Tommy because I don't ever want to forget him and the impression he made on me during my two visits to Ghana this past year. . He reminded me so much of Dorothy Mazuk (for those of you who knew her) . .. They both have taught me that life is all about serving Jesus by loving people . . .and there's really nothing else that compares.

Yup, I want to grow up and be like Tommy. . . .

Second Trip to Ghana- Feb. 2010

Shortly before Christmas 2009, Cindi Dauphin, our pastor’s wife and good friend for over 10 years now, asked if I wanted to go to Ghana in February to help Hollie Dickens with the children while her husband Joel (physician/ medical missionary) attended a physician’s conference in Kenya for two weeks. Never in a million years could I have imagined returning to Ghana for another visit in the same year. Only God could orchestrate that. So I returned to Ghana with Cindi and while the location was familiar, the experiences were different.

Favorite memories:

-Long walks in the cool of the mornings with Abigail (2yrs) and AnnaLeigh (6 mo.) in their stroller. Each morning, we would go and feed the pet monkey on the Compound, say hello to the head cook in the guest lodge, and greet all the workers, visiting doctors and missionaries who were finishing breakfast and beginning to start their day. It was a wonderful social time for all three of us. The Ghana natives even have greeting they use each day, loosely translated “Cool of the morning to you.” The mornings were my favorite time of day there.

-Helping Colt (age8) with his homeschooling each morning. As much as I would love to be a nurse, or artist, I know that God has given me a gift and love to teach, no matter what age the person is. Helping Colt was a blessing and fun for me, and he and I formed a special friendship from spending that much time together.

- Interacting with the visiting physicians. Because both of the resident doctors were gone to the conference in Kenya, a group of physicians came to fill in, mainly retired guys and a few still practicing. . .It was the retired guys that so impressed me. . One of the 80-year old surgeons would perform 8-9 surgeries a day, and by end of the day, he could hardly stand up from being on his feet all day. . .but he didn’t complain and had a wonderful countenance about him. . Another doctor had Cindi and I help him take notes while he examined patients. . .He was constantly teaching us about the diseases and ailments he was seeing. He prayed with each patient, no matter if the patient was a believer or not, and led a couple of people to the Lord in his examining room. . .he too understood that he was being Jesus’ hands and feet to a group of people who so desperately needed his skill and expertise.

-The fragility of Life. Since I spent more time at the clinic this visit, I was more aware of the devastating effects of preventable disease on families, especially the children. . One of the retired visiting pediatricians said during a devotion time one night,” I have signed more death certificates this week than I have my entire career.” Death is such a part of daily life there, that it made me realize that each day is truly a gift from the Lord.

-Visits with Hollie, of course. I came to realize the importance of face-to-face visits with foreign missionaries. It’s important to pray for them and support them financially, but to go and spend time with them is incredibly valuable. The foreign mission field can be lonely and isolating, and a familiar face from home can be spiritually and mentally rejuvenating. I have learned to never underestimate that.

-Sharing an adventure with my friend Cindi. . .There is nothing quite like traveling to the other side of the world with someone to deepen a friendship.  The long plane rides, the hours of waiting at airports, traveling to and from the remote village of Nalerigu, shopping in Accra, the capital of Ghana, and discussions about books, our children, life and the Lord are very special memories to me.  All I can do is thank Jesus for the opportunity to share this journey with her.

I never want to forget what I  learned in Ghana, the 9th poorest country in the world. I still struggle with what I saw, and I pray that the Lord will continue to convict my soul with caring for the hungry and needy in our world, as described in Isaiah 58.

2010 has flown by. . . .

I can’t believe that nearly 6 months have flown by since I have sat down to write a few words on the blog. I can safely say that this has been one of the busiest years of our lives. . .with lots of big memorable events that have shaped our winter, spring and now summer . I am going to go back in time and write about some of these events not only to share with you, but to help me remember what God has let me experience and taught me through these events. If I believe Romans 8:28, then all things that have happened this year “will work together for good for those who are called in Christ Jesus.”

Hospitality from Poverty- Part 1

Here is an excerpt from a book I recently read concerning hospitality- -

"After returning to Zambia from a visit in the United States, we were delighted by the visits of Zambian friends who came to welcome us back and welcome our new baby.

As we played with each other's babies, I noticed with pain how tiny their little Linda was. At a year, she was only a little heavier than our three-month old Frieda. I thought of their other children. They once had four, but two had died from diarrhea.
After a while our friend Lenty signaled to his wife and with a smile she handed us a basket. Looking in, I saw a heap of small Irish potatoes and what looked some plastic trash. I exclaimed with real gratitude about the potatoes, knowing the sacrifice they must have made to find this special treat for their potato-loving white friends.

Lenty leaned forward and picked up the plastic. Holding it out to me with pleasure and dignity, he said, "This is for your baby." My eyes refocused and I saw with a jolt what he was giving her: two little clear plastic glasses and two lovely flat plastic dishes. I thanked him with all the grace I could muster, hoping he had not noticed my lack of composure.

Later, I fought tears as I sat holding those little disposable dishes with "Zambia Airways" inscribed on the bottoms. Why is our world so ordered that people with several sets of dishes constantly discard mountains of containers after a single use? And those who would be pleased to carefully wash and reuse the disposables come upon them so rarely that they treat them as treasures?

- Lynda Meiser, former missionary to Zambia

From the book "Extending the Table"

"Lord, to those who hunger, give bread.

And to those who have bread, give the hunger for justice."- Central American Prayer

Whirlwind Christmas Season

August, Austin, Brittany, Bonnie, Todd, Georgia & Jordan

It has been an interesting and reflective Christmas season this year. . . the biggest lesson I have learned is that the Christmas season is not about the busy festivities, the gifts or the decorations, but it's about who you spend it with and what God teaches you through it.  . .

We celebrated Christmas early this year on Dec. 4 & 5, when Austin arrived home from Iraq for his two weeks of R & R. . .we had a wonderul time with him and the entire family and the many  friends who dropped by to see him that weekend. . To see him reunited with his beautiful wife and to see our children want to spend time together as siblings was such a blessing. .it's every parents' dream, really. . .I have been truly overwhelmed with thankfulness this Christmas season through our friends, extended family, our children and their soulmates. 

I have also spent a lot of time with my parents this holiday season, especially my dad. I have sat at the hospital almost every day with him as he struggles to recover from a broken hip and balance the numerous other health issues he has. My dad (age 82) fell a week before Thanksgiving in the pasture while trying to pen cows. . .Old farmer/rancher types do not fade into the sunset easily. . .They think they are invincible and don't go down without a fight, even if it's against their own aging bodies. . . .Although we have not seen "eye to eye" through the years, it has been a blessing to reconnect with him and talk about such  things as meaningless football to old stories of the past that reach far back into his childhood.  It's amazing what you talk about when you are stuck in a hospital room for hours at a time. My time at the hospital has also made me very grateful for my own health and how fragile it really is. . . every healthy day we have is a blessing.

Finally, this Christmas season has been one of reflection for us spiritually as well.  We are in such a different place in life this year, having finished our day-to-day parenting.(August, the last child, went off to college this fall.)  We have been asking the Lord  "How do you want us to live? What do you have next for us?" . . and daily, in little chunks, he has been giving us answers. . .We have begun to practice more day-to-day, minute-by-minute Christianity, instead of the usual organized Christian programming. . .We have had extra young people in our home 24/7 this fall, almost to the point of overcrowding. . but we wouldn't trade a minute of it. . We have learned that when you live life together, you can't just say you are a Christian. . you really have to practice it. . even to the point of personal inconvenience and discomfort. . .much like the Scripture Deuteronomy 11:19 tell us to do. . . It hasn't all been perfect or pretty, but it really has been about "loving the one in front of you" on a daily basis. . . And God has given us some amazing opportunities this year to share life and resources with believers literally around the world.  The "Body" of Christ and how God allows our lives to intertwine is truly amazing.

So as I reflect on this Christmas season, I have learned that you can take away all the gifts and decorations and parties. . . .but you can't take away the love and blessings of family, friends and of knowing who Jesus really is and the gift He was to us from God. . .John 14:6 "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. . no man comes to the Father except through me."  Merry Christmas everyone!