Folklife Festival

Saturday evening Philip and I were able to go to the Folklife Festival here in San Antonio. We had a really nice time together and enjoyed the interesting booths, exhibits, food and performances from around the world. We got a little glimps of the many different cultures and their history that make up San Antonio today.

You Never know Jesus is All You Need Until Jesus is All You Have

Philip and I have been through A LOT the past 2 months! I've seen a side of Philip I never thought existed in him. For a while I was so scared my marriage was going to fail. I felt worried, scared, helpless, lonely, insecure, disappointed, angry and unloved. Philip was going through a very frustrating time at work and was finding different ways to try and release his frustration. He was drinking so much every weekend and his drinking drove me to the point where I didn't even want to be home on Friday nights. He would talk to me and absolutely everything he said when he was drunk made no sense. Philip was not the man I married the last 2 months.
I began to cover him in prayer (my mother and mother-in-law prayed for Philip as well) I prayed that our Lord, with His mighty power would destroy Philip's mountains of temptation. I prayed the Lord would destroy his mountain of temptation, adultery. Destroy the mountain of drinking alcohol in excess amounts. I prayed for Philip's faith to become stronger and God would use everyone around him as His lights. I prayed for every inch of Philip's flesh and mind. I also prayed for myself. I prayed for strength, security in my marriage, and believe it or not I thanked God for the struggle I was encountering because it was bringing me closer to him, closer than I had ever been before. I was spending more time in prayer than I have ever before.
Philip, the girls and I moved to a hotel in Coppers Cove after we had all of our belongings packed for Germany. We stayed in the hotel for a little over a week while the girls finished school and Philip began the process of signing out of Ft. Hood. I continued to cover every inch of Philip in prayer. During this time I realized that God was making changes in me as well. I needed to change so I could see the changes in Philip. I was less argumentative, I was more interested in what was going on with Philip at work, I had a desire to please Philip. Most of the hard spots in my heart were softened. Philip's drinking decreased tremendously after we moved to the hotel. He still drank beer but not Crown Royal or Jim Beam.
Memorial Day weekend we came to San Antonio. I needed a break from living in hotel and the girls were through with school (both girls have been promoted to the next grade. Joslyn-4th and Allison-2nd). We arrived in San Antonio Friday evening and Philip hit the streets of San Antonio "running". He caught up with some "friends" and every night was in the streets with these guys. He would stay out ALL night and not come home until the next day just to shower and hit the streets again. During this time was when I realized I needed to add to my list of prayers for Philip. I began to pray that God would break these chains of negative "friendships" Philip has with these guys. It was bringing Philip down and hurting his family. Oh how I prayed and prayed and prayed. I was hurting yet I was finding comfort in praying because I know God hears my cries! Every time we come to San Antonio to visit Philip would always hook up with these guys and put his family on the back burner. I would throw fits when Philip would tell me he was going out to see his friends. Memorial Day weekend I didn't fight him at all. I just prayed and prayed. I took my frustration and disappointment to our Lord.
Well the night we were suppose to leave for Ft. Hood Philip had an experience that knocked him to his knees. I believe that God used this experience to change Philip and to realize that family is far more important then these "friends" he was hitting the streets with. I believe God also gave me a sense of calmness every time Philip went out with these guys because God had a plan for Philip and I could not disrupt His plan from being carried out. Since this event has happened Philip has made HUGE changes in his life. He has set his priorities straight, demolished his past demeanor and everything that went along with his past demeanor. Philip has finally come to a realization of everything that he has been doing these past 2 months and has thanked me a number of times for staying with him through these storms and what a storm it has been! Through all of these struggles I have encountered over the past 2 months God has brought me so much closer to Him. He has taught me so much and heard my cries (I never once doubted He was not hearing my cries, I found comfort in knowing God's timing is perfect timing, and I tried my hardest to be patient). Philip has alot to face in the near future. I continue to pray for Philip,his future, our marriage, our girls, and our home. Now my prayers are different. I am praising our Lord for my struggles, for the miracles he did in our marriage, for the miraculous changes He made in Philip and in me. Like the title of the blog, Jesus is ALL I need!!

We made it!

As of today we are officially through with Ft. Hood, TX! I am so happy we are living back in San Antonio (even if it is just for the summer)! Philip was able to sign out of Ft. Hood with very few problems. We all made really good friends while we were living in central Texas and I will keep in touch with them. The girls handled the move very well. One of Joslyn's classmates is moving to the same post in Germany that we are moving to and at the same time. We are all very happy for Joslyn, it makes the transition easier for her. Knowing that her little girlfriend is growing through the same changes she is going through helps Joslyn. I had some really good times at Ft. Hood however like life, I've learned a lot from the setting I was in and I feel more prepared for our next duty station.

One Step Closer

Today Philip received his orders to Schweinfurt, Germany. Now that he has his orders we can start the process of moving out of Ft. Hood and back to San Antonio for a couple months and then on to Germany! Philip is showing Joslyn his orders and explaining what it means for our family.

Another Tooth for the Tooth Fairies' Castle

Yesterday Joslyn was fiddling around with her very loose tooth. She was worried that her tooth would fall out while she was sleeping and she would swallow it. I tried to convince her that would not happen, but she wasn't convinced. So I asked her if I could feel how loose it really was. She said, "Okay, but don't pull it out." I wiggled her tooth a little bit and it was super lose. I pulled that tooth out and gave it to her. She smiled and said, "You didn't even let me hold Allison's hand". I asked her if it hurt and she said,"no". Joslyn woke up this morning to a surprise under her pillow from the Tooth Fairy! So here are a couple of pictures of her new smile.

Celebration!

Today Ft. Hood had a celebration celebrating military children and what they have to endure as being a child in the military. At the festival the girls recieved a free T-shirt, we got free food, a ride on horses, face paintings, arts and crafts and rock wall climbing. It was really nice and very entertaining. The girls really had fun!

A CRABBY Day

Yesterday the girls and I went to Blora Lake. The girls took their fishing nets in hopes of catching crabs maybe even some fish if they were lucky. They spent some time walking the shore line of the lake and didn't find any water creatures. After getting use to the water (it was a bit cold and the sun wasn't out very much) the girls ventured out into the lake just to their knees. Yet they still did not find any crabs. We all decided to just sit in on the beach and make a sand castle. We were having a good time, and we had the whole beach area to ourselves. After a while a security truck pulled up along side of us and told us that our dog was not allowed on the beach so we left our sand castle and headed home with nothing in our nets but with memories in our minds! The girls and I had a great time despite their disappointment.