Welcome Army Wives

"What keeps our faith cheerful is the extreme persistence of gentleness and humor. Gentleness is everywhere in daily life, a sign that faith rules through ordinary things: through cooking and small talk, through storytelling, making love, fishing, tending animals and sweet corn and flowers, through sports, music and books, raising kids -- all the places where the gravy soaks in and grace shines through." -Garrison Keillor

I first read this quote years ago on the cover liner of Amy Grant's "Simple Things" cd. Although I've thought about this quote numerous times, it seems particularly relevant to my life now that my husband has deployed. In my own life, I tend to find the greatest joys in the seemingly insignificant. In sharing daily life with my husband, waking up together, falling asleep together, and laughing in the in between times. It seems so impossible to capture this joy now that he is overseas. This quote reminds me that there is beauty in persistence. There is also beauty in our words, the one thing we are able to hold on to through phone calls and letters. If grace can shine during this deployment, through the gritty and ugly moments that one often thinks she's better off forgetting, if hope and gentleness can permeate the hidden, dark crevices of our hearts and minds, then in the spirit of Garrison Keillor we won't just be surviving, we'll be thriving. Soaked with gravy, I'm faithfully waiting for God's grace to shine through. Will you join me?