Yesterday we welcomed home one of our dear friends. He has served our country so many times throughout his life and this time he had been gone for a year. A year away from his wife, a year away from his 2 growing children, a year away from his friends and family. Now, he is going to pick right up where he left. His family is still there, his job is still there, and his family and friends are still there. I hope and pray that his transition from Afghanistan to home goes well. We are so blessed that our dear friend is home, but he reminded us that some did not make it. Some people that he loved and cared for did not make it home. He was not supposed to make it home; but he did. Listening to him say these words brought tears to my eyes. It made me feel embarrassed for my discontentness. But that's not how I feel now. Having Tom home reminds me how precious life is. How precious my family and friends are. How precious my relationship with God is.

Thank you God for keeping Tom safe and for being with him and strengthening his faith in you. Thank you for bringing Tom back to his family. It was so good to see Tom and Melissa with their girls. You truly are a good God. Be with Tom as he gets back to life here in America and let him transition well. Thank you that there are men out there to fight for our country. God, thank you for blessing the United States of America.

God, help me with my discontentness and desire for more. I don't feel this way all the time, but when it rears it's big ugly head, help me to remember your blessings. Lord, when I am overwhelmed with getting my papers graded for school or planning, when I want my house in order, or when I don't get the time to do what I think is needed to do, help me to remember your blessings and to also decipher between the urgent and the not so urgent. God, give me time to be with my kids where I play on the floor with them and love them and where I don't push them away because of my "to-do" list. Bless the time that I have with Archie; strengthen our marriage where it needs to be strengthened. You have made me and created me with a Type A personality, the type of personality that is driven and that likes to get things done. . . help me to learn to let things go when neeeded. Teach me how to trust you in all I do. Thank you God for all you do and have done in my life. I will forever praise you!