Writing on the Wall

Somedays you just have to take the time to stop and smell the roses.


Or read the writing on the wall, as it were.


Today I stopped by my mother in law Chris' office to drop something off...I can't really tell you what it is at this point...because it's a surprise for Jake!

Anyway, as we were catching up, she pulled a frame from next to her desk and said she wanted me to have something.


My father in law Hugh was deployed to Iraq about 3 years ago. While he was away, one of Chris' coworker friends cross-stitched her a very special reminder that she hung on her wall at home. I have often seen it, hanging in their home, but have never taken the time to read it. Chris said it was something she looked at often to gather strength, and so, now that I am in the midst of our second deployment, she wanted to pass it along to me.

It says:

Give me greatness of heart to see,

The difference between duty & his love for me.

Give me understanding so that I may know,

When duty calls him, he must go.

Give me a task to do each day

To fill the time when he's away.

When he's in a foreign land,

Keep him safe in your loving hand.

And Lord, when duty is in the field,

Please protect him and be his shield.

And Lord, when deployment is so long,

Please stay with me and keep me strong.

She's a pretty wise and wonderful woman...and, she has a pretty fantastic and spectacularly handsome son...don't ya think?

I can't wait to put a new nail in my wall. I have the perfect place for it. Right across from my beautiful Christmas tree!

~Emily