My yoke is easy, and my burden light.

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

Yesterday at Mass, this portion of Matthew's Gospel was proclaimed. It's one of my favorite Bible verses, but yesterday it really made me smile.

Talk about relief from a burden...I received confirmation from our favorite soldier himself that he, officially, is in transit, on his way home to the beautiful United States of America! Thank you, God, for delivering him safely from evil.

During the first deployment, I tried lots of things to try to make myself feel better...I did the activities I'd always loved to do, and even tried lots of new ones. Nothing seemed to make me feel better, no matter what I tried.

When Jake returned home, I joined a bible study on the invitation of my best friend. We thought we'd try one book with the group, and here we are, 6 years later, still meeting and growing in our faith with a wonderful group of women.

Over the last 6 years, Jake and I have worked on healing...individually and collectively. War changes people, and we had both definitely been through some battles. The carefree, naive kids we were at the beginning of the deployment no longer existed after. To say we were both carrying some burdens would be an understatement.

Learning and growing in our faith and our marriage helped us to to trust more in Christ and allow him to carry our burdens. Trust is difficult in general for many people. I like to think that I completely trust in Christ....but, usually what happens is that I offer over my worries my cares, my burdens to Him, and then...somehow sneakily take them back. I want to trust in Him, but it is a pretty big lesson to learn to pray for God's will in every aspect of your life. That's why I'm still learning, growing, and trying, every day.

Yesterday at Mass, Monsignor was speaking about how others "yoke themselves" to us, and help us carry our burdens. The sheer number of people who have willingly carried our burdens this past year is actually unfathomable, but I am going to attempt to give you an inkling of how caring family, friends, and neighbors have helped to "share the load" with us this year.

• Mailing packages and letters to Jake


• Making a meal for Asher & I


• Praying for us


• Buying me flowers


• Watching Asher so I could get things done


• Shoveling for us


• Making us smile


• Helping clean/organize our house


• Mowing our lawn


• Listening to us


• Sharing a meal with Asher & I


• Picking up & disposing of the dead animals in our yard


• Putting up/taking down our Christmas tree


• Special notes of encouragement


• Helping us keep our sense of humor


• Hugs

If you have done any of the above, please know you have helped to carry our burden and that your help meant more to us than we could ever adequately express. THANK YOU for your help in lightening our load.