Joyful Praise!

The clock said 7:13 a.m. and the phone was ringing! I was upstairs in my room getting ready for my Wednesday morning exercise class, so I picked up the phone on the first ring. I heard a voice say, "Mom?" and honestly (!) I didn't know who it was. "Mom?" I heard myself saying hello, trying to discern who I was talking to. And then I heard, "This is Jesse." My heart was beating so fast! JESSE!? I told him the connection was bad and that it was probably because of our junky upstairs phone (not to mention the fact that he is 6500 miles away!). I told him I would run downstairs and switch phones, but by the time I was at the bottom of the stairway, he was gone!
I sat down on one of the bar stools at the kitchen counter and cried! It had been nearly seven months since I had heard his voice, and I so badly wanted to talk to him. Do you see his yellow ribbon still courageously hanging on our tree out front? It looks a little bit pathetic in all of this cold and snow, but it is still there.
About 12 minutes later he called back. Whew! I was SO thankful he called back. He has gotten himself a cell phone! He said he thought I might want to hear his voice ...

Ah, Jesse. You have no idea what this meant to me today. You are so terribly far away from all of us ~ but we all have each other for support. But not you. You are thousands of miles away on the other side of the world in a desert land of war. Most of the time I don't worry about the war and Jesse's safety because I know God is in control of the whole thing. And there are good reports of how the war is coming along! But I am still a mother, and he is still my son ~ and so I pray that he will know how much he is loved by all of us back here at home. So how did Jesse sound? He sounded strong and good! His company has been moved now and the conditions there are not as good as where he was before. He says there is no internet provider yet, and supplies are not close by. He has to take very long walks if he wants anything. He is involved in many long missions away from the base, and he says time becomes really weird out there ~ all the days kind of blend together.
We are underneath another winter storm warning today in West Michigan. It has been beyond beautiful. I can't find words to describe it. Sabrina called while I was at my exercise class (I was a real whimp there today because of having been sick) and asked that I take some pictures of the latest storm and post them. I know I have posted a lot of winter pictures in these last weeks, but here are some more! Take in the beauty and worship our great God who made all of it! I am giving thanks today for hearing Jesse's voice, for recovery from the flu, and for this wonderful winter storm!
"Come, everyone, and clap your hands for joy!
Shout to God with joyful praise!
For the LORD Most High is awesome.
He is the great King of all the earth.
He subdues the nations before us,
putting our enemies beneath our feet.
. . . God is the King over all the earth.
Praise him with a psalm!
God reigns above the nations,

sitting on his holy throne."

PSALM 47: 1-3, 7 & 8