"...a story bigger than our own..."

"Lift up your head, Warrior.

 Every now and then, heaven opens

 and a hand reaches down to connect

 the past and the future

 with the story bigger than our own.

 Like Jacob’s ladder, it hints of a greater salvation, a God who is more relentless than our worst circumstances, and a deliverance that isn’t just for one man and his children but for those who have already live and died 

in those yet to be born.”

-Michele Cushatt 

"My voice You shall hear 

in the morning,O Lord;

In the morning I will direct it to You,

And I will look up."

Psalm 5:3 (NKJV)

“We have not forgotten .. Remember, remember the fifth of November”

“We have not forgotten ...
Remember, remember the fifth of November”

“It’s the knock on the door you never want to come,” Thomas said.

Army Staff Sgt. Carletta S. Davis

Died November 5, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

34, of Anchorage, Alaska; assigned to the 10th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y.; died Nov. 5 in Tal jAl-Dahab, Iraq, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near her Humvee during combat operations. 

Carletta was awarded two air medals, a rare feat, and earned the prestigious combat medical badge. She also earned a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. She twice received awards for heroism -- for rescuing two soldiers who had fallen down a cliff near Ft. Lewis, Wash., and for rescuing a wounded Iraqi police officer.

Carletta was the 91st female U.S. service member to die in Iraq. Two more have died since.

“Carletta was the best medic in a company packed with medical professionals,” her commander, Lt. Col. Joseph Novak, wrote to her husband. Carletta was selected as the lead medic in the brigade commander’s personal security detachment -- an elite position that often took her away from her fortified base near near Kirkuk.

Together We Served SSG Carletta Davis

Army Times

Faces of the Fallen

2007 picture on my desk 

Thomas and sons Treyton, 14; Theodore, 13; and Tyrique, 8

( 12 years - now 26,25,15)

2007 the year of Matt and Cynthia's deployment was the highest casualty year for OIF.

holuta10th OIF

Faces of the Fallen - SSGT Carletta S. Davis

" Gaining Hope...Everywhere that's in between"

"Gaining hope, I remember and wait for this thought: How enduring is God’s loyal love; the Eternal has inexhaustible compassion. Here they are, every morning, new! Your faithfulness, God, is as broad as the day."

Lamentations 3:21-23

Mountain High

The one who holds the mountains

In His hands

Is the one who wrote

My name upon them

The one who filled the

Oceans of the deep

Is the one who poured His

Spirit inside of me

You know my mountain high

You know my valley low

Everywhere that's in between

You will go

The one who sung the

Stars into the sky

Is the one who knows every

Day of my life

The one who wears the

Heavens like a robe

Is the one who chose

To make me His home

God of the heavens and

God of the earth

God of my great and

God of my small

Creator, sustainer

Lover and friend

You're there at the start

You'll be there at the end

God of the heavens and

God of the earth

God of my great and

God of my small

Creator, sustainer

Lover and friend

You're there at the start

You'll be there at the end

Jonathan David Helser, Melissa Helser

2019 Cageless Birds (Admin. by Heritage Worship Publishing)

"...shadows and portraits..."

“We are worlds 

we are bodies

Empires of dirt and grace

Silhouettes and reflections....

Beneath our skin a new creation

The night is done...

Breathing in a brand new world....

We are shadows and portraits

Empires of light and clay...”

Empires- Hillsong United


"O God, how extravagant is your cherishing love!
All mankind can find a hiding place
under the shadow of your wings."
Psalm 36:7 TPT

"...Hidden Things..."

“The covenant is a treasury of wealth,

 a granary of food,

 a fountain of life,

 a store-house of salvation,

 a charter of peace,

 and a haven of joy.”

(CHS- Morning 8/26)

For the Pure and Shining One, by the prophetic singers of Korah’s clan

 A poetic song to the melody

 of “Hidden Things” 

"God, you’re such a safe and powerful place to find refuge! You’re a proven help in time of trouble— more than enough and always available whenever I need you."

Psalm 46:1

"every moment"

"I'll take every moment

And every minute that you’ll give me

every moment 

And every minute that you’ll give me

- every minute"

(Every minute-Sara Groves)

📷 @eholuta.morris

#glimpseofcragsandclay

#honeysuckleinprint

#everyminute

"The latter glory - greater than the first"

pc matt

Growth,

 Restores, Green, Trials Sustains, Endures, Rest, New 

'The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and in this place I shall give [the ultimate] peace and prosperity,’ declares the Lord of hosts.”

Haggai 2:9 AMP

‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.

Haggai 2:9 NIV

Many people will make “Remarkable achievements" going through each day in common ways, confident of God's perfect plan and care. 

Each day, serving in faith, and pressing on 

in the midst of hard circumstances.

Many of these stories will never be known

 but are for God's glory and our good.

"God will give peace in this place;

 he will give his Son to be the peace"

"How great the pain of searing loss The Father turns His face away"

I sang the words of this hymn "How great the pain of searing loss The Father turns His face away" and I thought

How could a father ever turn his face away from his son?

What would I feel like as a son, when I felt for the first time, the searing loss of not knowing the love of my father,- to be truly abandoned, separated from him?

I could not imagine my sons turning their face away from their sons, and what my grandsons would feel like being abandoned - first time not having that assurance of love. 

 "And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice,  “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Mark 15:34 NIV

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

    Why are you so far from saving me,

    so far from my cries of anguish?" Psalm 22:1 NIV

"In this unique and strange miracle, Jesus was crying out in anguish because of the separation He now experienced from His heavenly Father for the first and only time in all of eternity. It is the only time of which we have record that Jesus did not address God as Father. Because the Son had taken sin upon Himself, the Father turned His back. That mystery is so great and imponderable that it is not surprising that Martin Luther is said to have gone into seclusion for a long time trying to understand it and came away as confused as when he began. In some way and by some means, in the secrets of divine sovereignty and omnipotence, the God-Man was separated from God for a brief time at Calvary, as the furious wrath of the Father was poured out on the sinless Son, who in matchless grace became sin for those who believe in Him."- MacArthur New Testament Commentary

Why did Jesus cry "my God my God why have you forsaken me

How Deep The Father's Love for Us

How deep the Father's love for us

How vast beyond all measure

That He should give His only Son

To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss

The Father turns His face away

As wounds which mar the Chosen One

Bring many sons to glory

Behold the man upon a cross

My sin upon His shoulders

Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice

Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there

Until it was accomplished

His dying breath has brought me life

I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything

No gifts, no power, no wisdom

But I will boast in Jesus Christ

His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?

I cannot give an answer

But this I know with all my heart

His wounds have paid my ransom

Why should I gain from His reward?

I cannot give an answer

But this I know with all my heart

His wounds have paid my ransom

Songwriters: Stuart Townend

How Deep The Father's Love For Us lyrics

 © Capitol Christian Music Group

My God, My God,Why have you forsaken Me

"..this psalm ends with a note of triumph. Jesus isn’t curious, wondering how is this going to turn out? He had embedded in his soul both the horrors of the moment of abandonment, and he had embedded in his soul “for the joy that was set before him.” “ have got a promise,” he might think, “And God will not despise me in the end. He will take me back." -John Piper

"Our children will serve Him;

    future generations will hear the story of how the Lord rescued us.

 They will tell the generations to come

    of the righteousness of the Lord,

    of what He has done." Psalm 22:30-31 VOICE

"But crooked sticks draw straight lines.."

We are so quick to "draw straight lines, with crooked sticks" and how refreshing it is to see that God loves us and how we are able to extend this mercy to others!

Reading and these verses and song affect my heart and outlook towards others!

"Finally, all of you, be like-minded 

and show sympathy, love, compassion, and humility to and for each other—

not paying back evil with evil or insult with insult,

 but repaying the bad with a blessing. 

It was this you were called to do, so that you might inherit a blessing.

 Walk away from the evil things in the world — just leave them behind, and do what is right, and always seek peace and pursue it.

1 Peter 3:8-9,11 (VOICE)

“Will you cry for me, or will you judge me?

Will you throw stones at my head, or will you love me?

I could never be everything that you wanna see

But crooked sticks draw straight lines, just look at me

(But crooked sticks draw straight lines, just look at me)

Lecrae -Cry for You ft Taylor Hill

Lecrae states about his album All Things Work Together

" I've heard of ancient cultures that used to leave monuments and landmarks in areas where the dark became light,

stones of remembrance at the locations of war zones they survived,...

 in spite of all the trial there was a light at the end of the tunnel, 

a miracle in the midst of the madness, hope in the chaos.. 

when the quake from life disasters stopped I found myself 

underneath the rubble, still breathing, 

somehow stronger, wiser...

because in the end all things work together."

”I’ve learned that I can make it through the ugliest storm and come out better because I really didn’t know how I was going to end up and obviously I still have some wounds and scars and I’m still growing, God is still restoring a lot of me but I realized that God is faithful too. No matter how bad you mess up, God loves you and there’s nothing you can do about it.

I hope that they understand there is hope in the chaos. I hope that they get that God loves them and there is nothing they can do about it – it’s an unrelenting pursuit of you – and I want people to feel that. I want people to feel that they can make it, I don’t care how crazy it gets, we are resilient people and I want people to know that.”

stones of remembrance
underneath the rubble, still breathing,
they survived 

"I am The Door- The Gateway"

"I am the Gateway. 

To enter through me 
is to experience life, 
freedom,
 and satisfaction."

John 10:9 (TPT)

 

"I am the door. 

If anyone enters by me,
 he will be saved 
and will go in and out
 and find pasture."

John 10:9 (ESV)

“In short, It opens freely the door of mercy,
 to the greatest and vilest of penitent sinners;
 who obeying the blessed impulse of the grace of God, whereby they had been awakened from the sleep of death, and move to seek for pardon, may enter in, and, through the regenerating influence of the Holy Spirit, might be enabled to bring forth the fruits of Righteousness.
 Christianity is a scheme ‘for justifying the ungodly’, ‘while yet sinners’, ‘when enemies’ "
-William Wilberforce

"...Finish well..."

Finish well 🌅🏅🎯
The name of the couple is Victor and Eleanor. 
There names stick in my mind-live across from the local Italian tailor.
When we first moved to the street 38 yrs ago, 🤔, I recall Victor driving a red Ford Ltd, Halliburton company vehicle.
I would see him walking along lodge road in work khakis. He parked his car in the garage and went to the mailbox on the other side of the road.
 Summer days, vibrant mid-life, solid frame,tanned, 😓 sweat on the brow-Victor.
Eleanor and he would eat dinner 🥘 on the side porch on sweet summertime evenings at the humble home🏡. 
Summer family reunions or family birthdays celebrations happened through summer and fall🍁.
Fast 💨 forward decades- saw the ambulance 🚑 in front of the house the other day; they were taking Eleanor to hospital 🏥 
Saw Victor this morning. He was walking to the mailbox. Older now, more cautious. I called his name and asked how she was doing. He said she was getting along.
"They are finishing well as a couple," I thought,
 and I want to do the same.♥️🌅
It happens to us all if we live long enough and the years can take a toll but there is a means to live each day well.

“So we have no reason to despair. 

Despite the fact that our outer humanity is falling apart and decaying, our inner humanity 

is breathing in new life every day.”

2 Corinthians 4:16

"Come, my heart, rejoice in the immunity which thy Redeemer has secured thee,

 and bless his name all the day,

 and every day."

(Morning CHS 3/26)

"But this beautiful treasure is contained in us— cracked pots made of earth and clay—so that the transcendent character of this power will be clearly seen as coming from God and not from us. 

We are cracked and chipped from our afflictions on all sides, but we are not crushed by them.

 We are bewildered at times, but we do not give in to despair. We are persecuted, but we have not been abandoned. We have been knocked down,

 but we are not destroyed."

2 Corinthians 4:7-9

"...grace, gratitude, future.. "

"Gratitude looks back to grace received in the past and feels thankful. 

Faith looks forward to grace promised in the future and feels hopeful.”

- Future Grace, John Piper

#1000gifts

"..without a bucket in sight.."

"Woman:  Sir, You sit by this deep well a thirsty man without a bucket in sight. Where does this living water come from? Jesus:  Drink this water, and your thirst is quenched only for a moment. You must return to this well again and again. I offer water that will become a wellspring within you that gives life throughout eternity. You will never be thirsty again."

John 4:11,13-14 VOICE

“While we talk of our dealings with Him, others ask us, “Where are you going to get enough money to live? How will you live and who will take care of you?” Or our misgivings begin within ourselves when we tell Jesus that our circumstances are just a little too difficult for Him. We say, “It’s easy to say, ‘Trust in the Lord,’ but a person has to live; and besides, Jesus has nothing with which to draw water— no means to be able to give us these things.”

"...living water..."

“Be still, be calm, see,

 and understand I am the True God.."

Psalm 46:10