Prayer Filled Stars
Several months ago as I began to anticipate and prepare for this deployment, I began to pray for a meaningful way to count the days away. On our first deployment we put up a paper chain. One link for each day and took one off each evening. That was a visible way to do things and one that the younger children can easily understand. The chain worked pretty well but was draped all over the house and sometimes was too much of a reminder. It was however easy to adjust the number of rings in case the dates changed. It didn’t serve much of a purpose other than counting down though and I wanted something more substantial.
I had someone tell me that what they did was get a large jar and put enough Hershey’s Kisses in them for each child to have one each day. When the jar was empty, dad should be home. It was also easy to adjust the number if days changed. I have so many people in our household that I would need to buy stock in Hershey’s to make it worth while! That would be A LOT of chocolate (even for me). A kiss for daddy has a little more meaning than just paper chains I suppose but it isn’t what I was longing for.
I continued to prayer that the Lord would show me what to do. I am not the most creative person in the world and nothing was coming to mind!
Then one night the Lord woke me from a sound sleep and this idea was running through my mind. For several minutes I willed myself to not forget in the morning. Sadly, I often do forget things by morning. I did remember but forgot to mention to hubby and eventually over the following days the thought vanished from my mind. I knew I had forgotten something great and prayed that I would remember. The Lord woke me a few more times from sleep in the following weeks and reminded me of the same idea.
I mentioned this to my hubby and he thought it was a wonderful idea too. So we went with it. Let me explain how we are counting away the days.
One thing I would like to mention is that one of the ways daddy will be greatly missed around here is at bedtime. Bedtime is daddy’s job. He prays with each child before bed. That is just daddy’s job.
What we have done is purchased enough die cut stars for each day that daddy will be gone. They will be easy to adjust if the dates change a bit. They do not take up too much room and are neatly stuck on the wall in the corner of the hallway. They are visible but not “in your face” for a too constant reminder. We will take one down each night before bedtime for our countdown. Here is the blessing part. Since daddy is the one who prayers with the children at bedtime and that will be sorely missed, we have written a prayer on the back of each one. Daddy wrote some before he left and I wrote some. They are prayers for him, for us, for leaders, for giving thanks, for the cars to not break down, and just about anything we could think of that we would need prayer for during this separation. There is meaning and substance now included rather than just counting the days away. It helps to fill a void that is there because daddy is gone. The Lord is so good to show us this.
So here is a photo of our hallway corner with approximately 200 prayer filled stars.
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Tags: deployment, devotion, Family, Military, Prayer Posted in Alaska, children, Christianity, deployment, Encouragement, Family, Military, Prayer
March 28th, 2010 at 7:26 pm
What a wonderful idea. I cannot imagine how difficult it must be for you all to have him away so much. I have one more but it’s more along the lines of remembering things when we are woke up with a great idea. Keep a pen a paper by your bedside and small flashlight, then pen just a few key words of what you want to remember. Another way I do it is keep my cell phone next to my bed and I send text messages to my email. I always check my email when I get up and most of the time they are simple reminders I sent myself the night before.
Take care,
.-= tricia´s last blog ..Organize for Victory~Free Give Away =-.
MamaArcher
Twitter: MamaArcher
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March 29th, 2010 at 6:56 am
@tricia, Keeping a pen and paper by the bed it a great idea, I should do that. I tend to have the best ideas when I sleep. That is actually a little sad, huh? LOL
March 28th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
Welllll….I wish you’d shared this back when you first mentioned it. ::snort:: Great idea. I’m home now. Mike’s departure date was moved up. He leaves Thursday early.
We are sending him a kiss a day and he’s happy about that. We have a daddy jar with SMALL candies in it…7 x 200…shew…..I think we’ll do it 1/2 way and refill…we’ll see. The gallon jar has his face on it and sits in our family circle when he’s gone. LOL
I like the stars/prayer idea…and we could easily do it without the written pray and just use it as a reminder to pray. Maybe…..we’ll see what ends up happening.
Have been praying for you and the kids.
MamaArcher
Twitter: MamaArcher
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March 29th, 2010 at 6:57 am
@De’Etta, That is A LOT of sugar!!! I don’t think my crew could settle for just one a day either, they would be raiding that jar!
Praying for you all too! Email me and let me know “where” he went.
March 29th, 2010 at 11:24 am
Hey Darling, the stars look great! I have been praying for you and the children daily (each morning and night). I miss the bedtime hugs and kisses…Thanks for being such a great helpmate. You are truly a blessing.
March 29th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Kristine,
We started (when he left for training we did a 5 week trial run)with “fun size” candy left at the commissary from some holidy. It was WAY too much chocolate…by the 2nd week I was dreading the nightly chocolate and by the 3rd week the kids were too. ::snort::
Now we have jelly beans, recees pieces and m/ms planned….but I still don’t know if it will all fit in a gallon jar. LOL
I did find a container that will fit in MIke’s suitcase with his nightly kisses.
MamaArcher
Twitter: MamaArcher
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March 29th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
@De’Etta, I would be afraid that hershy kisses would melt! I didn’t think of sending a “countdown” something with hubby. Good idea!
March 29th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
Thanks for the post.
Regards,
John Collins
March 29th, 2010 at 3:01 pm
LOL. I am too. BUT Mike loved the idea when he saw what we were doing and wants to take the chance. I figure if they melt, we’ll replace them. Not a big deal.
March 29th, 2010 at 6:42 pm
What a spectacular idea. I just love it, on soooo many levels.
Life is good here, I just haven’t had time to blog or read lately. We’re still dealing with dad’s stuff. It just takes longer than anyone would realize.
Your family will be in my prayers during the deployment.
.-= DrillerAA´s last blog ..Ruby Tuesday =-.
March 30th, 2010 at 9:38 am
What a beautiful idea! If you’re not territorial, I might steal it for our next deployment… What a special silver lining to create for this cloud. Hopefully your children will remember this more as a time of blessing than of hardship.
MamaArcher
Twitter: MamaArcher
Reply:
March 30th, 2010 at 9:41 am
@Audra, Feel free to use this idea, the Lord gets the credit, he is the one who brought it to my mind! Hopefully, though, you will not need it any time soon!
April 1st, 2010 at 10:09 am
What a lovely idea – and a great reminder to pray.
I think my family would be too tempted to raid the chocolate! (We’re not military, but do countdowns for other things.)
God be with you,
Julie
.-= Julie´s last blog ..Happy Atheists’ Day =-.
April 2nd, 2010 at 7:35 pm
This is so smart! How much do I love that you two took the time to write 200 prayers on the back of those stars!? God bless you until his return. =)