Comfortable and Easy?!

katewhitmore.com THANKSSSSS AGAIN!

So hard when i don't post for several days. So much to say.
Little Finn has his SECOND ear infection. He is 4.5 months. Hate that for him. But his momma and papa had bad ears. So the genes aren't in his favor.
I am currently doing a Beth Moore Study on James.It is INTENSE.  I love it!It takes a lot of time to complete, but I am learning so much.I don't really know much about the bible.  I didn't read it much growing up, and then when I did read it, it was boring...hard to see the stories come alive.  When you study it with a teacher like Beth Moore, it really comes alive, much more so than when I read it alone, because she explains all the things that confuse me.
Maybe I'm not super smart, but I really prefer reading it alongside something to study it with, to better understand the scripture I'm reading.So anyway, that has been really great.
Beth moore sometimes reminds me of my friend Terri.  Not the way she looks, but the way she gets super excited about things...and then wants everyone else to be excited, it's just contagious? Terri wanted to give something away (a stroller) and was actually praying about who to give it to.  When the opportunity arose at church, and it was someone who actually needed it, she was so excited that I couldn't help but be excited with her.  I guess that is the type of person you want leading your bible study :)  It must be a Texas thing.
I am doing another growth group with our church, and we are just talking about authenticity.  It is a great, great time to spend time with other women just talking through things God is taking us through.  I LOVE it. The ladies there challenge me.  Today we touched on several things. One thing that resounded for me, "What am I doing for the gospel that requires sacrifice?"  which then was reiterated tonight when we were talking about the whole book of James, and how he really believes that without the works, your faith is not active.  Without actually experiencing your faith, it is not living and active and real.  Our pastor's wife always says that God doesn't always call us to easy, but to be healthy and whole.  But sometimes I don't want to sacrifice. I want easy. I want comfortable.
Today, we got out of the army.Brandon's life long dream...and we did it. We experienced it. The Lord called us out.We are excited about ministry, but hear this.Not easy.Not comfortable.Not going to leave us with tons of extra money.
But we have more than roughly 99% of the world.  In 2007, the mean income in the world was $7000.  REALLY?? Even with lower cost of living, that is NOTHING. When people talk about how little they have, I want to take them with me when we go to meet our son.  He was FOUND in a village in Ethiopia.  There are MILLIONS of others like him.  THEY don't have ANYTHING.  We have PLENTY.  Sure, I can't buy the extra snacks I want this week, or go out to eat, but I can feed my family.  We will not starve. We have more clothes than we could ever wear.  We are very very fortunate. And I will be thankful for those blessings when I want to feel sorry for myself!  
That's all for now.  Tons more to share, but going to bed!Brooke

Army Wives..

Oh. my. goodness.
Brandon and I watched two Army Wives shows in a row the other night.
And we cried.
That's right, WE.
One of the main characters DIED in combat.
And I think it brought back so many of the emotions we both had during the death of one of his best friends. And the way it affected me at home...with him having to shut me off and continue moving forward. Not to mention that it happened RIGHT when we were finding out about Briar.
Thinking about telling him about Briar while he was in the middle of a war zone.
Thinking of him losing his friend (our friend) in the midst of all of it.
It is overwhelming.

It is coming up on the one year anniversary of that time.
We still think about our friend all the time. Him, and all the rest that have been lost in our time there.  Not to mention our injured friends.
Military wives/families deal with so much.
I have a girl in my class (I teach on a military post where all my students have at least one military parent) who has been breaking down a lot lately for no reason.
Upon further inspection, it turns out her dad is leaving soon.
Deploying. For a year.
That makes sense.
Of course she is sad!
No wonder it is coming out in a different way.  How is she supposed to handle those feelings?

Brandon is not deploying at the moment, but he will be starting a more 'intense' job, where he is in the field for a week at a time..and that will be a change. A sad change.
But not the same as watching your husband go to war.
Many of my friends currently have husbands there.
With a VERY REAL risk.
That I like to minimize in my mind when he goes.
But nonetheless, it is real.
And scary.

And if you have no clue about anything military, that show will give you a peek into the world. It is occasionally cheesy, inaccurate, etc....but it has improved, and overall, I think it gives a good picture of the feelings that wives go through as their husbands are in the cycle of deployments, training and the very sparse moments at home.

Aw, sometimes I miss calling Brandon AG. Back when he was in such a secure job, his name on the blog had to be that...AG=Army Guy.

On another note...

At the moment, I am shaking in my boots, getting ready for KENTUCKY to play tonight.
Oh gosh, I'm nervous!!

NCAA Championships (R): #4 Kentucky  - Add to iGoogle
	Elite Eight: Mar 27, #4 Kentucky Wildcats 76 - #2 North Carolina Tar Heels 69 Final Four: @ #3 Connecticut Huskies, Apr 2 8:49pm ET Bracket-Live video www.ncaa.com

Hope you have a wonderful Saturday.

Homes for our troops

Can you see this video? I cannot see it on secure computers. Only on mine at home. So if you can't see it, I'm sorry.
Something that hits home for me.
Because last night I sat at a "Readiness Fair" for three hours after work with a guy in this crash.
To look through books with other spouses about what the wishes of their husbands would be should they be injured or killed.
This is real.
This is not the first time.
I've done it many times.
But Gosh.
One of our guys we work with (for FRG stuff) was in a crash in 2007 that changed his life forever.The crash you see in the video above. One of his closest friends, Scot Noss, was seriously injured. He has been in the hospital ever since.  He is making progress. He even came to our military ball this fall. But, it was his first time out of the hospital since the accident. It was the FIRST TIME since the accident that his wife has slept in bed with him.  To think that this home will give him the freedom to really live. Oh gosh. It just makes me so emotional.
I thought Extreme Home Makeover made me cry.
This is so real. I have met Ryanne. She is awesome. I mean amazing. So strong.

This weekend we have the opportunity to travel to Birmingham and help build the home.
http://www.homesforourtroops.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ScotNoss
If you know someone who has the means to donate, or you do, this is a great place to go to help.
I will be with lots of guys AG works with. It will be a real event, of that I am sure.  Emotional. Tough. But real.

This war doesn't effect some people, ever.
It affects me every day. It is our lives. Our Ministry.
I'm proud to be serving.

Two Years Ago...

It's Christmas time. I can't help but remember the holiday when my hubby was in Iraq. (and no, military people, this does not break OpSec...because several of these photos were PA photos) He specifically requested the Santa suit. He was a leader of a group of about 30+ guys...and he decided to take them gifts (in the back of a truck)...as Santa. Oh gosh. I'm glad he's got a good sense of humor. I wasn't laughing as much when I was alone on Christmas, but then I think of the good. I think of the ministry that the Lord allowed Brandon to do. The unique situations Brandon was in because of this deployment. The ability he has to influence men for the gospel. Reminds me of Romans 8:28 "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." It might not always work out how I want it. But it works out.
For Example:


If Brandon was busy being Santa and working with the local people...



he was going to miss his best friend's wedding. I don't know if you are aware of the time in 2007 when the deployments were being extended from 12 months to 15 months? Well...that happened to us. What once would be a fun reunion/wedding....turned into a time where he would miss a special occasion. But I couldn't let that stop me. NO way! My sweet, crafty, amazing friend Melinda helped me create a stand up B. It was too expensive to have this made at Kinkos. So I just had him printed to the waist. Then we put spray adhesive on the back of him, mounted him to foam core and painted on his legs (who needs fancy photo paper? All we need is legs..) I think they look great!


He was a hit and people took pictures with him all night. I even danced with him quite a bit. Especially during the slow dances :)


Right now, I brought him downstairs (from the attic) to hang out as a nice, manly (scary) silhouette in my windows. I know, dorky, right? His legs came off, so right now he's just a head and shoulders. He's three years old now! The big army guy comes home Monday...so he can go back to the attic soon!!

Excited to go to bed. The cats (Kentucky Wildcats) just pulled out a win over UCONN! Still undefeated...but by a hair!! :)

Have you ever seen this guy? Mark Driscoll is pretty great. You'll have to bookmark this when you have a moment to watch this. My sweet friends, Katie and Aaron, turned me on to him. (They are adorable and getting married December 27 in Lexington!) You can find Aaron mentioned (quoted, actually) here. Okay, back to Mark Driscoll. He is challenging, REAL, and funny. He doesn't mess around. I like that. This "Peasant Princess" is the women's version or message on Song of Solomon.

So, I was going to post today about these ADORABLE (no, really. A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E) Turkey cake pops (inspired by Bakerella) that I made to take to my FRG (more later about WHAT FRG means...in case you are non military) meeting last night. I'll admit it. This picture is not my own. It is what Bakerella's looked like. But mine were just as cute. I use brighter candycorn because I couldn't find caramel, and they were in cupcake cups instead of on pops. But other than that...they were the same....and SO CUTE. Do you want to know why I couldn't show you pictures and blog about them? Get ready, you might cry. Well, you won't. But I wanted to.

I got out of the car, hands full as always. In my hands were a purse, an FRG bag, a plate of brownies, cups, a tray of fruit and a tray of turkey cake pops. I should have known better. WAY TOO MUCH! But I am WOMAN (i declared in my head). I made it one step. ONE. Suddenly I began to lose my balance and I regain. But guess what does not regain it's balance? MY TRAY OF TURKEYS!!! It was slow motion as they fell and clattered onto the black asphalt of the parking lot. I seriously could have cried. Or fallen onto my knees and shouted "NOOOOOOO!!". Do you know how much work it took to achieve such cuteness?? There were three un-affected. You better believe I took those three inside to be enjoyed. Soon after I arrived and had my accident, a car pulled up and ran over the remaining turkeys on the ground. It was a sad moment. NOw you know why I couldn't post about the amazing process. I was just too sad. I think I'm over it now.


Off to watch my hubby play in a TURKEY BOWL football game. Officers VS. NCOS. It is played with a personal vendetta against the officers. Should be fun. I hope AG doesn't come home injured!. :)

Happy pre-turkey day!

If you are a biggest loser fan, they are bringing back fan favorites for a 'special' on tonight, FYI!