When the Military wants to screw you over

They continue to pay you until your contract is up and then demand the money back 3 years later. 

Yeah that is the short version. 

While M was inside he continued to get paid even though he should not have been. We talked to the lawyer, we contacted the Air Force. We talked to everyone we could but he continued to get paid. Once his contract was up, the payments stopped. We threw our hands up and said mkay, we did everything we could to figure it out. We heard nothing. 

Fast forward to M being home for 2 years and off contract for 3 and now they want their money back. And not just the money they paid, but they have tacked on 3% interest for the past 3 years. They have had his contact information for 3 years! And suddenly they expect him to pay a lump sum of 55,000 or 1500 every month for the next 3 years. 

He makes 23,000 a year. After his expenses he has less than $500 left every month. He still lives with us because he can't afford a house or apartment. 

Gotta love the government. When they want to screw you they do it in a big way.

Love is a Verb

 The theme at church the last few weeks have been about servanthood and the GOATs of our church. This past Sunday was a bit different and it hit home for me "Love is a Verb" I love this! 

Rob says I have childlike faith. I guess this is because most normal people question or doubt God at some point in their lives and I have never done that. I have just always believed and always trusted in Him. 

I am a full proponent of the commandments Love God and Love your Neighbor. Not to say that I have never judged people, because I am human after all. But I do believe that EVERYONE deserves/needs Gods love. And that it is not my place to place judgement on others, how they live, how they do things etc. 

Matthew 7:1–5

    "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye."

It is not our place to judge others but to Love others unconditionally. So why do we still feel the need to judge others? Do we think that we are like God? We are a lost people. When we ate the apple at the beginning of known time we opened ourselves up to sin. We are stubborn and we were given free will. It is what we choose to do with that free will that causes so much pain and strife in our lives. We tell people how we think they should be instead of showing them love. We judge them and put them down instead of showing them love. This needs to stop. As Christians we should be showing others how to live in Gods grace by showing them unconditional love. Again it is not our place to judge them, only to love them. 

Romans 5:8

            “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”

Instead of judging others, God tells us to LOVE others. It is the greatest thing that we can do. Show them love! Serve others. By serving others we are loving them. Show our neighbors love in all ways. People do not want to hear how you love them , although that is nice sometimes, they need you to show them how you love them.

1 Cor 8-13

            “Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
“And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love”

We can try to live sinless lives. But personally I do not think that is possible. I do believe that as Christlike as we try to be, as long as we believe that Christ died for us, that all will be forgiven. He promised us we were forgiven. We live in a sin filled world, we are not and can not be perfect, only He is. But what we can do is to love. Love others.

Love is a Verb

2024

 Another year has come and gone. There were triumphs and scares amidst the daily blessings. 

The largest triumph and scare being Rs aortic aneurism. I hope to never have to live through that again. But then again, seeing the work of God and the true miracle of life was worth it. We have learned a lot since then and we have learned to not take anything for granted. God is Good!

Ms dating hit a roadblock when the girl he was seeing went back to college and home. We knew it could not possibly work out, because of her living so far away and still being in college but we had hope for M because he really liked her. For now the dating apps are closed and he is working hard at his job where he was just made a custom carpenter after less than a year of working there. Things are looking up!

J is holding out on proposing to his girlfriend for now after a slight falling out with her parents. It really would not change much. LOL! We already consider her a daughter and she thinks of us as in-laws. He is starting to be disillusioned with his job after seeing how well M is treated at his job. Js Christmas bonus was pretty small and he does not feel like he is making enough money. I think the sheet metal apprenticeship will be a good thing but he is not very patient! 

RJ and A are making things work. Their marriage is certainly not what we would have wanted for him, but he is making is work. The new baby is absolutely adorable and C is as spoiled as ever. We took C to the Creation museum and the Ark over the Holiday's and he loved them both. At the Ark he started asking questions about God and Jesus, which surprised us since RJ has renounced his belief and is very vocal about it, but it was great to see and hear Cs excitement about Jesus. So there is hope. 

I am looking forward to seeing what the year ahead has for in store for us. Praying for good things! I know there are a few people who read my rambles here and I appreciate the support! I want to wish you a Happy and Blessed New Year!