Soldiers and Military Families Respond

*Update 11:15 PM (ET)* :  Dear United States Government, finally!!! Thank you for settling your differences, compromising on both sides and agreeing on a deal.  I know it wasn't easy for either party.  From what Obama just said moments ago, there will be no government shutdown.  Which hopefully means we will be getting our full paychecks without delay, so long as the voting on the floor proceeds and passes as planned next week.  So we are not out of the woods just yet, though I am feeling optimistic.  *Crossing fingers*  May I just say, Mr. President and Congress, you've ALL made me proud tonight! Again, thank you.

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Here are a few responses from our military members around the world and their families in regards to a looming government shutdown.  These pictures say it all:

Dear Mr. President

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/04/04/government.shutdown.military/index.html?iref=allsearch&iid=EL

Dear Mr. President and Members of Congress,

I am the wife of an American soldier.  A soldier who loves serving his country and its people.  There are thousands like him.  May I remind you that your inability to pass a budget bill of any kind that is now threatening a possible government shutdown will greatly impact these soldiers and their families.

But the funny thing is, you already know this.

You see, a soldier's paycheck is considered to be one of those "nonessential" expenses that will be delayed funding if there is indeed a government shutdown.  So for the thousands of soldiers who are out there putting their lives on the line, fighting, and providing security in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya, they will have to continue to do so without payment until Congress gets its act together.  But it is not just the soldiers who are affected, it's their spouses and children who've been left back at home.  Yet those who work in Congress will continue to be financially compensated no matter the outcome.  It makes me wonder how quickly you all might get the job done if you were also forced to work without pay too. 

Did I mention that those paychecks are kind of important to our family of four children?  You see, those paychecks provide 90% of our family's income.  Amongst all of your bickering between party lines, my family is facing the very real possibility of going without any money for a time.  The majority of soldiers make only enough to live from paycheck to paycheck and our family is no exception.  Yes, yes, I know that the military families will eventually receive backpay for the time worked during a government shutdown, but that won't happen until you are back up and running again. Until then, we will be forced to figure out where the money will come from that will put food on our table, gas in our car, pay our bills, and keep the roof over our heads.   

As if this deployment hasn't been hard and stressful enough on our family, you have to add this to it as well?  It's ridiculous.  I  want my husband to be able to stay focused out there so he can come home safely and this situation isn't helping.  He doesn't need to be worrying about his family back at home.

So, please Mr. President and members of Congress, here are just a few of the faces who will be affected by all of your squabbling and finger-pointing:

(deployment day)

These are the faces of those who often cry quietly at night, missing and wondering if their daddy is ok, 

(deployment day)

or when they wake up, worrying if he is still alive or not.

(deployment day)

These are the ones who sit every night at the dinner table beside an empty chair.

These are the ones who celebrate their birthdays and holidays fatherless or motherless.

(deployment day)

These are the ones who ask over and over again where their daddy is, not understanding why he is never home.

(deployment day)

They sacrifice for this country in their own small way.  They are letting you borrow someone who is precious and dear to them.

Isn't it about time you did the same?  To put aside your differences and come to a compromise?  Is this how you show your support and gratitude?  You say you care and that our troops should not go without pay and yet are unable to come to a resolution?  Yesterday my husband had to stand up in front of his soldiers and inform them about what is going on back in Washington DC.  He said you could just see the shock and worry on their faces.  Dear elected officials, I believe you should be the ones to deliver such a message in person and then witness firsthand the reaction of every soldier's face. 

Sincerely,
One Very Disappointed Military Wife

PS: Thankfully, we have tried to consistently to put a little money aside for a rainy day.  Which is a good thing because it looks like it's going to start downpouring and who knows for how long.

Oh, and a few of the Marines had a message too:

What We Learned

Just finished up with an awesome General Conference weekend, listening to the leaders of our church speak on a variety of topics.  I had a new requirement for the kids this time - they would actually have to write down a few things that they learned from each speaker.  Not too hard, right?

And to show just how easy it is, I included the requirement for myself too. 

This was my particular view.  :)

Maybe he just listens better that way.

Here are a few things that Aubrey learned (granted, she had 8 pages of notes by the time Conference was done, so she really had a tough time narrowing it down to just a few.)

1. Truly loving Jesus Christ requires the strength to follow Him, which we can do by overcoming trials and trusting in Him.
2. Trials and affliction are a part of life.  They are vitally important in the process of life and help shape our character.  The darkest trials bring some of the greatest blessings.
3. Satan will always be constant.  He never gives up and is always going to try to stop us from following God.
4. How well we deal with trials in our life determines our spiritual strength.  When we complete a trial, we have grown stronger in our faith and are more ready to serve Him than we were before the trial.
5. Keeping God's commandments strengthens our faith.

What Connor learned:
1. We are all God's children and He loves us.
2. Jesus Christ is God's only begotten son.
3. God wants us to have joy.
 As for Rigdon, he did a good job testing everyone to see how well they could stay focused on the speakers and not on him.  Among all of Rigdons' wiggles and talent for stiring up the other boys, he somehow managed to stick his finger up Connor's nose too hard, causing it to bleed.  (Don't ask, it's just one of those things.)

And he does a pretty good job mimicking me too...he's taking pictures with his "own" camera.

What a about Ronin?  Well, he found this note-taking challenge to be, well....challenging.  Since he was having such a hard time just sitting and listening, I told him to pull out a jigsaw puzzle and go for it (most excellent suggestion, honey, it totally kept him quiet and busy.)

What Ronin learned:
1. We need to seek the Lord.
2. Be kind to people.
3. We need to pray to Heavenly Father.

As for me, here's a few things I got out of conference:
1. The Holy Spirit speaks in ways that we can only hear with our heart.  We must turn down the volume of the world in order to listen. 
2.  Affliction is part of our mortal experience.  It is an important process for developing our own divine nature.  All that we suffer and endure, especially when done with patience, will develop our character, purify our hearts, and expand our soul.  Personal growth comes from challenges, not by taking the easy way.
3. Judgement day isn't just about the good and evil choices we make in this life, it is the culmination of what and who we have become in the end.
4. Paul said of divine correction or chastening, ‘For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.’ Though it is often difficult to endure, truly, we ought to rejoice that God considers us worth the time and trouble to correct.”
5.  Marriage is wonderful. You will have times when you are extremely happy, times of testing, and times of trial, but the Lord guides you through all of those experiences together. . . . marriage provides an ideal setting for overcoming any tendency to be selfish or self-centered.”
6. Avoid debt and apply the principles of thrift.  Develop the discipline to distinguish between needs vs. wants and live accordingly.
7.  There were some great comments on rearing kids too, but I didn't get those written down.  I'll have to share those another time once the talks are published.

I also learned how much more I actually get out of Conference by taking notes.  It gives me a whole new focus on what is really being said instead of just hearing the words.