A friend of mine from the gym, Susan, always asks about my husband. I hadn’t seen her in quite a while but she recently started attending one of my staple classes again. So being a military brat herself and a mom of an Air Force pilot, she asked how he was doing a few weeks ago.

I had to give the dreaded answer that he was deployed again. She was sympathetic as I explained where Mike was this time and how this deployment was a bit more nerve racking than the rest. Susan immediately said she had something for me to send in my next package to Mike.

A few days later she brought me three crosses made from bullets that she had ordered from Liberia and Psalm 91 printed on a sheet of paper with a short note to Mike. She was honored and proud to be able to pass these along to the Marines, like it was her duty as an American.

She also said something that has stuck in my mind and while on paper it might seem all twisted and wrong, it has given me some peace. She said something like God will not bring anyone into his kingdom before he has planned to. It helped me see who is really in charge here and that it isn’t the enemy’s decision, it’s a greater power.

Reading Psalm 91 and sending Mike the crosses also gave me peace. It made me realize that all we can do is pray and  everything else is in God’s hands. No matter how much you worry, how much sleep you lose, or how many tears you shed, it will not change the outcome.

May God bless and protect our troops.

Psalm 91
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. [1]
2 I will say [2] of the LORD , “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”

3 Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you make the Most High your dwelling-
even the LORD , who is my refuge-
10 then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he loves me,” says the LORD , “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”