Paranormal Activity

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What with tomorrow being Halloween and all, several posts have come up on the Laughlin Wives Facebook page regarding paranormal activity.  Apparently it is commonly understood that a couple of the buildings on base as well as some of the housing are haunted.

I thought perhaps they might just be joking because it’s Halloween, but as I read some of the comments, I realized that some of these women have indeed experienced strange things in their houses.

Normally I am inclined to say that there must be a logical, rational explanation.  You probably locked the door yourself and forgot.  Maybe a family member turned the stove knobs.  But I must say that reading some of their stories freaked me out a little.  Although, I admit that the night I was scared I was overly tired and my imagination was running freely.

It has given me cause to think, though.  What do I think about such things?

Do I think that people’s ghosts come back and haunt things?  No, I don’t.  The Bible is clear that when a person dies, their spirit is either in heaven or hell.  (In the Old Testament there are accounts of mediums and spiritists bringing back dead people…but I believe that is another thing entirely.  In those instances, dead people were not around many times or long term, nor did they “haunt” anyone or anything.)

Do I believe in evil spirits/powers?  Yes, I do.  Jesus cast out demons during His ministry.  In Ephesians, Christians are told to put on the armor of God “that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”  (Ephesians 6:11)  And in verse 12 of the same chapter, it says that we wrestle against “the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”  2 Corinthians 11 says that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.  In Job, Satan is given power over Job.

Do I believe that Satan’s grip will remain?  No, I do not.  God is always greater than Satan….and not just in the final day, when God will once and for all crush Satan (Revelation 20:10).  God’s power over Satan is in this world as well.  1 John 4:4, “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

It is clear that there is evil in the world.  It is clear that Satan is at work in the world attempting to destroy God’s work and God’s name.  It is clear that there are demons also seeking the same purpose.

Regardless of whether or not there are ghosts or demons or paranormal activity here on base, I know that God is the Victor.  I know that God reigns in the Pilot.  God reigns in me.  God reigns in this house.  Therefore, Satan has no power here.

Right when you walk in the door of our house, you can see the verse “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.  Joshua 24:15).  This is God’s household.  Sometimes when I get scared or worried or guilt stricken, I will consciously remind myself of the truth.

Sometimes I pray out loud.

Sometimes I say a Bible verse out loud.

Sometimes I’ll remind myself of the gospel out loud.

I find that when I speak truth out loud, it helps to banish other thoughts from my mind.  It gets my heart back on track and reminds me of what’s really important.  It gives me peace as I rest in God.  I think that’s because when I speak, the words that come out are automatically louder than the thoughts in my head…and I have no choice but to listen and know that God’s word is true.

If you are truly a child of God, the Holy Spirit is in you.  God is with you.  The safest place to be is with God.

-Bonnie

And we have winners!!!

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Using random.org, we just picked the two giveaway winners!!!

So without further ado……

The Pretty in Pink Mani set goes to….  Lindsay!!!!!

The Sony earbuds go to……  Amerl!!!!!!!

Congrats guys!  Tomorrow I will email you both to get your addresses!

-The Pilot and Bonnie-

100 Posts and a Giveaway – CLOSED

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*drum roll*

This post is our 100th post on Life With You!!  In honor of this fact we decided to have a giveaway! The Pilot and I each picked out something to share with our readers.

My pick:

Pretty in Pink manicure set!  Included are:
-Sapphire file
-Cuticle Pusher
-Wood Cuticle sticks
-Cuticle Trimmer
-Nail Clippers
-Salon Board
-3-Way Nail Buffer

The Pilot’s pick:


Sony earbuds!

To enter, just leave a comment saying which gift you would like to win!  Giveaway will close at midnight on Saturday, the 27th.  And, since we have so few readers, your chances of winning should be pretty high!  😉

-The Pilot and Bonnie-

Initial Observations

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In our two weeks here, I have made several observations about this new home of ours.  In many ways it’s different than I was expecting…but then again I don’t know that I really had that many expectations.  Here are a few things I’ve noticed about Del Rio and Laughlin Air Force Base…

1.  It’s small.  Very small.  Del Rio is basically one main street.  The biggest store is Walmart.  In the mall, there are some very small versions of JC Penneys, Ross, Marshalls, etc.  We do have a movie theater, though…and tickets are less than half the price of what we paid in So Cal!!  The base is also quite small.  Last week I walked to a someone’s house in the other housing tract and it was only a 9 minute walk.  (And that was me walking slowly when I realized I would be very early to the appointment!)  There is a nice library here…again, very small…but I have high hopes of reading quite a large selection of their books while here!

2.  There is greenery.  My limited experience of Texas has just been that it is flat, flat, flat….and brown.  While there aren’t mountains here, there is definitely more vegetation and variation of the land then I was expecting.

3.  This is the fly capital of the state.  Probably the country.  A few nights ago, the Pilot came into our bedroom and informed me that the reason he hadn’t come to bed yet was because he was battling flies.  He had gotten 16.  Yes….16.  Just in our bathroom.  There were more throughout the house.  This is probably largely due to the fact that we have had to leave the door/s open for extended periods of time over the past few days, what with movers bringing in furniture, and us traipsing in and out with boxes.  Hopefully this fly situation will be short lived!!

4.  I have never been in a place where people actually followed the speed limit.  People of Del Rio…I applaud you!  Even in the 30 mph zones, people are seriously going 30 mph.

5.  We are going to have lots of opportunities to hang out with people!  Because there isn’t much to do in town or on base, we have already spent quite a bit of time with a friend who commissioned with the Pilot at UCLA.  (The other night we had a game night until 1:00 am!  Fun times…)  I started babysitting for another family here on base, and I look forward to spending more time with them.  We’ve started visiting churches and it will be nice to get plugged in with people there and start attending a Bible study hopefully!

So there you have it.  A bit of what I have learned so far. 😉

-Bonnie

Friday Favorites

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Well…we’ve been in Del Rio for just over two weeks.  Just yesterday we got the last of our furniture.  Woo hoo!!  Now we have to tackle the mess (and I do mean mess) left for us by the movers.  Not complaining about the movers…they did a great job!  But they aren’t allowed to put away anything they unpack…therefore….we have piles and piles and piles.  And piles.  Of stuff.

Obviously we haven’t been blogging much…but just this morning I spent some time brainstorming some ideas and hopefully we will both be back to blogging more.  The Pilot keeps wanting to write some posts…hopefully with his busy schedule he can still fit some more in!

Until then…I leave you with a bit of my happiness this week.

On Wednesday when the movers unloaded our stuff from California, I was so excited to see this.  I had a big old smile on my face pretty much the whole time they were wheeling it in.

Can’t wait to start playing again!!  (Included in the picture is a tiny
taste of that mess I was telling you about.   That was not
part of the big old smile on my face.  😉 )

I was also very happy to see this.  I’ve missed you, my friend!

And now I need to head off and tackle some more piles!  Have a great weekend!

-Bonnie

Weeks 3 and 4

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Well….The Pilot and I are now home!!!  Pulled into Laughlin Air Force Base just about an hour ago.  My amazing husband is checking in as we speak and I thought I would take the time to complete the posts on our trip!  Here is the last installment of pictures.

After we left New York City, we traveled to Philadelphia.

We visited Independence Hall (where we were assured that
Nicolas Cage did not really remove a brick from the building)….

…and were able to see the room where the Declaration
of Independence was signed.  Wow!!  The chair on the far
right was where Benjamin Franklin sat!

We also saw the Liberty Bell while in Philadelphia.

Washington, D.C.!  We spent two days there.  The first day we
saw most of the memorials and monuments.

The Presidential motorcade even drove past us!  Obviously we
don’t know for sure if President Obama was really in one of those cars,
but it was still pretty neat!

The second day we went to the National Archives, as well as the Smithsonian
Air and Space museum and the American History museum.  We took
SO many pictures, but for the sake of space, I won’t post them all.  🙂

We were able to go to Ford’s theater, the place where President Lincoln
was shot.  This is the actual gun that John Wilkes Booth used to shoot him.
Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go in the actual theater (they were
holding a dress rehearsal for a play), but we saw the museum.  In it were
all of Booth’s weapons (he was carrying sooo many…guns, knives, and a sword),
the suit that the President was wearing when he was shot, the door to his theater
box, etc.  Across the street we went inside the Peterson house and saw the room where
he actually died.  His blood stains are on the pillow.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.  We
arrived in time to see the changing of the guard.  It was an amazing and
sobering experience.

The Iwo Jima memorial.  This was amazing!!!!  I didn’t expect it to be so BIG.
I think this was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

Mt. Vernon!  It was fascinating seeing his house and the things in the museum
(including even George Washington’s actual dentures!).  We took
a National Treasure tour (saw the cellar), toured the house, and learned a lot.
(Did you know that he owned 8,000 acres of land and on any
given night they had an average of 30 overnight house guests?)

That concluded the sight seeing part of our trip.  The last two weeks we just spent
with family and friends.  It was SO fun and relaxing!

We stopped in Tennessee to see some friends who had moved
there from California within the past year (to start
a church plant!).  It was great spending
time with them again!

While in Georgia, we saw B and J, who also used to be
in California.  B and The Pilot grew up together, and all
four of us went to the same church for years.  B and J
are going to be missionaries for New Tribes!

Driving back up to Tennessee, we met some friends for breakfast.
S went to our church in Cali years ago.  Now she’s an Army wife
(her husband is currently deployed) with three great kids!

Back up in Nebraska, we spent time with The Pilot’s brother (who
was then back from deployment) and family.  We played lots of Clue,
went with them to their church’s Awana(ish) program, and had a great time
visiting with them and playing with the nieces and nephew!

In Oklahoma City, we went with our cousins to the memorial
for the bombing.  It was a beautiful memorial, but definitely very sobering.
A piece of the original building still stood, as well as a big tree that survived.
You can see in the picture on the opposite side of the water a bunch of chairs.
Each chair symbolized a person who died.  There were small chairs for the
children in the daycare who died.

R, L, me, and The Pilot
after church on Sunday!  It was so fun to see their apartment, campus,
and the area they live.  L and I have always been really
close friends as cousins…and it was great spending time with her and her husband!

Our last stop was Lubbock, TX, to see some of my AMAZING relatives.
I seriously am so, so, SO blessed to have such an amazing family.  Unfortunately,
they weren’t all here for the picture, though.  The Pilot and I were able to join
Grandmommy and Granddaddy on their morning walks, and we did some shopping,
ate out a couple times, and played Mexican trains.  Fun!!

And now we are home!  It has been an absolutely amazing 33 days of travel.
I am so thankful that we were able to take this trip.  It was GREAT
spending time with just The Pilot, having fun, seeing sites, and going on adventures.
I love him so much!!!!

Now we shall see what God has planned for us in Del Rio!!

-Bonnie

Identity

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For a while now I have been pondering the idea of identity.

God’s timetable is very often not our own.  Most recently this is demonstrated in my life by the fact that He has chosen for us to not yet be pregnant.

The past several months have been incredible months of learning again what it means to really trust God.  But it hasn’t always been easy.  As I spend time thinking about it all, I am reminded that motherhood is not my identity.  It’s not who I am, it’s not my main focus, it’s not what drives me, it’s not what makes me me.  If being a mother or not can change the core of who I am, that’s a problem.

Who am I?  What is my identity?  My identity is in Christ.  I must be founded in Christ.  He is the One that makes me who I am, He is the One who I must identify with and pursue and invest in.

If God chooses for the Pilot and I to be parents, then GREAT!  And of course that will change…just about everything in our lives.  But it can’t be my identity.  My identity must first and foremost be in Christ.  Who I am…and my purpose in life…is not determined by what I do.  Not being a mother doesn’t call into a question who I am as a person or as a woman (although sometimes I feel like it does!)  My identity, worth, and value is determined only by Christ.  And as He brings things into my life (my sweet husband, children, job, college, family, friends, moves, etc) my responsibilities will change.  But always as it relates to God and His perfect purpose for me.

There are so many aspects of identity in Christ…here are only a few of the passages that talk about some of those aspects:

 

Colossians 2:13-14, “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together
with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 
by canceling the record of debt that
stood against us with its legal demands.
This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”

Psalm 139:13-16, “For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
    the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.”

Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, 
created in Christ Jesus for good works, 
which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Philippians 3:20, “But our citizenship is in heaven,
and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

-Bonnie

Week 2

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Well…we did and saw so much this week!  There will be a bit more pictures this week then last week, although I will still post only highlights.  If you’re not interested in scrolling through pics…that’s okay.  You don’t have to.  😉  (Shh…I often times scroll quickly through other people’s picture posts!)

We visited our sister-in-law, nieces, and nephew in Nebraska.
J, The Pilot’s brother, was deployed at the time, but he is back now!
We will go back by Nebraska next week to see him and the family again!

We visited Abraham Lincoln’s home in Springfield, Illionois…

…visited the Air Force museum in Dayton, Ohio, where we
sat in an F-16 cockpit, saw one of the Wright brothers original
airplanes, looked at huge missiles, and stared at countless other
planes from WWI to present day.  Oh, and my personal favorite….

…the actual command module from Apollo 15!!

From there we visited Niagara Falls!  It was gorgeous!

We kissed at Niagara Falls…

and visited the Gerrit Smith estate in Peterboro, New York.
This was amazing!  He personally gave $8 million dollars to free slaves
and help other abolitionists.  Countless people came through
and stayed at his house…slaves, poor, sick, etc.

In Lexington, we went on part of the Battle Road trail, which is a 5.5 mile
trail over part of the ground where they fought on the first
day of the Revolutionary War.

This is the site where Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Dr. Samuel Prescott,
ran into British soldiers.  Dawes and Prescott escaped, but Paul Revere was
detained.  A few hours later he was released.

The Old North Church!  One if by land, two if by sea…

…saw the North Bridge, where the first command to fire was given.
It was also here where the first British soldiers were lost.

Took a tour of Louisa May Alcott’s house.  I hadn’t known that Little Women
was based on her real life!  Interesting fact: she made more money from her writing
than Mark Twain!

Saw the Atlantic Ocean for the first time!

Visited Plimoth Plantation!

Went aboard the Mayflower II.  Definitely very small!

Saw the rock where the Pilgrims carved out the year they landed.

Saw Mark Twain’s house in Hartford, Connecticut.

Had a flat tire on our way into NYC….

…saw the Statue of Liberty…

…admired the buildings…

…kissed in Times Square…

…and went to a very sobering memorial for September 11.

There are a few highlights from our second week of travel!  Today we are driving through Pennsylvania to DC.  So exciting!

-Bonnie

Book Bag

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One of my favorite things about taking  a trip is the book bag I get to take.  My backpack is full of books.  While we’re driving I like to have my book bag right next to me.  A) That makes the books easier to reach.  B)  It makes me happy to have them close.  😉

So what did I bring with me on this road trip?

my Bible

A Promise to Remember by Kathryn Cushman (Finished on Day 7 of our trip)

A Sweetness to the Soul by Jane Kirkpatrick (Finished on Day 33)

Cat and Dog Theology by Bob Sjogren and Gerald Robison (A book I’ve owned for several years.  I’ve heard some good recommendations and I look forward to reading it)

For Women Only by Shaunti Feldhahn (Pretty sure I got this book through Paperbackswap one time.  I actually read it several months ago but I brought it along to discuss parts of it with my incredible husband.  While I appreciate her book, I think that it is too generalized.  Every man and every husband is different.  You have to get to know your own man!)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (Finished on Day 14 of our trip)

Men Are Like Waffles Women are Like Spaghetti by Bill and Pam Farrel (Finished on Day 21. Saw this on a marriage blog and got it very inexpensively on amazon.  Pretty sure that it will be another one that will need the same disclaimer as For Women Only.)

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers (Finished it on Day 3 of our trip.)

The Power of Words by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer (Finished Day 23)

The Scarlet Thread by Francine Rivers

The Spirit of Loveliness by Emilie Barnes (given to me by my sister Carrie when I got married)

I also brought a few Whodunit books.  When I was younger, my family would do some of these together.  They give you the story and clues…and you have to solve the mystery!  I thought it would be fun to do some with my love!

So there you have it!  The joys of my book bag.  😉  I’ll update this post throughout our trip with the days I finish a book!

-Bonnie

Week 1

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Well we’ve been on the road for a week.  We’ve had lots of fun.  Definitely some unplanned things (such as one day turning into 16 hours of driving, getting us to our hotel at 3:00 am), and definitely some great times and memories.  Here are a few pictures from what we’ve been up to this week!

We visited the Grand Canyon…

…kissed at the Grand Canyon…

…enjoyed the beautiful drive through Arizona and Colorado…

…stopped by Four Corners….

…briefly visited Mesa Verde (please note that if you ever go,
you should allow several hours.  This is one of the reasons our 11 hour drive
turned into 16 hours.  Mesa Verde is a national park…but once you get
in the gate, it is several miles back in the mountains before you actually arrive.)

…had lunch with The Pilot’s Uncle and his girlfriend…

…visited Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs
to see Whit’s End downstairs…

…visited The Pilot’s brother, E.  But unfortunately we
didn’t get any pics of all of us.  😦 …

…visited Jewel Cave, the second longest cave
in the world.  It was difficult to take clear pictures
in there….

…visited Mt. Rushmore…

..and kissed at Mt. Rushmore!

It’s been a great first week!!  Today we are off to Nebraska to visit The Pilot’s sister-in-law and three children.  (His brother is currently deployed and we’ll miss seeing him on this trip.)

-Bonnie