Love Languages

Our pastor has been doing a series on the five Love Languages to God. The weeks message was about Acts of Service. During the message, Pastor Chuck kept talking about how he hoped we would draw a card with a service act on it and do it during the coming week. He said that they had been praying that God would lead you to the right card for you. I was so scared that I would draw the wrong card and it would be something that was so far out of my comfort zone that I would opt not to do it. I prayed that I would draw a card that I could and would actually follow through with. Terrified, I chose a task. My card read: Send a care package to a member of the military stationed over seas. I could do this! In fact, I was sure that it was definitely the card He had intended for me to draw. One of my favorite things to do is make gift baskets and this was basically that. My only problem is that I don't know anybody in the military who is stationed over seas. I have one friend who's husband is in the Navy, but they are stationed here in California. My cousin is entering into the Air Force, but he's still home. So, I did what I do best - I went online and started researching. I quickly found out that following 9/11 and the Anthrax scare following, you could no longer send a package to "Any Service Man." I was beginning to feel defeated. I kept researching and came across a website called Treats For Troops. They have a program called "Foster a Soldier" where soldiers can register with them and people can send care packages to them. I was so excited. You can have it randomly pick you a soldier or you can select from a list of options: where they are stationed, branch of military, home state and gender. I decided that I would like to foster a woman from California. I found who I thought was my perfect person, a female who had similar interests as me. But I guess God had another person in mind for me. When I selected this woman, there was a glitch in the system and I had to started all over with my search. Grrr. I asked God to point me to the right person and the very next soldier was my match. A woman, a Christian, a mother with three small girls at home, who is stationed on a navel ship out at sea. In her profile, she credited God several times as getting her through. I had so much fun picking out the items from the website and putting together a package for this woman. And the best part was that I had fulfilled my commitment. I think that this is a wonderful website and program and thought that I would mention that if you or a loved one is in the military, you can sign up (or sign up your loved one) to be fostered. I also think it's a great way for us to show our support to those protecting our freedom.