D-Day

I've taken a looooong Christmas break and if I don't post now, it will stretch into a winter break.

"If the water was cold I did not notice it. I could only think of the poor guy that was drowning. He jumped off the boat too soon, the water was too deep. His gear held him down. I watched as his head sunk beneath the surface of the water. I don't even know who it was. I couldn't see his face. I guess it doesn't matter I would not tell his family that he died because he jumped off the boat too soon and drowned. I would have helped him but it happened so quickly. I was numb. It seemed as if his drowning was part of the battle plan. I did not want to die before the battle even began.
"The beach could have been booby trapped. Were there enemies on the other side of that ridge that marked the end of the beach? I wasn't going to jump out of the barge until we ran aground. The idea of this battle, THE battle, D-day; scared me to death but still, I needed to be on land. We had been on our ship for weeks waiting for orders. Some of the men were sick but all of us were bored.
"The impact of the bargve hitting the sand threw us all off balance and into the front of the raft. One man almost fell out. WE piled off, running low in knee deep water. The gunfire began almost immediately. We dropped flat on the beach, sand flew inour eyes, noses, and mouths. I looked to one side of me. Sorry-faced George was shaking sand out of his ears. I wondered if I'd see him on the other side of that beach. I began to crawl forward like we had trained so many times to do. Many men were in front of me. The ships we had just come from were firing over our heads at the enemy ahead. None of us expected resistance of this measure. WE thought our bombers had come and cleared the beaches for us."

"It sounded like thunder. The sand beneath us rumbled and bounced with the sound of boat and tank fire.
"Then- what we thought inconceivable began to happen. Land mines began to explode, triggered by crawling soldiers. Their body parts flew into the air and scattered all over the beach. I was almost afraid to move. A million thoughts ran through my head. 'If I hit a land mine what will my family have left to bury?'

"I looked around me at Jim, Pops, Frankie, Frank, Harry, Long-armed Joe, Sorry-faced George...all these men that I have trained with, ate with, these- my friend. I realize that many of them will never see America again. Reality hits me hard, even in the silence between rounds of gunfire and blasts I only think, "I am going to die, I am going to die." My other thought- "God, please kill the Kraut that kills."

~Jack, March 1943


Love to all!
Lizzi

WWII journal entry 2

September 20, 1942
"My number was called today. I am going to war. It's been almost a year since the attack on Pearl Harbor. I haven't been able to get a job here. No one will hire an able-bodied young man who is eligible for the draft. They don't want to train someone who is going to be sent off to war. Because of that I was going to sign up soon anyway.
The draft: They announce a certain date over the radio, if that date is your birthday then you must report to the nearest recruiting office.
June 15th was called today; tomorrow I report to the recruiting office.
Mom cried and hugged me as often as I'd let her.

Soon I'll be geared up, trained, and ready to fight. I've looked forward to this day since last December. Now, I can't imagine leaving home- to kill other men who believe they are defending their home.

Jack Albine"

Oh, Just a little late!

I really should have posted this at Thanksgiving!! But, I didn't think of it until I read someone else's list on their blog and thought, "Psh! My is better than theirs! I taught the teen girls in Sunday School the Sunday before Thanksgiving and in an effort to please the youth pastor's wife I did something "with being thankful!"
I gave the girls a limited amount of time to fill in a list of 25 things they were thankful for. The first five I filled in for them (aren't I nice!) They had to use one or two word answers and could not use a list of proper names either. Here is my list...

1. Salvation
2. The Bible
3. Our Church
4. Family/Home
5. Food

6. Job
7. Health
8. Mental Health
9. Friends
10. Christian upbringing
11. George (my cat) ... notice the order of these two...
12. Jonathan (my boyfriend)
13. Financial security
14. The youth group (of which I am a leader and not a member, thank you)
15. New days
16. Forgiveness
17. Memories
18. America
19. Freedom
20. Opportunities
21. My calling
22. That I'm not ugly (yes this is more than 2 wds, sorry)
23. Answered prayers
24. Soap
25. Internet
26. The color Green
27. Ross/Kohls
28. Music

I know 28 is an odd number to end at, but- I only had a certain amount of time!

Hope you all take time to think about these things we take for granted every day and Thank God for them.

Love to all!
Lizzi

December 7, 1941

It is December 7th the 68th anniversary of the bombings on Pearl Harbor. In honor of this day (and an effort to use some long forgotten school assignments) I am posting a fictional journal entry I wrote as part of a creative writing assignment in college.
From the journal of Jack Carter Albine, December 8th, 1941

"The President said it best, 'This day will live in infamy.' December 7, 1941, Sunday morning, just minutes before 8 o'clock, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The newspaper today held Christmas shopping items, pages and pages of gifts. There will be no Christmas for the men in those four sunken battleships and I dare say Christmas will not be the same for their families either.

We were listening to the radio. Mom cried silently as she rocked Elsie, my baby sister, back and forth in her rocking chair. Dad stopped reading the paper, chewed on the end of his pencil and scratched the back of his head. None of us knew really what to do or say.

The bombing lasted 2 hours and left our majestic Pearl Harbor in ruins. Today, America declared war on Japan. Churchill pledged to join us in that war. That attack has only awoken a sleeping giant. America has shed it's isolation and is preparing to fight.

We will Emerge victorious!
Jack Carter Albine, December 8, 1941


I will post a few more of his journal entries in the next few days/weeks. Hope you all enjoy it.
Love to all!
Lizzi

Who I am

I have been looking for a new job since May. That is 6 1/2 months! (But, hey, who's counting?!) There are many reasons why; normal ones, annoying ones, but The main reason is that I feel like a big girl needs a big girl job.

I am 24, and still a waitress. Yes, I graduated from college. Yes, I am skilled at many other things but, I am your loser waitress who is stressing her head off trying to make you happy with the greasy food.

Then...lately, I've begun to think deeper about it all. I've been applying to (more recently) four or five different positions a week and, in 6 months two people have called me back. Maybe, God doesn't want me to have a different job right now. Maybe He's trying to teach me something through all of this.

I have been defining myself by the part time job I hold; "I'm just a waitress." "No, that's not what I went to school for but- 'it is what it is'!"

How could I have been selling myself short for so long? I am not "just" a waitress. I just waitress to pay the bills! What I am doing- what I love doing- what I went to school for- is serving as much as I can in my church.

I will teach anything they need me to teach.
I will plan and operate teen activities.
I will edit the newsletter.
I will write and direct the Christmas play.
I will do that and more because it is what my Savior has called me to do.

So, from now on, ask me what I do.
"I am a servant of Christ. And, I love (almost) every minute of it!"

Love to all!
Lizzi

Ugly, Ugly Gaps

So! How does everyone like my new layout and design??? I think its rather pretty :)

Our youth pastor preached last night to the entire congregation about prayer in an unconventional manner.
He began showing pictures of young children missing teeth, then hockey players missing teeth the old men and women in third world countries with gaps and decay.
He looked up the word "cease" in his Bible dictionary and one of the definitions is "a space or a gap." So, he determined that we should be "praying without gaps." Praying once a day is like missing your front teeth. Looking at those pictures made me assess my prayer life.

I used to have conversations with God every time I was in the car alone. Now, I keep hitting the power button on the radio and singing away.
I used to write in my prayer journal daily, I almost couldn't sleep without filling a page of thoughts and concerns. Now, I just set my alarm- and sleep; never thinking twice about it.
Lately, I have often found myself saying "I'll keep you in my prayer" knowing my conscience is saying- "Fat Chance!"

My prayer life is missing its front teeth. WE HAVE A GAP! I'll be working on that.

Now, How ugly is your prayer life???

Love to all!
Lizzi

Memories

A year and a half ago my best friend, with whom I shared a tiny apartment in Santiago, Chile; and I would get up on Saturday mornings and make banana pancakes. Whether at 8am or noon (she preferred noon and I, eight) we had banana pancakes to celebrate our one morning off.

Now we live in different houses in different states doing different jobs. We planned to relive an old memory and once again meet for breakfast and make banana pancakes.

I arrived at her house hungry enough to eat a dozen banana flecked pancakes only to find that she did not have bananas. We had strawberry and chocolate chip pancakes (which I enjoyed much more), made with bisquick (which we definitely did not use in Chile.) We also used Aunt Jemima syrup which has to be imported in the grocery stores in Santiago and costs about $8 a bottle.

After pancakes we baked a cake, a beautiful, four layer whipped filling and strawberry masterpiece; another thing we did not find possible in Chile as their cocoa made chocolate cake taste more like brown bread. Finally we looked at wedding books (she is hoping to have a wedding sometime soon) and chatted about jobs and boyfriends and such.


So, In short, We planned to relive a memory, but, instead- We Made a New One!
Which makes me realize traipsing about the world isn't essential in making unforgettable moments.

Love to all!
Lizzi