August 23, 2014

Before the boys left for Basic Military Training, BMT, in San Antonio, Texas, the five of our little family got together for dinner and playing games, Rummy and Phase 10.  I had to boys go with me to Kroger to let them pick out a cake and to pick up a few things, savoring every little second with them….normally, not ones to want to go grocery shopping with their Mama, they seemed especially interested in going with me….possibly they wanted  my presence as well?

Since Kroger didn't have a Red Velvet Cake, their favorite, they decided to get a Chocolate Chip Cookie and had it decorated.  Johnson was intent on having it say, "Happy Birthday, Johnskin".  I encouraged him to have written, Congratulations, or Bon Voyage or something like that…you know…but my sage son said, "Mama, we gotta have the pink flower because it's a happy flower, we have to say Happy Birthday, because this will be our birth into the Air Guard."  Okay, I said….but, shouldn't you add Kenton's name?

And…Johnson said, "Mama, "Johnskin" is Kenton's name…and, it's my name.  Can't you see?  It's joined together to be one name.  Just like us.

Now, that may not seem like a big deal to you readers, but to this mother's heart, that spoke volumes.

My sons always got along very well when they were younger.  So much so, that it was common to have people talk about how well they got along.  Often, my friends with twins would say they wished their twin children got along as well.  Then, sometime around 12-13, that changed…..competition and peer pressure entered their lives and tried to pull them apart.  People compared them with one another always leaving one or the other short.  One grew taller and larger while the other remained smaller and shorter.  One's hair grew lighter and the others grew darker.  Outsiders…"friends" and even a few foolish family members made comments about their differences and not in a positive way.

And, my boys listened.

My mantra became, "be who God intended you to be", "be yourself" but a mama's words can get drowned in a world where others yell and scream and influence.

Then, around 15 and 1/2, things began to change.  Our lives were in upheaval and we had a choice…bind together or grow apart.  We chose to bind together…..

And, from around 15 1/2, things began to change…..I'm not going to lie and say their relationship was perfect.  It was not.  They still fought over clothes, friends, and finding their own way.  They still competed to see who got their driver's license first and who could date the cutest girl.  

But, their bond was there and it was growing….there was less fighting over the bathroom in the morning and who had to get in the shower first.  I could often hear them as they got ready for school asking if they could borrow a shirt or a pair of shoes.  One invited the other to ride with him to get their hair cut.

I lay in bed at night (okay…ad midnight) and listened in as they cooked a midnight snack and gave each other advice on how to handle women, sports and friends.

At times, their sister would come in from a date and join them.  My three, sitting on our leather couch laughing and listening and being together.

It was so tempting to sneak down the stairs to join them, and on occasion, I did that, getting up with Ian to make "Macgoo" sandwiches and the five of us would be a family together.  But, most times, I stayed in my bed and listened….

Not a few times, tears found their way down my cheek…..this comraderie, this being together, this frank love for one another which they didn't say in words as much as they said in actions was a gift to my mother's heart.

A mother's greatest prayer is that her children have a relationship with God in the fabric of their being and that her children love one another.

When they are little, it is so easy to see their love….they say it in words, they write it in cards, they hug one another, pick up one another, encourage one another.  But, as they get older, life tries to pull a mother's children apart….it can be painful to watch.  

My children and I have talked a lot about sticking together through thick or thin…being there for one another at all costs.  We spoke often that hardships in life can either break you or make you stronger both individually and as a family.

I always asked…prayed…and, at times, begged, "Please let your challenges draw you closer and stronger"

And, so when Johnson insisted on Happy Birthday, Johnskin…..it broke my heart in the sweetest of ways.

He….Kenton….and, their sister…..they chose strength and bonding and love for one another

#2 on my Mother's bucket list for my children…..

And, as I write, Kenton and Johnson are once again working together within the Kentucky Air National Guard….different dorms, different squadrons, but same opportunities.  And, my prayer is that they are able to quietly, with just a glance, remind one another when they cross paths that they are always there for each other.

John…skin

Johnson…..Kenton

Bound forever through flesh and blood and choice

Blessings,

Lesa

 August 21, 2014




It's been 48 hours since we shipped off Kenton and Johnson to head to BMT in San Antonio, Texas.  The first night, I was awakened often and simply lay in bed and prayed.  One son, in particular, was keeping my thoughts unquiet and I sensed a special struggle.  But, both boys were covered in prayer through the night.

I have been praying that God will prick my mother's heart each and every time one/both of the boys are in need of prayer and that I stop what I am doing and immediately lift them up to Him.  And, He has responded.....I have even started a prayer jar similar to my current prayer jar for each of the boys.  It is of great comfort to me to write on a slip of paper and place my prayer for them in the jar and give it over to God....to see the prayers growing....and, along with it, my faith in their well-being on this journey.




 A mother knows her children as well as about anyone save God, and these past four years have created a strong bond between "me and my three" which comes when you share hardships, heartaches and hard journeys.  I hate the pain they have struggled through, that they have watched me struggle through, but I love the humility, tenderness and honesty which has forged our hearts together. 

It's a precious thing when your children see you at your ugliest and make the conscious decision to love you all the more.  That is what I felt last Tuesday as I hugged my sons and put them on the plane (their first air flight ever) and gave them over to the Kentucky Air National Guard (KANG).

So many keep asking, "are you sad?" "do you cry?"

No, I do not nor have I done more than have my eyes pool in a few unshed tears when Johnson hugged me "hard"....before he boarded.

I have peace.

I know they will struggle.  I know it will be painful.  They will be challenged.  They will have some successes and they will have some failures.

They will be broken down to the core of their being and they will be built back up....into men.

Those sad tears have yet to fall, but if they do, I will embrace them, accept them and pray through them.

It's not that I don't worry.....

It's that I know WHO has them in HIS hands.....and, I and my children have learned from experience, that they are strong but HE is stronger.  They are not as strong in their faith walk as I wish they were at 19 years of age.  I take responsibility for that and hold their dad accountable as well.

I don't want to spend my time in fear and tears because I choose to spend it praying.....

That GOD will win over their hearts and souls as only HE can during this journey they are on.  I pray that the TI's who guide them have hearts for HIM.  I ask God that if their TI's are not Christians, that HE use my sons to be the light of Christ to the TI.  I pray God put them with Godly men and women in BMT who can lean on one another during these next 9 weeks.

My sons are in the mission field.  I pray that God grows in them the need for their faith as they have never needed it before and that He leave them with no doubt who controls their life, their souls, their hearts.

I pray for His Amazing Grace on my sons.....that He strengthen them up and make them "battle ready" for the things this world will offer them starting at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas and following them the rest of their days.

That is what we Mama's do....I am not special in this.  You do it, too.

I am the mother of two Airmen......Airmen for our great country....but, especially Airmen for the greatest pilot ever.....the one who created the very skies that they will travel these next few years.

May God guide them with a clarity and determination and ferocious claiming of my so beloved sons.....

That is my prayer.  My mission field is right here under my own roof....to pray for the three babies God gave me....

And so, I do. 


 









August 18-19, 2014

"The Lord will always lead you"  Isaiah 58:11

"You've been there.  You've stepped away from the masses and followed the Master as he led you up the winding path to the summit.  Gently, your guide invites you to sit on the rock above the tree line and  look out with him at the ancient peaks that will never crode.  "What is necessary is still what is sure." He confides.  "Just remember.  You go nowhere tomorrow that I haven't already been.  Truth will still triumph.  The victory is yours…."

Today's Guiding verse from the calendar my parents gave our sons this past Christmas.  Fitting for all that has transpired this past week, month and year.

What started as a "looking into" in the summer of 2013 has resulted in the start of a military career with the 123rd Airlift Wing of the Kentucky Air National Guard.

The journey has not been without its fits and starts at times making this mother wonder if this was the path on which God wanted them to trod…but, it would appear that in His perfect timing, His will will come to be.

Today, at the airport in Louisville, Kentucky, my parents, Chet and Shirle Millstead, brother Jim Millstead, nephew, Walker Millstead, and Ian and I walked through the process of shipping out our sons to Basic Training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.

The journey has begun…..

One which so many have taken before them and which many will follow after….just as my sons have followed their Poppy's footsteps, so will they plant strong imprints into our family's military legacy.  May they do so with honor, humility and strength.

We know God goes with them and the eleven other young men and women who shared their journey from Kentucky to Texas.

We know God goes with them as we receive the first "official calls to home" from our Airmen and women.

We know God will be with them as they battle through the next 9 weeks of zero week to graduation…through hair shearings and foot sizing, through shot receiving and implementation opting.  As they learn to hold weaponry for the first time imagining what it really means to defend their grandparents, parents, siblings and family…and, yes, even you and yours.

It's a journey 1% of our American citizens take…a path I will never totally understand…..but, one which I feel prevailed and honor to walk along side my sons and new-found friends.

We could not do this.  We would not do this.  We would not want to attempt it without all of you who have supported our family (and, so many others).

Thank you in advance for the prayers I know you will lift on their behalf…please add their over 300 class-mates and especially the 13…especially Jake Reynolds, his wife Kelly and their son, Clark and Tyler, his mom, Stayce and little sister Lamya.

For love of our Military Service Men and Woman and their families.  May God bless them all.

Lesa Young and family

A little history……

"The Kentucky Air National Guard's 123rd Airlift Wing is one of the most decorated units in the United States Air Force, with a proud history of global engagement and unsurpassed achievement. The wing's honors include 15 Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards, three Curtis N. "Rusty" Metcalf Trophies, three 15th Air Force Solano Trophies, three Spaatz Trophies and six Distinguished Flying Unit Plaques.

The wing traces its roots to the 123rd Fighter Group and 165th Fighter Squadron, which were created on May 24, 1946, as part of a nationwide redesignation of World War II Army Air Corps units. Under War Department orders, the insignia, World War II battle credits and honors of the 359th Fighter Group and 368th Fighter Squadron were transferred to the Kentucky National Guard, and the new unit subsequently received federal recognition on Feb. 16, 1947. The "123rd" designation itself dates to the 123rd Cavalry Regiment, which can trace its lineage to the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, a unit that fought in the Civil War."