
This week, I noticed a small pocket-sized Hallmark calendar lying in the floor under my computer desk. I realized I must have dropped it from the old Bible that I sometimes flipped through lately, seeking guidance for the blogs. That old Bible was one my husband gave me before he went to Vietnam, and was worn to the point that the pages are falling apart. I am so afraid of it sliding out of the leather cover and having to sort the pages, that I don’t look through it extensively, so I had not remembered the little calendar that lay hidden in its pages. I knew the calendar was old, but I had no idea how old until, I thought, “I really need to pick that up and not let it get torn up, because I must have kept it for some reason.” Thinking it was a budget that I must have made and kept because the Lord had blessed us for some reason, I considered for a moment that I could just toss it. “One less thing for my children to be bothered with one day.” Then I turned it over and was aghast that I almost tossed it without thinking twice! It was for 1971, and when I opened it, I read: “January 14, 8:30, Bob Hope Christmas Special.” My head began to spin. I had a record of the date that I was going to watch the “Bob Hope Christmas Special?” Jimmy was going to be his driver – IN VIETNAM! I was going to watch it so I could see him – Jimmy that is. Actually see him alive and well in Vietnam. Newly married only weeks before he left, I longed to just see him any way I could. It had been several months since he left, and I just wanted to see his face.
We have told this story over and over because in the end, as Mr. Hope exited the helicopter and my husband reached to point for him to take the jeep ride, Mr. Hope declined, deciding to walk instead. And all I was able to see was my husband’s hand and arm just above his watch, for it was all the camera caught on the TV, before they cut away. I would know that hand and watch anywhere, but it was all I got to see of him. My heart sank. But I had marked the date, and I had seen that he was alive and well on that date. I had established in my heart that point in time, to see the one who was gone from me and of whom I was longing to see return again. Just a glimpse but it gave me hope of the day he would come home. How I longed for that day. I thought how interesting that Mr. Hope’s name was “hope” as I scanned the pages of the datebook. I almost cried, for it seemed only yesterday…
Jan. 18 – mailed Jimmy package
Feb. 12 – Lincoln’s birthday, Send Jimmy package
Feb. 18 – Jimmy called from NAM
Feb. 21 – PRAY Time: 10:00 P.M. PRAY (obviously a night spent wondering if he was wounded, and he was on one of those prayer dates. But that’s another story.) …
April 8-9 - Good Friday - Jimmy should be home, with a line drawn through it. April 11 - Easter
Two more long weeks….
April 26 – (circled..) Jimmy’s coming , with an arrow pointing backwards to the day before <===…
April 25 – Jimmy arrived 7:24 A.M. on Eastern………..!!!!!!!!! (R &R)
April 28 – Dr. Bradford – ( sick??? LOL)
May 5 – Jimmy left, 8:45 A.M. (tour of duty not over) back to Vietnam.
May 15 – Armed Forces Day
June 8 – Mailed Jimmy Package today
June 14 – Flag day
June 15 – Dr. Bradford, 1:45
June 20 – Father’s Day, (how I wished he would be able to call.)
July 4 – Independence Day
July 14 – Dr. Bradford
July 16 – Jimmy called this morning!
July 27 – 100 days to go
From this point on each day was marked 99, 98, 97, etc. as we counted down the days, and I mailed him one more package, my birthday and his passed, Labor Day and Columbus Day, Doctor visits, Veterans Day and Halloween eventually passed. But on Veterans Day the number of days left was 10. On Halloween, 5 – 4, 3, 2, 1, and FINALLY, on November 5, a Friday, in red letters – No More Nam.
Service members back then kept a "short timer’s" calendar, so as I marked my days so did he. They were considered the most dangerous days of any soldier’s stay, because they had a difficult time staying focused on the dangers instead of the hope of going home, yet they were encouraged to keep the calendar for the hope of that wonderful day. Jimmy still had just a few more days before he was released from service once he was home, and he once again left us, flying to Colorado just before Christmas. Given an “early out”, however, on December 14, 1971, it says – Jimmy released from service.
I hope I didn’t bore you with the exact reading. But may I say, that just reading it, makes my heart pound remembering the anticipation and fears, and finally the thankfulness to have him home. It was established in our hearts, that there was a day when he would come home. We looked anxiously for that day. Looking back, I see my own life a type of waiting on our savior’s return. The doctor visits were due to the fact that I was also counting down the days to our first child…I can tell you the day he became a living soul, just as I can tell you the day I was born into the family of God. There is a time and a place when each became a fact of my life.
Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. James 5:7-8.
Friends, there is a day marked on the calendar which only God can see, and there is a point when he will begin the count down for the day, when he will gather his bride to himself. Christ will come from his faraway land, and when he comes he still has things to do before he establishes his reign. And there will be a thousand years still on this earth when he will be our King. He too will fight a great battle, and gloriously defeat our enemy. Then, we are promised a time of peace, and of great things happening on this earth.
Let no one tell you he isn’t coming. Let no one tell you it is the end of the world!!! It is the one thing that the Saints who lived in the years soon after Christ's death and resurrection, wanted so much that they had difficulty being patient. The longing in their hearts was much like the longing in my heart for my beloved husband to return. But they were told to be like a farmer, waiting on his crops to bring a yield in due season. Their comfort was to be found living in a simple phrase, “Establish your hearts!”
God is also waiting on that day! For him the countdown is on. I wish every soul on earth would be ready for that day. I wish every saint and child of God would have a calendar on their hearts that is also counting down the days. Longing for the appearance of our KING to come for his bride.
Establish the day in your hearts. Then think of how much it means to you. When were you most impatient? What in your life did you long for with bated breath, marking the days? Have you established that whether it is, in your lifetime or not, there is a day marked on the calendar of God. And we must wait, and ready the harvest.
Lord, the tools are ours, the time is ours, the souls are our loved ones, and the time is certain. Help us be expecting you with the love of one who awaits, with great desire, the return of someone they love, or like a mother awaiting the birth of her child, or a Bride, her wedding. Help us establish this truth in our hearts. May our expectation be with patience and with hope, and help us while we wait to “establish our Hearts.” AMEN

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