Christ The Lord Is Risen Today!!

Happy easter everybody!! Every year on either on Good Friday of Easter I watch the Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson. It reminds me of just how much Jesus had to pay for our sins. In modern history when a soldier dies it is said he gives the greatest sacrifice. However, Jesus is really the one who gave the greatest sacrifice. Not only did he die an innocent man in one of the most horrible ways ever, but he took on all our sins, a sinless son of God, and his spirit died too. As I wait for the sunrise this morning, I remember that 2000 years ago my Jesus was raised from the dead, came back to life in human form, so He could return to heaven where he is seated at the right hand of the Father. He said to his disciples when He departed into the clouds, "I go to prepare a place for you" Truly, I cannot wait to see what He has in store for us. The only thing I know about the splendor of heaven is that nobody on earth can picture how wonderful it will be :)
God bless, and have a blessed and wonderful Easter Sunday!!

Proud to serve God, Country, and Fellow Man as an American Soldier.

It is the Soldier, not the minister
Who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the Soldier, not the poet
Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer
Who has given us freedom to protest.

It is the Soldier, not the lawyer
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the Soldier, not the politician
Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag.


As an American soldier, the first and most important duty is to be a servant. Jesus called us to put others before ourselves, and that the greatest of men is the one who will humble himself as a servant. I can see no greater way to become a servant than to risk my life to protect the country and people I love. It is the soldier who risks his life to save a stranded young mother with her baby in a flood. It is the soldier who jumps from a helicopter to rescue a bleeding old man from the rubble of his house after an earthquake. It is the soldier who helps rebuild after a hurricane. It is the soldier who risks life and limb to get a trapped family away from their house in a forest fire. It is the soldier who distributes food to those who are dying of starvation. It is the soldier who faces bombs and bullets to rescue a wounded fellow soldier. It is the soldier who gave us independance It is the soldier who protects what he holds dear, and it is because of the courage, and servant-hood of the American soldier that Americans sleep safely in their beds each night. Please keep me along with all the other American soldiers in your prayers, God bless, and thank-you for being true to the American idea of freedom, even in these dark days when politicians do their best to strip us of every freedom we have.
God Bless!
PFC Matthew Beaty- Combat Medic I-T 135th EB

Finally it's more pictures!!

Sorry it took me so long, but I really didn't have a chance to take any pictures yet.. I had to stay home from work this morning to get these ones. They are not very good, but I was having trouble holding him and the camera, and he was moving a lot, the light was dim, and the camera I'm using is not that great.. and unfortunately my new camera just got put on hold :(
well, here are the pictures:

My Little man Eric :)

Check it out! A yawn and a wink at the same time!

happy little guy.. :)

I'm not sure just what that face means... halfway between a smile and a yawn I think..

He seemed to like looking at me better than looking at the camera.. lol

I think we've got a future gamer here!! :) :)

Well, it's even worse...

Well, last week's bed news has carried over into this week. I found out that the rear main on my engine had gone bad, and that cost $100 to fix. Also, the part to fix the rest of the problem with my truck is going to cost $335.99 plus labor to install it.. yuck... once again God was with me, because the first place I had my truck looked at said they couldn't fix it, but that the problem was going to cost a minimum of $500 if not quite a bit more. Well, now the total is going to be less than $450 :) And the people who fixed my truck said that the problem I had is pretty much the only thing that goes bad on the old 22R Toyotas, and now that that is fixed, I shouldn't have much trouble as far as that goes. It's still going to leak some oil, but any older vehicle will do that, especailly a 25 year-old pickup truck! Also, the guy I was talking about has decided to enlist in the National Guard through me, so in about a couple weeks I'll get my 2000 dollars, or actually about $1800 or so after tax!! :) :)
I have been really worried that I was not going to have enough money to fix my truck, but God provides, and I had plenty to pay for the imminent problem at hand, and the other thing doesn't have to be fixed at all unless I want 4x4 back (which I do, but there's no major hurry) I won't be able to get my camera, but I'm sure God will provide for that when the time comes as well.
As we look toward Easter this week, and remember that Jesus' dying on the cross gave infinite life to all, perhaps my wallet is dying so that it can come back to life in a few days and be more abundant than ever!! ok.. that's a lame excuse for humor, especially since I take the Easter season very seriously, but I couldn't think of anything else... so... anyway.. I keep trying to take pictures of my little brother for you guys, but I leave too early in the morning, and he's usually tired or cranky in the evenings :(
God bless!

Even when the road is hard, God is awesome!

Though this has not been the greatest of weeks for me, God is still good. It started on Monday getting an overdraft charge from the bank. The bad thing was, the atm machine said I had like $160, so I went and bought groceries. Well, then the bank suddenly changed and said I didn't have any money in my account... It took them three days to update my account, and blah blah blah... well then Wednesday the Army paid me through direct fund transfer, and the bank acknowledged it, but put it on hold or something, so it let me use my card, but apparently the bank viewed any usage as automatic overdraft.. so I got a total of $50 fee for that that wasn't really even my fault, but there's nothing I can do about it. Then... the Lord decided to put me through another trial. Halfway to Salem on my way to take the dreaded mid-terms, my truck started shaking really really bad, and making horrible noises like I had a flat tire.. well, I got out, and then I wished it had been a flat tire.. it was the drive shaft for my front wheels, it had jammed up, and gotten off balance, and it tore some stuff up pretty bad. So now, my truck has been demoted to a 2wd vehicle until I can get the time and money (the part that I'm afraid has gone bad is almost $300...) also, it messed something up so now my truck is leaking oil between the transfer case and the transmission :( oh snap! it's not bad, but I haven't been able to find where it's leaking or why, and I can't find where to put more oil in so I don't loose my transmission too... hopefully it's not a sealed system.. on the bright side however, at this time my truck is still fully operational other than 4wd. It could have been my rear drive shaft, and I would probably still be out there in the middle of nowhere trying to fix it.. God is great! It also could have jammed up so I could have had a wreck, or any number of other things, but it didn't :) please be praying that it's not the part I think it is, and that it's just a bad u-joint (a $9 part) As far as the leaking oil... I'm probably going to have to have somebody else look at it. Pray that the guy i'm trying to get into the guard will go through with it, because then I will get $2000, which after I pay off my laptop and school debt would leave $400 or so which would come in really handy if I have to do anything expensive to my truck. I was really really hoping to use that money to buy a camera I've been wanting for the last year or so, but it's going to have to wait some more I suppose... other than that my week has been pretty normal other than the two times I ran out of money so I didn't have anything to eat other than leftover microwaved fish sticks.. (they're pretty gross, don't try this at home...)
Some positive points of my week: I got to go to a party/dance tonight which was a blast.. and I watched some pretty sweet war movies- "Blackhawk Down" and "Band of Brothers" both great movies, though they are kinda violent, and the profanity level is about like the real army..
also playing a little ssbm with my 'big' little sister (kristin)
Have a blessed week! If anybody has a 2008 cobalt blue dodge 1/2 ton truck with aftermarket lift and tires on it that they would like to donate to me, please let me know!! oh yea, and I'd prefer an Altec sound system too :) jk
God bless!