On Mom and Mothers

She's a steel magnolia.  Raised in the red clay country side of Georgia as part of the "Greatest Generation", she will always be one of my four heroines. (The others are Frances Jo, my daughter Sara and my mother-in-law Nancy.) She is a wonderful alloy of gentility and strength of character. For me as an Army Brat, she demonstrated that as an Army spouse there is a kind of courage, character and commitment that is willing to move at a moment's notice to support her SOULdier in their service to our Nation.

This lifestyle, while sometimes gypsy-like, afforded my four brothers and me the opportunities to know life overseas with the challenges of new schools, new friends, new homes and new cultures. Mom welcomed these adventures without complaint or resentment. Her sense of wanderlust was contagious infecting our formative years for the good. As she moved out into the world beyond rural Georgia to places like post-war Luxembourg, Germany and France, she empowered her sons to take on growth through adversity with grace. As a traditional mom she never begrudged her sisters who sought to balance home and work. Neither did she disparage them.

One of the strongest teachings for me was watching the way she overcame Southern white parochialism, always according to other ethnic Army family members the dignity and respect they inherently have as made in the image of God. My brothers and I can well attest to the awareness that when with our Southern cousins, there was something different. Something liberating. And we never had to make a big deal of it.

Twice widowed and losing her baby, Captain Kenneth Alan Sexton to a helicopter crash in April 1994 she knows intimately the sacrifice and pain that irrigates the oaks of American liberty. Three triangular American flags are amongst her most treasured possessions.  Three graves lie shoulder-to-shoulder, brothers in arms who each knew the love and devotion of my mom. In her eyes one can see the pensive look of knowing; knowing that the role and duties of motherhood make for a bitter-sweet potion, drunk prayerfully and in abiding faith in the One who holds the future.

Married to another Army spouse, I am truly blessed to have served with my best friend Frances Jo. Like her mother, also a SOULdier's spouse she supported our military lifestyle while home educating our four wonderful Army Brats,  Ryan, Ian, Colin and Sara. Moving from Germany to Korea over a span of 27 years, she accepted the spiritual and patriotic baton from that generation.  With it she runs the race of faith in the same quiet confidence of her mother and mine. She continues to shape the hopes and dreams of our daughter Sara; who manifests the same vintage quiet confidence about God's call upon her life as she studies nursing at Virginia Commonwealth University. Fran and I know that she will glorify her Lord as a third generation Proverbs 31 Woman.

It is with profound gratitude and joy that I honor my ladies and other women who look in faith to Christ to fulfill their calling as mothers, whether by birth or by adoption. "Well done good and faithful servants!"

See you at the Potter's wheel,
G.K. Sexton

Strength and dignity are her clothing,
    and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom,
    and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

Proverbs 31:25-26

On Sending Your Son on a Mission

2LT Colin Sexton, newly minted as an Engineer Officer in the U.S. Army,  stood before our congregation last Lord's Day to be under-girded by their prayers, knowing that he would depart  the next morning for an extended overseas mission. His mother and I knew in our hearts that this day would come. That he would be reporting to his first operational assignment after extensive training as an ROTC graduate at Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and completion of his Engineer Officer Basic Leadership Course at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

There was a much more foundational preparation which began upon his birth into a covenant family and his baptism, whereby God's promises were claimed on his behalf. His godly mother devoted herself to home educate him thereby shaping his Christian worldview. We rejoiced at the moment when as a youngster he gave his heart to Jesus and thanked Him for dying in his place. We are grateful for the lively days of sibling interaction and the way God used Ryan, Ian and Sara to shape his sense of himself and his deep compassion for others. The Owl, the Fox and the Fawn tussled and encouraged and forgave and confronted the Bear. We were blessed to witness his forthright manner and blunt persona tempered by grace. We firmly believe that when leading his SOULdiers he will ever have their whole welfare in mind including their spiritual growth. His will be an exacting standard as he trains them to be tactically and technically proficient in their warrior tasks and drills.

He wisely chose to sit at the feet of his non-commissioned officers knowing that they are the experts at SOULdier development, serving as the backbone of the Army. He preferred a humbling stance necessary to be mentored by these gristled and battle-proven leaders; rather than to hang out with his fellow officers; many who love too much their elevated status in the Army institution.

As we said good-bye at Reagan National Airport this morning, we could see the set of his eyes, the squaring of his jaw, taut muscles managing his baggage. We knew that we would not see him for at least a year. There were understandable tears, vintage Sexton banter and a quietly treasured pride as we released him to do what he knows in his heart God has called him do. He is a Christian man shaped by the Gospel in family and covenant community reaching out to embrace the mission of serving His Lord and his country as a SOULdier and LEADer.

How like his Saviour and Lord who from eternity past, embraced His grace-covenant mission to go to a far off place, live amongst a desperate people and offer Himself in love, laying down His life for His own. How amazing the Incarnation where One who enjoyed all the Trinitarian prerogatives and privileges offered Himself saying, "Here am I, send Me!"

See you at the Potter's wheel!
G.K. Sexton

"For God so loved the world that He sent his unique Son so that whosoever trusted in Him would not be lost but receive everlasting life."  John 3:16