How is it Possible?

Joy in sorrow.  Sustained through intense grief.
Walking the path the LORD calls His people to with
grace and strength and courage.

How is it possible?  

How many times have we wondered at this?

When we think of the martyrs who were tied to the stake

and burned there for their faith, we wonder ~ How?

How could they do it?  How was it that they did not crumble?

Where did their courage and strength come from?
How were they able to sing in the midst of the flames?

The answer?  Supernatural Power.

Given by the God of Heaven and Earth.

From the One who created all things from nothing.
From the One who gives life and sustains it.

He is the One from whom their strength came.
He is the One who gave the grace.

They were bolstered up from within.

By God's Grace.  For His glory.

They were carried.  Met in their need.  

They were given all they required in that moment of time.

And for all the events that followed.
They were sustained by Him ~ just as He promised.

Remember what Stephen saw when he was taken to be stoned?

The LORD allowed him a glimpse into Heaven.

He declared it and boldly proclaimed what he saw. 
How powerful his testimony was ~ how precious!
(See Acts 7:54-60)

I cannot compare the bravery of these ones

with our recent experience of burying our precious son, Austin.
But, I can say that throughout these days and weeks
the LORD has not forsaken us ~ He has carried us.
He has provided much grace and strength and peace in the midst of it all.
There is nothing to compare with the comfort He gives.

It is with bold confidence that I can say ~
He will be Faithful to give grace for the journey.
Whatever it is that He calls His people to ~
 He will meet them in it with all that they will need.

It's only possible with Him.
Anything is possible with Him.

We must not rely on ourselves.
We draw strength from His Word and prayer.
We must continually redirect our attention to His Truth.
We comfort ourselves with the doctrine of His Sovereignty.
And, we look to Him each step of the journey He calls us to.
It really is the only way.  HE is the only Way.

May He grant to you His grace and strength and peace
in whatever He calls you to ~ He is Faithful.

Much Love,
Camille

**Photo in this post courtesy of Emma ~
Thank you my love.  XO

Ten World War II Heroes

In this series, you will meet:

• A teenager and her young sister who had 13 Jews in their attic for 2.5 years.
• An Olympian who survived 47 days on a raft without food or water and a Japanese prison camp, and came to Christ afterwards.
• Three Geman teenagers who spread illegal pamphlets with the truth about Nazi Germany.
• A group who saved 700 children - in a concentration camp.
• A Catholic who attempted to assassinate Hitler - and nearly succeeded.

You can see why I wrote this series and the table of contents here. The heroes I featured were:

1. Miracles Still Happen: Diet Eman
2. All In His Hands: Louie Zamperini 
3. The Jar of Life: Irena Sendler 
4. Words, Not Guns: Helmuth Hübener 
5. For God and Country: Claus von Stauffenberg
6. We Will Not Be Silent: Sophie Scholl 
7. The Power of Forgiveness: Eva Kor 
8. A Company of Heroes: Richard Winters
9. The Mystery Behind the Attic Wall: Stefania Podgorska 
10. Resilience and Rescue: Jack Werber

~~

BIG thank you to everyone who read this series and/or pinned it! Thank you so much!

I hope you all enjoyed this series! Some nights, I was editing WAY past midnight and worn but, but I had lots of fun writing each story, and I also learned a lot from it. I hope you found each post inspiring and informative! :) Continue to check back on my blog or follow my blog board on Pinterest! Thanks!

These are my top ten World War II heroes.

Who are yours?

10 WWII Heroes: Jack Werber 10/10

Historical photos are not mine. They are used for educational purposes. I own all other photographs. You may use all of my photographs, as long as proper credit is given.

This is the tenth in a ten part series about the heroes of World War II. You can view the introduction and table of contents to this series here.

At the beginning of each story I will give a maturity rating from 1-5. 1 means the story is appropriate for younger ages, and 5 means it is appropriate for teens and up. This story is rated 4.5.

Well, this is the last post! I hope you all enjoyed this series! I had lots of fun writing it! And, I learned quite a bit through my in-depth research.

Jack Werber is by far the least-known person I have featured so far. However, his story, and that of the Buchenwald Resistance is so amazing I had to include it in here.

Born in 1914, Jack Werber grew up in Radom, Poland. Out of a hundred thousand residents in pre-WWII Radom, only about a third were Jewish. His mother died when he was five, and being the youngest of eight siblings he was often spoiled.

Before the war began, Jack was active in Zionist movements, planning to get to Palestine (now Israel). To get to Palestine, each person needed a certificate from the British. (The British owned Palestine at the time) Married couples were preferred because they could share a certificate. Because of this, some people faked a marriage to share a certificate. It was in this time of his life Jack met Rachel Weintraub. She was a devoted Zionist and the two had a lot in common. They married in 1937, and planned to go to Palestine. However, Jack's father did not want his youngest child to leave so far away. So instead, the two stayed in Poland and in 1938, they had a baby girl they named Emma.

In September 1939, the Germans invaded Poland, starting World War II. Jack, among other Jews, was promptly arrested at random was was taken to the concentration camp Buchenwald. At first, Jack's only concern was working and surviving. However, in 1942, Jack was asked if he wanted to join the Buchenwald International Underground. He accepted, and his first job was to find out if inmates in charge were abusing their position. If they were, Jack would report them, and then the person would be replaced.

Liberation. Werber is on the far right. 

The Buchenwald Resistance

Originally run by German communists and social democrats in the early 1940s, by the end of the war the Buchenwald Resistance ran the majority of the camp and eventually liberated it as the Americans drew near.
Since the Nazis were lazy and couldn't run the whole camp, Buchenwald was run by "prisoner functionaries", which were basically prisoners in charge of other prisoners. Many of these prisoners were criminals, mostly convicted murderers. They of course were hated by the other inmates. The Buchenwald Resistance began catching these murderers in crimes (such as stealing), get them sent to the quarry (certain death), and then the resistance would replace these inmates with political prisoners - more humane people.

Saving 700 children

The Nazis began sending masses of Jewish people to concentration camps in mid 1944 to 1945. Until then, Jack had no knowledge of his wife, Rachel or his daughter, Emma. In 1944, a friend had told him that both his wife and daughter were murdered at Auschwitz concentration camp. Jack was heart broken.

Buchenwald children at liberation

But something happened in August of that same year. A train full of about seven hundred young boys, ages six to sixteen, arrived at the camp. One of these boys was the Novel-Peace Prize winning author Elie Wiesel. Seeing these young children brought back memories of Emma, and with the resistance, Jack became fanatical about saving them. The non-Jewish underground did not oppose to this, but children were not as great a priority as politicals and other adults. Jack, however, made it his mission to save as many children as possible.
The children were hidden all over the camp, with very few actually working. For the undocumented children, food came from the medical building and the prisoners who had German wives that sent them food. Jack was a barrack secretary and cared for about 150 children in Block 23. Gustav Schiller, who many recall with kindness, was the block leader of Block 66, where Elie Wiesel was.
Starting in September 1944, there was even a makeshift school that was set up for some of the children. The children learned Yiddish, Hebrew, poetry and history. Jack remembers one eight year-old refuse to go to classes, saying, "Why should I go to school? I won't come out alive anyway."
The children were always kept in the barracks, and great measures were taken to prevent the Nazis from entering the barracks. The main excuse was with all the diseases, the Nazis were sure to catch something if they entered the barrack.

As the Americans cornered the camp, the Nazis fled. The heavily armed resistance took over the camp. At last, on April 11, 1945, they were liberated - and 700 children were saved. Jack had survived 5.5 years in Buchenwald. The Americans were met joyously and gave them food and medical relief. Photos of Buchenwald child survivors can be found here. (no graphic images)

While searching for relatives, Jack met camp survivor Millie Drezner, and married her in January 1946 and the two moved to the United States in May of that year. Jack made a huge profit from the Davy Crockett fad in the 1950s and later invested that money in real estate. He and Millie lived very happily for sixty years. Jack and Millie were interviewed by USHMM (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) in 1989. This interview can be found here.

In late November 2006, Jack died of a heart attack in New York. He was 92 years old. He has told his story in his brutal, unflinching memoir Saving Children. Millie recently wrote a memoir called Two Rings, and although I didn't like it as much as Saving Children, it includes more post-war stories than Jack's memoir. There is a documentary called The Boys of Buchenwald about the rescue, but I have not seen it. For some reason, the rescue and resistance seems to be little-known and few books or documentaries have been dedicated to the subject. Since I have and will continue to find amazing little-known stories like this, I suppose my research of World War II will never be over.

--

In memory of all the inmates in Buchenwald, the resistance, and those who lived to bear witness.

If you enjoyed this post, please comment and share this post! It means a lot. 

Thank you so much!

Back to School Giveaway BASH!

Can you believe it is time to....dare I say it...go back to school?!? That's right! Summer has come and gone, and it is time to get back into those classrooms, organize all of that supplies, decorate your space, plan some out of this world lessons to WOW your kiddos on those first few days back, and well...that leaves zero only a small amount of time for you. BUT...I have great news. Some of my best friends and I know a *little* something about how hard teachers work and how much blood sweat tears love we pour into our classroom each year.  So, we have been planning a little something {for quite a long time} to hopefully set you on the right track for your best year yet! 

For the next week {August 1-5}, we will be hosting a massive giveaway with some of our favorite teacher things. We have some amazing sponsors, and let me just say...people LOVE teachers, y'all. Each of the sponsors below were more than willing to support and give to such a sweet group of people. {Because we all know...teachers are the BEST!} 

Here is how this will all go down. Below you will find 17 amazing "Bash Baskets." One basket will be featured on each one of these blogs: 

All you will need to do is "hop around" to each blog and enter to win. You can make sure that you don't miss one single blog by looking for this little apple at the end of our post. If you keep clicking the apple at the bottom of each post, you will find all 17 Bash Baskets...which means 17 chances to WIN it BIG! 

How easy is that?!? While you are checking out some of the teacher swag below, be sure and give our sponsors a little love by following their shops {click the links}. I am telling you, you won't want to miss out on any of these amazing prizes. CHECK. THEM. OUT. 

Aunt Bee's Quilts and Tees

Beadsbee Boutique 

MPM School Supplies

Mixed Bag Designs

Erica Bohrer

The Favored Party

LooLeigh's Charm

Oodles and Doodles

Silhouette America

TRM Designs

Vera Bradley

Shabby Apple

Erin Condren

Instagram and Twitter: @erincondren

JC Sweetpea Designs

Jennifer, the designer for JC Sweetpea Designs has also designed a special set of clipart to give to ALL of our sweet teachers. How cute are her designs?!? Here clip art is also all over our giveaway designs. :) 

Married in May

Print Chicks

Glory Glass Magnets 

Classroom Friendly Supplies

young love aDOORable decor

The Sound of Learning

Rosie Pink

The Polka Dot Pavilion

Sydney's Jewells Botique

Oragami Owl

Pink Zebra

Put a Case on Me (Facebook) and (Website)

My Rubber Stamp

ScrapAddict

Thirty-One

Michaels

Teachers Pay Teachers

Seriously? Are those not some amazing prizes? But that's not all. Each blog will also be giving away some of their best selling units. You will have to wait until the hop to see what each blogger will be giving away! 

Now, make sure you come back tomorrow {or anytime between August 1-5} to enter to win 17 different Bash Baskets! 

See you tomorrow! 

When Plans Are Thwarted

How do we react when our plans are thwarted?

Do we see it as from the hand of a Loving God?

Or, is it something we view as an intrusion ~

An interruption?

Our Uncle Johnny, who is now with the LORD,

was very wise and godly.

He said on more than one occasion ~

"Every interruption is ordained of God."

~ Uncle Johnny with the boys circa 2002 ~

How that alters our perspective!

Directly from HIS hand?

How much easier it is to accept

when we view everything in this light.

We are owned by Him and our times are in His hand.
May we submit ourselves to all He does in our lives.
And, may we rejoice in the fact that
He is with us through everything He brings our way.
By His grace ~ For His glory.  

With Love,
Camille