sororitysoldier.com » Jesus

Crossroads

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:08:06 +0000

I stood at the crossroads of civilization Saturday. After a two hour helo flight, I was in Babylon walking the grounds of Nebuchadnezzar’s palace. We started at the replication of the Ishtar Gate, that’s only half the size of the actual gate. We walked through the entrance to the Southern palace, where some of the original bricks are still in tact and the rest was built by Saddam. The dictator tried to imitate Neb by inscribing his name on the bricks. In the Throne Room, there’s a 2500 year old inscription on a brick that says “Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, who cares for Esagila and Ezida temples, eldest son of Nabopolassar.” It was pretty cool to see. We saw where the hanging gardens were – one of the seven wonders of the world. It’s populated by bats now… tons of them. Then we walked past the original Ishtar Gate (with dragons combining snake, lion and eagle symbolizing Marduk, and Bulls for the storm god, Adad.) and into the Nin-Makh temple. It’s believed the temple was a place for women to worship. There’s a secret passageway that the elders would hide behind and speak to the women in the garden, pretending to be the Goddesses they were praying to. There’s a well in the center of the quad where legend says God placed two angels who failed to clean up Babylon. The story goes that he hung them upside down, right out of reach of the water, as punishment. I really wanted to see the Tower of Babel – but it’s been torn down and nothing is left. The Chaplain talked to us at one point, telling us how important Babylon was to the monotheistic faiths and how big a part it played in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. He talked about the book of Daniel, and also how Babylon is seen as proof of the wrath of God.

Isaiah 13:19 says “Babylon, the most glorious of kingdoms, the flower of Chaldean pride, will be devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah when God destroyed them.” and Jeremiah 51:37 – “and Babylon will become a heap of ruins,haunted by jackals. She will be an object of horror and contempt, a place where no one lives.” Jeremiah predicted Babylon’s treasures would be robbed. Cyrus the Median took treasures, Xerxes the Persian stole gold, and Alexander of Greece took what was left. (amazingdiscoveries.org) Although Babylon was located at the center of economic trade routes of the time and it’s inhabitation seemed far fetched – the prophecies hold true. It’s now a desolate area – quiet as you walk through the ruins of what were.

It was a very long tour, but cool and informative. I would have enjoyed it better if I wasn’t so worried about my next shot. While we were watching the bats in the Hanging Gardens, the Command Sergeant Major thought it would be funny to grab my elbow and act like a bat was on me. I almost freaked like I normally do when I’m scared – it results in the flailing of arms accompanied my a scream. I’m very glad I didn’t since I was in the enclosed area with two generals. The ride back was hot – I was in the worst seat you can be in, where all the wind hits you in the face. I dozed off and figured it was okay since the Sergeant Major (who was sitting across from me) was sleeping too.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R70NBHu-KM[/youtube]

Knowing God

Mon, 18 May 2009 05:59:44 +0000

We’re staring another week. It’s been 4 months now, so we’re almost halfway done with our 10 months in country. Thank God! This deployment seems to be going fast, but it’s also tougher than my last one. I love Adam and Brian, but I also wish Brittani was here with me. That’s so selfish I know to wish she were here and not at home, but I know that Brittani would make it so much better. It’s not like I’m rooming with Brian and Adam, and there’s guy stuff that I’m not involved in – Me and B were always involved in everything the other did and we’d spend hours in our room watching movies and TV shows on DVD. I would love to have Wendy here, too. The three of us had so much fun together, and Michelle too when we saw her. I remember one night sitting in our room, Wendy and me on my bed and B on hers, trading music on I Tunes and spending hours chatting. Those nights were so much fun.. I miss that. This week I felt like B was here – she sent me three packages of candy, magazines and goodies. She’s so awesome and I’ve eaten a ton of oatmeal crème pies, but she must have expected that since she sent THREE boxes of them!
Craig and me are getting closer to the end of our book, Knowing God. It’s so good and so humbling to see that God sent Jesus as a propitiation for our sins. Jesus didn’t just come to save us from our sins, He came to divert God’s wrath and take it on himself so that God could love us. If Jesus had not come down to take on God’s wrath, then there would be no way for God to love us because all he would see is sin. God’s wrath is something that is avoided in church and people don’t want to talk about it, but God isn’t just unless he is love and wrath, because the wages of death are sin. Everyone just wants to say, “God is love, and He’s a loving God.” That’s true, He is a loving God, but he’s also a jealous God and He has wrath. God demands absolute loyalty and a zealous man “only sees one thing, he cares for one thing, he lives for one thing, he is swallowed up in one thing; and that one thing is to please God.” By his sacrificial death, Jesus pacified the wrath of God. Make no mistake about God’s wrath, it is real, but it’s not the wrath we see in humans. It’s not an angry overreaction to circumstances and we can’t put human characteristics on God. His wrath is holy and just, it’s a righteous anger – “the right reaction of moral perfection in the Creator toward moral perversity in the creature.” The people in this life who reject God will in turn be rejected by God. “On the cross, God judged our sins in the person of his Son, and Jesus endured the retributive comeback of our wrongdoing. Look at the cross, therefore, and you see what form God’s judicial reaction to human sin will finally take. What form is that? In a word, withdrawal and deprivation of good. On the cross, Jesus lost all the good that he had before: all sense of his Father’s presence and love, all sense of physical, mental and spiritual well-being, all enjoyment of God and of created things, all ease and solace of friendship, were taken from him, and in their place was nothing but loneliness and pain, a killing sense of human malice and callousness, and a horror of great spiritual darkness.” The good news – for believers, we will inherit no less than what Jesus has, because we are his brothers and sisters and children of God, adopted into His family and he loves us just as much as he loves Jesus, because we’re all his children. When He returns and brings us all into His kingdom, when we’re fully justified in Christ and made perfect by God, we’ll enjoy all the Jesus enjoys. What an amazing thought. I’m so thankful that God has brought this book across my path, to truly appreciate God and everything He has done – initiating propitiation so that He could love us, sending Jesus to take on his wrath so we wouldn’t have to, saving us from our sins, loving us so much that every prayer is answered and when we ask for something we don’t need he gives us what we need instead, for taking on everything upon himself so that we don’t have to worry about anything except loving Him with all our heart, mind, and soul. It’s harder than it sounds, to love God with all our heart, mind and soul and actually let him take control. It’s something I struggle with, because I like to be in control.
A few days ago I came across a devotional by Priscilla Shirer in my Bible entitled “Why You Shouldn’t Fit In.” It was about making a change and being so different that others take notice. She said “these changes will only come about if you and I get our minds off of what we want and fill them with what He wants for us.” The verse at the top of the page was Romans 12:2 – “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
I’m so preoccupied with trying to figure out God’s plan, because I want some control in it and to get it started on my time, that I’m not focusing on what He demands of me – to love Him and to love my neighbor. If I can just focus on those two things, I will be in God’s will and living out what He wants of me. When I really think about it, I can feel the burden lifting – just to know that God is in control and I don’t have to do anything but love Him and others. I just have to remember that all the time and not lose the thought between the altar and the door, but keep it steadily in my mind.
Back to work stuff – we’re working on the newscast, trying to get all the elements down. We had a rough draft to show the boss man yesterday and he made some suggestions for us to change this week. Hopefully we’ll get that done by Tuesday. We had a police call yesterday, which is a fancy word for picking up trash. The Sergeant Major actually wanted us in a dirty ditch picking up trash at the construction site. I quickly walked the other way, away from the stinky ditch. First of all, I don’t know why we had 30 people picking up trash around the division building, when there wasn’t even a trash problem. Walking around the entire gravel packed perimeter, I picked up one piece of wire, which I told the guys shouldn’t be happening, because we’re taught to not touch wires or anything suspicious… pretty contradicting when we’re out there picking up trash where the local nationals are working. I know I’m just being difficult, but it’s asinine to pick up trash at the construction site when the Iraqis are constantly out there building and they clean it up at the end of the day or the end of the project. After the police call, we had “sergeants time” – something we do every Saturday. It’s supposed to be an hour of training, but last Saturday it ended up taking the whole morning because the new NCOIC wanted us to shoot a three-shot sequence, which is the most basic of army journalism. Then instead of just showing us how to do what he wanted to show us (capture video into Final Cut.. none of us have ever used the program) he had us each individually capture it and save it like he wanted. It was like little baby steps for adults. So, back to yesterday, sergeants’ time was spent cleaning weapons. I know that we should keep our weapons clean, I’m not arguing that, but to use the workday to do it, especially when we’re on a deadline, really irritated me yesterday for some reason. I guess I feel like – I’m a Staff Sergeant in the Army, I’m competent, I know that my weapon needs to be cleaned – trust me to clean my weapon and don’t make me take an hour out of my work day to clean it… it’s something I can do in my down time. Yesterday was just irritating all together. The computer was going slow, so editing was taking forever and then I missed the first night of ‘Basra Idol’ because we were still editing.
Basra Idol is open to civilians and service members and will last for three weeks. One of the PA guys is a white rapper from Minnesota and he’s competing. We’re going to do a story on him and also a story on the competition in general. I’m waiting to do the story on the last week when we can interview the winner, but I’m hoping to make the show next week. Last deployment we had Baghdad Idol and we had a great time watching it – especially watching “Cynthia” who thought she could sing very well. = )
I found out today that we’re going to get to take 4-day passes to Qatar. I’m so psyched, because B and me skipped Qatar last time and just took our 4-day pass in the IZ and skipped out on work. Since my leave is later in the deployment, I get to go on pass earlier. So, I’m thinking I might get to go within the next month and I think I’ll be going with TyTy since his leave is around the same time as me. I’m really happy about that, because I was hoping to get to go with TyTy or Adam or Brian. In Qatar, you get to wear civilian clothes, drink 3 beers a day (but I don’t like beer, so I’ll be giving mine to someone else), and choose between a bunch of activities like jet skiing, four wheeling, golfing, shopping, tubing down an ice hill, etc. TyTy and me will have lots of fun and I assured him I’d be his wingman for cute girls. After all, I don’t want to mess up McLovin’s game.

Knowing God

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:48:06 +0000

Craig and I are reading ‘Knowing God’ by J.I. Packer and it’s amazing. I’ve been able to read a lot since I’ve been sitting in Kuwait (I’m still here) and the two of us have really been able to share with each other which is great for communication and understanding.

I’ll probably post a little about the book once I read some more, and I encourage whoever wants to develop their relationship with God to get it. It’s amazing and touches on God’s greatness and unchanging character. Something that really convicted me was when Packer said this:

“Amid all the changes and uncertainties of life in a nuclear age, God and his Christ remain the same – almighty to save…… If our God is the same as the God of the New Testament believers, how can we justify ourselves in resting content with an experience of communion with him, and a level of Christian conduct, that falls so far below theirs? If God is the same, this is not an issue that any one of us can evade.”

Wow, talk about the truth hitting home and hitting hard. I see such faith in the New Testament believers and such a willing, loving heart to follow God. So, why aren’t we more like them? God hasn’t changed, why have we? We’re so content in our bubble, knowing we’re Christians and thinking that’s enough to please God.

In other news, Stone emailed me this great article about the dating game via cell phones in Iraq. Check it out here.

Skype – my new best friend

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:11:51 +0000

Today turned out to be an awesome day, but it didn’t start out that way. This morning, with nothing much to do, I pulled guard duty at the headquarters building for about an hour and 40 minutes (Foliente took over the last 20). Not long after, when I was getting ready to shoot a stand up for a story I did, we’re told the Command Sergeant Major wants the sidewalk swept and all the leaves gone. Since it rained last night (a good thunderstorm around 10:00), leaves are everywhere and it’s still pretty windy. Sweeping the sidewalks in Iraq is pretty pointless. It’s like sweeping dirt in a dirt hut. But, we got out there anyway and swept the leaves from the sidewalk and made a good attempt at moving the dirt around. After I shot my standup, we were told it wasn’t good enough and we went at it again. I was more than a little frustrated.

Then, I had to pull the second guard shift at the TOC. Foliente was going to pull it, but the Major couldn’t make her meeting so he went in her place. It’s an hour long shift and he relieved me for the last 20 minutes again. With the guard shifts and sweeping, it would be an understatement to say I was behind on what I had planned to do today. But, I got to work on my little projects and then went to the habibi (my friend in arabic) shop with my new favorite girlfriend, the LT. She gets a good deal (so good, he whispers it to her) on movies and we walked out with 6 movies for just 8 bucks. I got W., Revolutionary Road, Major Movie Star, the Duchess, and Secret Life of Bees. They’re not always the best quality (some have english subtitles that just rhyme with what the actors are actually saying, others are fuzzy, and some are filmed in movie theaters), but at these shops you take what you can get and hope for the best.

After a long day, I came to Foliente’s room to borrow his computer and skype connection for something I’ve been reluctant to mention, and still am going to keep to myself for the time being. I will say this – God works in amazing ways and He’s got his hand on something that I could never have dreamed of. I did get to talk to Craig on skype and it was awesome. It made my entire day so much better! Forget sweeping dirt from the dirt and pulling guard shifts.. I got to spend like an hour talking to Craig and actually seeing him on the webcam! I also got to call my mom and aunt tracy from the skype. I was going to call Mammaw and my Dad, but I had to pay to call actual numbers (if you talk through internet it’s free), and I didn’t have much of a balance. Skype is still awesome, but it did make me miss Craig even more. It’s almost torture to be able to see him and not reach out and hug him. = ( I miss him tons.

All my missions up until now have been cancelled, but it looks like I might get out for a small deal tomorrow. I’m hoping so! I’ll head back to Baghdad soon, but I’d like to get out on at least one mission before I leave.

Children as Weapons

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:00:13 +0000

I ran across a disturbing story on CNN.com. You can find it here. Shakirullah is a 14 year-old boy that claims teachers at his radical Islamic school forced him to become a suicide bomber. He’s from Pakistan, and says he was forced to leave the country without saying goodbye to his family, then driven to the Pakistan-Afghan border where he was handed over to strangers. Police arrested him before he could carry out his attack and he’s serving at least five years in detention. He hasn’t been able to talk to his family or explain anything to them.

It’s not my place to judge whether or not his story is true. I don’t know if he was really taught the koran in Arabic, which wasn’t his native tongue, and forced to rely on the radical interpretations of the mullahs. It’s beyond my knowledge as to what he really thinks of American and British troops or how he feels about our presence in the Middle East. Even without knowing these answers, I still can see a big problem: A 14 year- old boy almost blew himself up with the intention of killing Americans. 14. That’s a year older than my little brother.

I look at Cole, my 13 year-old brother, as a baby. He’s so innocent, so naive. He likes to skateboard, chase the dog around the yard and play with friends. He can’t stand sitting in class, because he would much rather play outside. He excels at every sport. He’s a kid that won’t cry when he falls and scrapes a knee, and if you do see tears you know it’s serious. Everyone loves him. He’s the most popular kid wherever he goes. He’s laid back and ultra love-able. Cole is an average kid, and I’m sure that Shakirullah was an average kid by Afghan standards.

Forget religions, forget customs and culture… as a planet, a world we need to pray that we stop killing each other. Stop using children as weapons. It saddened my heart to read that article, because rather Shakirullah was forced or willing, the fact remains that he’s a 14 year-old boy. His mind should be free of worries. His concerns should be what his mother is cooking for dinner or studying for his math test. It shouldn’t be filled with thoughts of death, killing, and carrying out terrorist missions.

This is the world we’re living in… a world where children are as disposable as dishrags, where we claim God or Allah is on our side as we kill each other, and innocent lives are just “collateral damage.”

Shakirullah isn’t the first child to fall into the hands of terrorists and he won’t be the last. I can’t imagine what went through his head as he left his school and was turned over to strangers in a foreign country. I don’t know if his story is true. If he was forced into the mission, I hope he’s able to return home soon and that he’ll be okay mentally and emotionally. I can’t imagine what that little mind went through. If he was willing to kill American and British troops, I hope he sees the error in that thinking and can receive guidance at his detention center in Kabul. We need to pray, for our country and our world.

After reading Shakirullah’s story, I came across the Christian Persecution Blog. I haven’t had a chance to really read it yet, and I don’t know exactly what the content is like, but I’m guessing there are some pretty interesting stories about Christians who are risking their lives to spread the gospel.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 00:00:44 +0000

I’m leaving. It’s hard to describe the emotions that I’m going through, because there are many and they’re different, almost contradicting.

I’m sad first of all. Sad that I won’t see Cade and Cole, Mom and Ransom, Dad, Tracy and Sammy, my grandparents, Craig, Amanda, and my puppy, Chevy, for a long time. Sad that all I have is the phone and e-mail… no hugs, no kisses, no one to come home to at the end of the day. Sad that I won’t answer the phone and hear Craig’s voice telling me he’s on his way over, and that I won’t be calling Amanda to tell her I’m running late, but I’m almost at Cheesecake Bistro for our ritual get-together. Sad I won’t be sleeping with Chevy every night, that I won’t see Landon graduate high school and I won’t be around when Cade takes senior pictures. Sad I’ll miss Tiffany’s wedding and any other weddings that are planned and carried out while I’m gone. Sad I won’t be at church every Sunday with my family. Sad I’ll miss our trip to Lake Greason this summer, and I won’t be around to help my mom pick out stuff for the house they’re building. Sad I can’t play with Ashton and Denton on a regular basis. Sad I can’t watch Cole skateboard.

I’m also excited. Excited to see what this deployment will bring. The last one was so much fun, and so much good came from it – including my job offer in Seattle. Excited to improve my journalism, report from the front lines and meet all the soldiers who are protecting us. Excited to grow in my daily walk with Christ, grow closer to Craig, and develop such a deep bond and friendship with Brian and Adam that we’ll be leaning on each other for years to come. Excited to see the changes in Iraq, to straighten out my priorities yet again.

I’m hopeful. I’m hopeful that I’ll see the change needed to bring our troops home and liberate the Iraqis. Hopeful that we’ll stop terrorism on some scale and give the Iraqi children a safe place to grow up in, where bombs and rockets don’t threaten their daily routine. Hopeful I’ll have the words to speak to encourage my fellow soldiers, hopeful that I can talk about Jesus to non-Christians and Christians alike, hopeful that God will use me in such a way that I can’t explain or understand except to know that it’s for my good and His glory.

I’m worried. I’m worried about my family and friends back home. I’m worried my Mom will fall apart when I leave her for a second time. I’m worried my Mammaw will worry herself to death, and my Dad will drive Nancy crazy when he sinks into quasi-depression because he can’t know if I’m safe. Worried that Craig will find this too hard and call it quits before I get home, even though he’s assured me he won’t and he’s in this for the long haul. Worried Landon will need to talk to me when he starts LSU in the Fall and I won’t be available, worried Cade will need me to be home when he fills out college applications and has trouble with girls, worried Cole will miss me when he finally starts liking girls. Worried Amanda and I will grow apart and spend a year getting to know each other again when I get home. Worried everything will be completely different when I get home… and it will be. I worry the difference will drive me crazy, because all I will want is for everything to be just as I left it. I worry something will happen to me, and I can’t stand the thought of my family having to say good-bye to their 24 year old daughter because she wanted to be an adventurous reporter. I worry I’ll lose an arm or a leg, worry I’ll get burned in an accident, worry I won’t come home the same way I left.

I’m peaceful. Peaceful knowing this is in God’s plan. Peaceful knowing God is protecting me, the church is praying for me. Peaceful knowing that God can already see what will happen and it’s okay. Peaceful knowing my family trusts in God, peaceful trusting in my salvation, peaceful knowing that right now God is speaking through me and giving my family peace. Peaceful knowing I’ve done this all before and came home just fine.

Another adventure starts now.

Kiss me, Smile for me, Tell me that You’ll wait for me.

Back in the Groove and random thoughts

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:17:38 +0000

I was pretty depressed when I got back and really depressed on Saturday. Now, I’m getting back in the swing of things.. sorta. I really miss Craig and Amanda, plus the family. The good news is I’m back with SassyPants and Flintstone, and they always know how to cheer me up. I had an interesting conversation at lunch today. I was sitting with the LT, Crash, and McLovin. Crash mentioned that she got hit on my guys more when she was chunky than she does now. I decided to bust out my theory on guys and the looks factor. It goes like this: If a guy rates himself an 8 on a scale of 1-10, he is more likely to hit on a girl that he sees as a 6 vs. a girl he rates a 10. Here are my reasons:

The guy fears rejection from the girl that is more attractive, and feels he has a better chance of hooking up with a less attractive girl
The guy is intimidated by a more attractive girl, but sees the 6 as more approachable
If a girl feels her boyfriend is out of her league, she is more likely to put up with more from him (McLovin threw this theory in, and I agree)
It’s the girl that knows she’s in between unattractive and attractive that can get validation from dating an attractive guy. The hot girls know they’re hot and the plain girls know they’re plain.
McLovin adds that he will go for a less attractive girl because they’ll remember him… He was different from the less attractive males she dated
Maj B2 adds that a more attractive female might not try as hard to please her man

When asked if the same scale applies to girls, I simply replied, “I wouldn’t know, I don’t hit on guys.” = )

There’s been other interesting conversations lately, including a deep religious convo at the range with Flintstone and McLovin. We were sharing our ideas of what gets a person into heaven, discussing salvation and other religions and broadly discussing faith. I really enjoyed talking to them about it, because I could talk about Jesus all day. I’m becoming known as the “Jesus Girl” and anytime someone imitates me it’s always “I love Jesus.. I love Jesus.” I take that as a compliment. I like being known as a wholesome Jesus lover. Lately there have been sighs and rolling of the eyes when someone hears me talk about Jesus, but I don’t mind that either. As Christians, we should offend people. If we’re not then maybe we’re doing somethign wrong. I’m tired of all the sugarcoating to get people in the church. Just tell the truth and stop trying to please everyone. Jesus was offensive, and we should be too. It’s okay to want to bring people to church.. I want to bring people to church, I want to spread the Gospel. But, spreading the Gospel isn’t sugarcoating what the Bible says or catering the Word to make it sound appealing to someone. Just tell the truth, pray for the words to speak and let God do His work.

Leaving Home

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 04:27:29 +0000

It’s my last night in Shreveport, and the night I have to admit I’m leaving. Actually, last night was the night I really had to admit I’m going to be gone for a year – I said good-bye to Craig. He got on the road around 8:30 heading to Dallas to catch a plane to Colorado for a ski trip he’s had planned with his friends. We were at his parents house when he left and I stood outside crying a good 20 minutes, holding onto him and not wanting to watch him drive away.

Today I’ve been lazy. My best friend, Amanda, spent the night and this morning we layed around with my mom and brothers watching home videos. After watching a span of about 5 years crammed into two VHS tapes, we concluded the following:

I was starved for attention after my brother, Cade, came along
I was born to be a journalist, evidenced by the constant interviews of relatives and anyone who would talk to my hand holding the invisible microphone.

Watching those memories took my mind off of leaving and I was thankful.

Tonight was family time at my aunt and uncle’s house. We stayed over there for a couple of hours, eating cabbage and black-eyed peas. I don’t really believe in all that… who needs luck when you’ve got Jesus? He’s got plans that cabbage and peas aren’t going to change. It’s a fun tradition anyway, but I didn’t eat the cabbage. Let’s face it… the military isn’t known for paying well.

So, tomorrow I’m on a plane back to New Jersey. We won’t be there for long before we head to Kuwait and then Iraq. I don’t want to leave Shreveport… don’t want to leave my family… don’t want to leave Amanda and Craig… don’t want to leave Craig’s family and our friends. I keep telling myself that this a big mission trip, Iraq is my mission field and the quicker I go, the quicker I come back. It’s been one emotional week. I really broke down on Sunday. I spoke to two sunday school classes about my trip, and the whole church prayed for me during our service. I felt so much love and the holy spirit was definitely surrounding me. I cried that entire morning, speaking to the sunday school classes and just having those gentle hands loving on me while we prayed for safety, protection and angels surrounding me. Brother Steve asked for specific needs, so this is what I’m asking for:

the absence of fear
protection and safety
a chance to witness to others, words to speak
a more intimate, personal relationship with God
comfort and peace for my family
world peace

Here’s an interesting thought: Craig and I were talking the other day in the car and he heard a guy say that maybe we shouldn’t ask for world peace. As Christians, we’re very comfortable where we are, so we’re not passionate about our faith. He says maybe if we’re fighting for what we believe, fearing for our lives and being persecuted, then we’ll be more passionate, better disciples… Isn’t that the same twisted logic for a lot of things? When it comes easy to us, we’re passive and laid back, almost lazy. When it’s tougher, we find we want it more, we’ve got more zeal and we fight for what we love and what we believe.

Maybe God wants me to have more passion, more love, more zeal… maybe that’s why I’m going to Iraq, to a place full of non-believers, a place where Christianity is dangerous. Maybe I’m going to speak the Word to others. I don’t know why I’m going, but I know God has a plan. Pray that I fulfill that plan and that all my actions are in accordance with God’s will. Like Craig says: It’s all for my good and His glory.

This is the song I’ve been listening to since I found out I was going to Iraq. It’s a great message for me to remember.. when times are tough, we still have to praise God. He knows what He’s doing, even when we haven’t got a clue.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef9jKHwHueQ[/youtube]

Christmas

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 06:21:30 +0000

I haven’t thought much about blogging since I’ve been home, but I did see that “PA Dissapointment “ is still getting attention. As for me, I’m moving on.

Christmas was awesome – Me and Craig actually got to see everyone, and between yesterday and today we were able to spend at least 2 hours at each home (6 homes in all). My dad and stepmom came in town tonight, so they were our last stop after a long day of pigging out at my Aunt Tracy’s house. Yesterday we visited both Craig’s grandparents, plus my stepdad’s side of the family for a Mexican fiesta – not your traditional Christmas party, especially with a money filled pinada. We had a great time! I’m so thankful that God has blessed me with such an amazing family and great friends.

The tough part about being home is that I know it’ll be my last visit until I finish my time in Iraq. People like asking how I feel about going.. am I sad, etc… They’re valid questions and people are just curious, but I’d rather not talk about it. I want to live this next week in complete oblivion and deal with good-byes when they get here.

For your enjoyment: Here’s me and Aunt Tracy singing for ya!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fMiXBhPgdM[/youtube]

Love them like Jesus

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 23:58:00 +0000

We leave for New Jersey tomorrow and I’m working on packing up everything. The real fun starts now… if you can call it that. We’ll be firing every weapon imaginable, practicing convoy operations, busting down doors… all the war stuff you gotta learn. We’ll have to sleep in a faux-fob (forward operating base) for 5 days, which means we’ll be in tents, probably pulling guard duty around the clock and practicing procedures for incoming fire and ambushes. Part of me is looking forward to it, because some of the training can be fun, but the days can be long, tedious and tiresome. At least we’re only there for three weeks, so our “hooah” (a common army word that means yes and everything else) training will be split up between now and three weeks in December.

Drama is already brewing in the unit and I’m trying to bring the cohesion back… not that it was necessarily there before. We all just met each other two weeks ago, so we’re just starting to know each other’s personalities, ticks and peeves. Today, one of the soldiers got “offended” and ended up making everyone else mad. This particular soldier isn’t too popular among the others (words like crazy are associative adjectives), and I’ve tried to be a friend and defend the soldier to others and also help that soldier. Anyway, today was just another reason for the others to have a vendetta against that soldier. I know the soldier can be over the top sometimes and some of my unit thinks a little too much to handle, but some of that soldier’s leadership seem to have personal grudges that need to be resolved before we leave. A few days ago, when I defended said soldier, I was told that I “will learn” and to watch my back. I always watch my back, but at the same time, I hope what I learn is to love everyone like Jesus… that seems to be my mantra the last couple of days. It’s discouraging to hear, “I don’t want to sway your opinion, but you’ll learn SGT King… you’ll learn.” Learn what, know it all? That soldier is a person, and I’m going to love and hopefully help.

That’s not to say that people aren’t pushing my buttons, but they don’t really know it because I just smile and walk away most of the time. For instance, we’re putting together promotion packets and there is a Staff Sergeant who’s had experience putting packets together before. I was trying to position my tabs just right in the folder, so instead of practicing on tabs A-M (which I need for my packet) I decided to pull from the back and punch holes in the XYZ tab. (That way, if I messed up, I didn’t mess up the tabs I actually needed… common sense, amazing) I put the tab in the folder and held it up to ask the staff sergeant how it looked. What I got was a disgusted look and a “First of all, why do you have XYZ in there?” (Well, STAFF SERGEANT, because I didn’t want to mess up the alignment on the tabs I’m actually going to use.. If I make a mistake, I’d rather it be on a tab I can throw away.) Things like that really get under my skin, because there is more than one person with us who seems to always look for the bad things, hoping to use that authority and rank, rather than kindly mentoring and teaching soldiers. I understand this is the Army and it’s not all rainbows and butterflies, but kindness can go a long way anywhere.

My entire point is this: If we’re going to be together for a year, we have to be a cohesive team. We have to work together, put our personal differences aside, bite the bullet and smile and get the job done! My prayer is to love everyone like Jesus, no matter what mistakes they make, no matter how they treat me or what they say.. I need to love these people, I need to forgive them if they hurt my feelings or get on my nerves, and I need to be the light on the darkest of days. Whether I like it or not, this is my family for the next year, and a family should be based in love.