Greetings from Kuwait

We landed in Kuwait about 2330 local time and made it to our training area about 0230. We are 8 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, so you can figure what that was for you. We were travelling over 24 hours. :(

As you can guess, we had a few briefs to receive, then unloaded our stuff. I'm trying to get on this time zone, so I took a shower, shaved my face and head (I look like a fat Mr. Clean), grabbed some breakfast (normal DFAC fare), and hit the sack about 0630. I finally rolled out of bed about 1100 just to force the issue and start getting used to the local time. Good news is that we don't have any training today or tomorrow, so I'll have a little time to get acclimated. Things here in Kuwait are a little laid back but it's still a combat zone. There's a concert tonight featuring some band from Georgia...can't remember their name because I've never heard of them before. There's a 5k run on 4 JUL as well. Little things of home. :)

We had a 2 hour layover in Shannon, Ireland. It was 55 and rainy (typical Irish weather but already I'd kill for it right about now. It's over 100 degrees at 1100 and getting hotter). There was a pub in the airport so you know I had a Guiness but only just one. I had to take advantage of the opportunity. Guiness is definitely different over there. The countryside that we saw was as beautiful as I thought it would be. I would love to take a vacation there.

The whole trip wasn't as bad as I feared it would be. We had four legs of the trip: 1 hour to Bragg, 2 hours up to Maine, 5 hours "across the pond" to Ireland, and 7 hours to Kuwait. I was able to sleep some on the plane but I'm looking forward to racking out hard tonight. Watched a couple of in-flight movies, finished my book, ate and slept and the time went pretty fast.

Couple of neat things that happened on the trip. In Maine, there were about 40 volunteers to meet us at the airport at about midnight. They took some pics of us and will post them to the web. I don't have the web address, but I'll post it here as soon as I can. I could have borrowed a cell phone and called Sara but I needed to wait until I was done travelling. Saying goodbye was hard enough without having to do it every leg of the trip!

When we landed in Ireland, I was among the first 10-20 people off the plane. As we walked into the terminal, some of the civilians started to applaud as we came in. It made me a little emotional at first thinking that maybe we have more support overseas than the media tells us. We came to find out that a lot of them were Americans abroad but there were quite a few Irish who were asking us about where we were going and for how long. One Irish guy was buying beers for a few "Yanks."

So now I am settled into Kuwait for 2-3 weeks of training before I head north to my "home." I'll write more later but I wanted to let folks know that I'm safe and sound in theater.

God bless!

An Easter Perspective

"I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." John 10:28

Today was a hard day. I'm less than 48 hrs. from leaving. I've gotten some great e-mails and phone calls today from dear friends with promises of prayers and care packages. And I ended every call with a verklempt "I love you" and had to take a few moments to try and collect myself. The capper was heading to a Bible study that has been a regular part of my week since October.

As we were driving to the church, I looked at my wife and said, "I'm tired of saying goodbye; let's just turn around and go home." She looked at me as if I were crazy and said she had commitments to keep. When I got there, we did some quiet meditation of Scripture with the first one being the text above. It was through the italicized words above that I finally found some peace in all this.

In comparison for the eternal life that Christ has won for us, 15 months is nothing. I thought of the pain I felt saying goodbye to all my friends...my Christian friends and I realized that 15 months is a nano-second compared to eternity. It's nothing, not even worth counting. By the time I get back, my wife and I will have been married for 11 years and the Army will have taken me from her for 23 months of those 11 years, or about 18% of our married life. Yet those two years won't even compare to the time we will spend together in heaven.

The bottom line is this: this time that I spend separated from you all will not even phase us when we are the Lamb's High Feast after the second coming of Jesus Christ. But, what it can do is add to the number of people who are their with us. It's not 15 months apart; it's an investment in eternity.

I Would

Following 9/11, I attended a wedding where a good friend of mine was wearing one of the red, white, and blue ribbons that were symbolic of the support given to those who were effected. I remember him looking at me and asking me where mine was. I reached into my back pocket, pulled out my US Army Reserve ID card and said, "This is how I will support those who need me." I leave next week to do my part and give that support.

"Greater love have no man than this: that he lay down his life for his friends." John records these words of Christ and they have long been on my mind and on my heart. Jesus spoke these words prophetically, showing how He would demonstrate his love to the world. Many have been the times when I have asked if I could follow His example and do "What Jesus Would Do." I still don't have an answer. I'd like to say that I will but, too be honest, I hope the question is never asked of me.

But here's how I would fulfill these words of Christ. I would put my life on hold for 15 months to go and do my part in this current conflict. My part is to maintain Soldiers and their spirits. My part is to speak the powerful Word of God and administer His Sacraments to those who would receive them. For the next 15 months, my life as a husband, son, brother, uncle, and friend is on hold. I'm laying down these parts of my life because of the love that I have for my wife, for my family, and for my friends.

I choose to believe that the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have stopped terrorists from carrying out attacks on our soil. I can't prove it but I still choose to believe it. Therefore, I would gladly lay down my life for a year to keep all those that I love safe. It's hard to say goodbye; I've been doing that for over a month now. But, I choose to believe that by saying goodbye now, we won't have to worry about our futures together.

This whole post sounds corny as anything gets but it's what I choose to believe and it's what I choose to do. Who would be crazy enough to believe something like this? I would.