Saying Goodbye

Today is April 27, 2008 a chilly Sunday morning. As of this writing, I have not heard from Justin since Thursday night when I received a call from him while at work. He was actually at work as well. It was so good to hear his voice! He said that he is keeping a journal and was updating it every day. Most of what he does cannot be relayed to me which just keeps us all wondering what his daily life is like there. A few times he just says "it's really bad here and there's definitely a war going on". From time to time, we do a video conference through our web cams and that is always always always the highlight of my day. Yesterday, I received a document from him in the mail along with a handwritten note. At the end of it he said that everything will be all right and that he is reading his Bible. He said that was awesome and went on to say that that should make my day......which it obviously did!!! Basically what we do here is live by Iraqi time which is 8 hours ahead. I check instant messenger regularly throughout the day and carry my cell phone like it's now a permanent appendage! Having a son in Iraq has been life altering, all encompassing and definitely faith based. Without God in my life and my faith in Him, I would have no hope or peace. "No God, no peace, Know God Know Peace". But God loves Justin more than I do and He's always in perfect attendance.....even when mortars hit. So, Justin if you get an opportunity to read this, we love you! Thanks for taking care of others. Just like you are my son, there are other parents and spouses that has loved ones there and it is people like you that are saving their lives and attending to their injuries. Thank God for military like you!

Justin's Departure

The weekend for Justin was filled with family and laughs. While Bob and I had a wedding on Saturday night, Justin joined Whitney, their dad, Drew, Ashley, Sandra, Nanny and Papaw and Bill for a dinner at a restaurant in Mason and later went to the Polo Grille for some drinks and good music. I spoke to them a couple of times and they were having a good time. On Sunday, Justin and Ashley were able to make it to church with us. Afterwards, Charlie, our Senior Pastor took us aside and prayed for Justin. With it being such a nice day outside we grilled out. Since Justin is always the first one in the pool no matter what time of year it is, we decided it would be fitting for him to do it again before he leaves. The water was about 54 degrees but it was a great moment between Justin, Jack and Gabe. Later on, we went to dinner at Benihana's and joined by Justin and Whitney's Dad and the Bemmes'. It seems that everyone wanted some time with Justin before he leaves.