Deployment II- April, 2008

This is Chris and Min in September 2003 the morning of his first deployment.

Most of you know that our son, Chris was deployed last week for 15 months to Iraq. We actually said good bye to Chris in person at the Frankfurt Germany airport a couple months ago. Last Wednesday morning they called via Yahoo telling us he was leaving in less then 18 hours. We knew it was coming but its always hard to let your loved one actually go and know that he may not be able to come home for another year.Just imagining how difficult it was for him to leave Min and the boys just breaks our hearts. We are so proud of him and our love and prayers are with him. We appreciate all our family and friends who are lifting them up in prayer. No matter what people may feel about the war, our soldiers and their families need our support.

It was so difficult when Chris was deployed for a year in 2003-2004 and when he came home it was like a burden was lifted- I didn't have to live and breathe the Iraq war. Although, I still prayed for our troops and leaders, it was very different. Now that he's back there, our hearts and minds are obsessed again with any news. Thankfully, we have a God who takes care of His own and we know that Chris, Min and the boys are in His hands. Whenever, I wake up in the middle of the night, I just quote my bible verse for insomnia- "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.(PHIL 4:6-7)There's no more comforting words than those and I find myself going back to sleep and trusting God to take care of all the things that would cause me worry.

My Dad used to quote Psalm 121 as the passage that gave him courage and strength during WWII and 5 years ago, Chris called and referred to the same chapter:

I lift up my eyes to the hills-where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip-He who watches over you will not slumber;

Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you-the Lord is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm-he will watch over your life;

the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

As I write this blog, I am realizing how real God's spirit is at work in our lives and His word and His Presence is where we need to look for our help and strength in the days and months ahead.

Our small group met last night and it was quite a discussion. It was really exciting because the book- Velvet Elvis- has really stimulated a lot of participation. I'm looking forward to the weeks ahead as we wrestle with some challenging and radical material. We have a wide range of ages in our group-every decade is represented from 20's to 60's. As you can imagine, there are a lot of opinions being expressed and I think that's a good thing.

This is my third week with Weight Watchers Online. I've only lost 3 lbs and I've really tried to stick to the "point system" these last couple weeks. I'm not giving up- I realize I need to supplement the food tracking with some "activity"- so I've been trying to work my way up to some regular exercise. Steve even spent some time on the treadmill tonight!

I've gone on enough tonight. Here's some pictures for your perusal!

A picture of a tote bag Steve designed with Uncle Joe's help for those in the Deaf Ministry at church- They are always excited when they have mail in the church mailboxes so Steve thought they needed a tote bag to carry their papers in.

Beautiful Min and Handsome Will

Chris and Luke in the PT garb- So who did the most sit ups

Chris on the night he left for deployment

Judy showing how she really sweats when she exercises!

Steve- Look mom, no hands!