Christmas Week

Mon 21 Dec 09
Did I tell you that my wife sent me 12 gifts to open in the 3 weeks leading up to Christmas? It has been a lot of fun opening one every-other day. I had to disciplne myself not to rip them all open weeks ago, and it has been worth it. It gives me something to look forward to at the end of the day. So far she's given me the picture of her and the girls, two Casting Crowns music CDs (which I love), a few movies (like "Blue Collar Comedy" with Jeff Foxworthy), and the latest gift was a citrus smelling air freshener for my room! Since I share a small building with 5 other guys her gift was right on the money! And greatly appreciated. I suppose this place could use a woman's touch every now and then...

Well, it's Christmas week and things are pretty busy around here. I am please how much religious activity will take place here --even in a war zone. There is Christmas caroling on Wednesday night, several worship services on Thursday night (including a candlelight Protestant service and a midnight Catholic Mass), and then more services on Christmas day for Protestant, Catholic and Lutherans. The Pagan service is tonight, by the way (winter solstice, I think). Yup, we got that here, too. I will probably miss that one but I have to be aware of it as I have 2 in my Unit who prefer the pagan or "Earth religions" to the other options. The guy who leads that service here used to be a Christian. I would like to hear his story sometime to understand where and why his own spiritual journey took a turn. Tragic.

As for spiritual journeys... I am aware of a few things God is doing in my life already since being here. I finished reading a book by one of my favorite authors, John Eldredge, called Walking with God. I enjoyed in enough to order his best-seller called, Wild at Heart. I read that one years ago, but decided to go through it again. There are things in there about understanding a man's heart that I would recommend for any guy, any dad, and any mom of little boys. I think God is speaking to me through these two books recently. I also started a daily devotional on the computer for our battalion and have received many good comments in return. Some of our Soldiers would not be caught dead with a Bible on their desk, but they can access a file and read a daily devotional! Which they are doing. And finally, I made a commitment to read the Bible through over the next year (maybe by the time I return home). So I made that outline available to the Soldiers on the computer as well. Some were asking for Bible-reading helps, and I was more than happy to give them some of my resources.

The pictures are from our recent Christmas party. Some of the guys were playing Wii in a covered shed area. It was fun. My church friends will recognize the red stockings on the tables! They made for great decorations! We're sending them out as fast as we can. By the way, I almost forgot to tell you that I ran in a 5K road race this past Saturday morning. It was called the "Jingle Bells 5K". I did not get there early enough to get a cool T-shirt, but at least I can say I did it (finally). You should have seen me, dressed up in multiple layers, gloves (with hand warmers), hat, etc. I looked like an eskimo, and some of these young 20-something studs were out there in shorts and a T-shirt! At 5:30 in the am. Idiots.

So that's about it for now. Pray for my mom and she'll be spending a white Christmas with my brother's family on the East Coast. It should be fun. And my wife will have some quality time with her side of the family this Christmas as well. It's all good. God has us in His hands this season, and I feel blessed in His love. Take care, keep your eyes on Jesus this Christmas, and tell your family you love them before the time gets away from you. Merry Christmas!