Galatians 6:2, 4, & 5

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of
Christ….
But let each one examine his own work, and then he will
have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
For each one shall bear his own load.”

Saturday, October 13

3:25A.M., or 11:25 A.M. Fallujah time

Rejoice in the Lord always!

Chris called with a hodgepodge of topics that I sleepily attempted to keep up with. At one point, he was telling me that he could get a Veteran’s loan to buy a house when he gets out. He was so excited that he qualified for 800,000 dollars. What he did not realize is that as a grunt, he could never make his monthly note on a house of that price! Somehow I can’t see Greg and I making that note easily. I wasn’t about to play the part of a needle rupturing his balloon of dreams.

He is a team leader now, with three other men and no camels, or cows on his team (both of which he‘d find objectionable). Anything else about his team is too classified for this mom to know. Since I lost Chris’s blueprints at his birth (along with my mind) I guess I ought not complain too loudly about Uncle Sam not giving me a heads up. Suffice it to say that he is Chris, the Noodge, bringing his own brand of flavor to whatever he does.

I have just realized in finding my notes on this call that I have been remiss in some of the things Chris asked me to send him. I forgot numerous books, the USB cord that allows him to download his pictures…lots of little things. Where did I put my memory? He does want the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy and The Hobbit. I have neglected them. Oh well, I can’t remember being perfect, either. He’s requested books on Doc Holiday and the Wild West in addition.

It was becoming cooler and darker at night. The rains are not far off. They are cold and miserable, regular gully washers. We have them here in Texas, but at least the rain is warm (well, most of the time). Iraqi rain has more of an icy feel to it. Pleasant it is not. I can’t see a way for them to avoid it, though. It has caused him to take wrong turns and get lost in a humvee on his last deployment. I recall that he ended up in a canal with the humvee protruding from the surface. The one consolation was that Chris was not the driver on that occasion. Canals make poor parking lots, but even worse roads (unless you’re in a gondola in Venice). The days are becoming somewhat cooler, too. It goes down into the mid 60’s at night, while the days are only the mid 90’s. Anything under 100 is nice, considering it can get up to 130 degrees on a hot summer day. I’m not certain of their wintertime daily highs, but I’ll keep a close watch this time. I was too distracted to look at the temperatures the last time.

He had managed to get no sleep because of a discussion that he and a buddy had while they were guarding a cement building. There are some things you can discuss anytime or place. Others should be relegated to daytime with the sun beating down on you instead of night’s clammy fingers. Instead, their discussion turned out to be nerve wracking. They discussed Satan. They were being somewhat philosophical (but it does not matter in the dead of inky night) and believe that the best thing the devil has going for him is people who don’t believe in him. At that time a big gust of wind came out of nowhere. For the rest of the night they were “freaking out” hearing things. I can only imagine. I have no desire to be anywhere like that at that time of day.

Chris has decided upon a career once he gets back home and out of the Marine Corps. He wants to go to college to study for law enforcement (not really a surprise given Greg’s job). He thinks that he would like either to be part of a SWAT team, or to work with rape victims. He sees rapists as the lowest life form. He has a heart for the victims. The Swat team would certainly give him the excitement that’s part of his life now.

In the midst of my ramblings and his conversation he made a statement that I was actually able to record with accuracy. “One must have great humility to have a seat of power. In order to lead you must serve first.” As I said, our conversation rambled. He was coherent; I was not. I did enjoy that quote there. I need to find out from him if that’s a Chris original, or if he heard it somewhere else and adopted it. Either way, it is true.

God bless your week,

J