Good Days

Dear All,

The days are passing quickly and life at the center continues to be fun and busy. They love the fresh bread days and cookouts and are so appreciative of all the fun snacks you have provided for them.


This is Angela and I up in the tower the day we went out to take Teddy Bears to the Iraqi children.

Me with Iraqi Girl.

For me it is still all about the troops and connecting with them. I stand amazed at the continued little divine appointments God brings my way with our troops. As I listen to their broken hearts, about their new babies and their hopes and dreams for the future I am challenged to not grow weary as I move towards my departure.

I am probably the only person in Iraq who has spent the summer cold. I am in side 90 percent of the time and I will say the air conditioning works well here. For me going out into the sun feels so good though I can see where if I had to be out in it and in all the gear our troops wear I would be whining all the way. The past three days it has been overcast and we even had rain, not just rain, thunder and lightening. The thunder was so strong and constant that when I woke up I wondered if we were under attack. It was a pleasant surprise to have rain and certainly not expected at this time of the year. It cooled the temperature down which made it very nice. It was so odd the first overcast day with all the humidity; I almost thought I was in Texas. It normally does not get below 100 before the wee hours of the morning, but tonight at 10 pm it is already down to 94 degrees. Nice!!!!

The United Through Reading still remains to be the highlight of my days. It has made such a difference for our troops and I love to hear how meaningful it is to them and their families. One dad told me his two year old daughter did not know him after his first deployment and they had a hard time adjusting when he got home. She is now six and loves the DVD’s of her dad reading to her and to the two old brother during dad’s second deployment. Dad is encouraged that his two year old son will not have the adjustment that his daughter had the first time around. At the beginning of the summer I was so well stocked on books and was bewildered yesterday when I went in the UTR room and realized that I was getting low again.

I love you all and will see you soon,
In His Mighty Grip,
Linda