I Fly Away

Dear All,

We are experiencing bad sand storms here. You would not believe the inside of our car. When I get in it to go somewhere I have to turn on the windshield wipers to clean the sand on the wind shield so I can see out. It is nasty!

I was up and off to church this morning before going into the center. Our music tends to be the more contemporary worship songs and it is lead by a very humble young man. The worship team consists of troops from the Army, Navy and Air Force. They do a good job of leading the worship time. We had sung a couple of contemporary songs and then he went right into the old hymn I'll Fly Away. I grinned from ear to ear as it took me back many years to Irving Bible Church on Finley Road. I remember well one Sunday probably in the late 70's the choir was singing I'll Fly Away and a dear friend Rick Knight was in the choir that Sunday and was truly enjoying and worshiping as he sang and the memory of him was forever etched in my heart that day. When I think of him I always go back to that place. It was fun to stand there this morning a half a world away from Finley Street and remember such a sweet memory. Rick Knight you blessed my heart today.

The center has been unusually quiet and slow the past couple of days. The main thing the troops want is the Internet to instant message with their families or phones to call home. There is almost always waiting lines for those. Our snacks are pretty slim picking these days. We are grateful for all the Girl Scout Cookies that have come our way. If we did not have those some days there would not be hardly anything. The PX runs out of stuff so quickly and they limit us to buying only two of many items. Chips and things like that! I know I opened at least fifteen boxes of Girl Scout cookies today and I believe Angela did at least that many herself. It does not matter what we put out they eat it.

We had a USO tour come through today also. It was Operation Hoop Talk! Basketball coaches from several colleges. They walked through the center and visited with the troops and sign pictures for them. It is always fun to have surprises like that for the troops. They were supposed to be in Baghdad but the dust storm kept them in Balad. Fortunate for us!

Well I just wanted to say Hi. I am trying to write more frequently and give you more of the daily flavor of life in Iraq. Pray the sand storms go away. Sand Storms also mean mortar attacks so we need the sand to just stop blowing.

I love you all dearly and thank you for your support.

A Big Happy Birthday to my Johnny. You're the best!
In His Mighty Grip,
Linda

Return To Balad

Dear All,

I am sure you are wondering if I fell off the face of the earth or maybe did not return from R&R. None of the above, it has just been busy and I am just now getting into the swing of things and my routine back. R&R was wonderful. Nothing tops being with Johnny and our children!

I was so grateful for the opportunity to ride home on the R&R flight with all the military troops. I always knew it was a long grueling trip but now I KNOW it is a long grueling trip. For me it took four days to make it from where I am in Iraq to Dallas. I was fortunate that I had no issues getting home. No sand storms or delays or canceled flights as many of our troops experience. My trip could not have gone smoother but even still it was long and exhausting. The hurry up and wait certainly takes on a whole new perspective. Hours it took! It is a very smooth operation but when you are moving that many troops it just takes time to do it and do it safely. I literally had to dump my whole suitcase so customs could go through it and then repack. Nothing went unnoticed! Once through customs we were secluded until boarding buses to go to catch our flight. Prior to the time we went through this process the place that we were secluded, I had thought was a prison on the base. Now I know….it is the holding place for all R&R troops. Sure like a prison to me from the outside.

I met many great troops along the way. I had a darling Marine colonel as our commander for the flight. I am sure he would grin to hear me say that. He was headed to the west coast to his wife and two darling little girls. I was one of three civilians on the flight. Every seat was taken so we were packed in like sardines. Once leaving Kuwait we made one stop before arriving in Atlanta. Flight time around sixteen hours! There were cheers as we landed on American soil. Those of us going on to the next leg of the flight to Dallas never left the secure area. It was sad as there was no one there to cheer and tell these battle weary guys thanks. Maybe it happens when they leave the secure area but certainly not where we were. The flight from Atlanta to Dallas got a little livelier as troops recognized they were almost there. The cheers were even greater when we landed in Dallas. Dallas you make me proud the way you greet our troops. I walked off the plane and into Johnny’s arms and boy did that feel good. It was wonderful to walk out to the cheers of so many and see my mom and daughter and uncle and so many friends.

The next morning I spent two hours walking through Wal Mart. Who would ever think Wal Mart could be so fascinating. It was amazing seeing everything you need right there together. Next I ventured into Sam’s and Home Depot. Oh to have had these stores close when we were trying to do all the renovation on the center. I just kept walking through my house and loving it. It was beautiful and clean and HOME. John Micah drove in from Lubbock and Amy flew in from California. It was so good to see them. On Saturday Johnny had arranged for Amy, Alyson and I to go to this very nice exclusive spa for a day of pampering. We had massages, body scrubs, facials, manicures and pedicures and the works. What a wonderful day of pampering and even better that I got to share it with my girls. When we got home Johnny had everything all set up for all our family to come over for dinner. He catered the dinner from Babe’s! Yummy! I did not lift a finger! It was wonderful seeing everyone and visiting and just being together in my home.

The rest of my time at home was spent visiting with family and friends and just taking it easy. I was able to be a part of the Defenders of Freedom Annual Golf outing and that was fun for me. The days flew by and leaving was tough. Somehow it does not get easier saying goodbye.

It is so strange because as hard as it was to leave it was good to be back and doing what I feel called to do right now. The trip back was as grueling as the one going over but with a more somber atmosphere. I spent another night in the transient housing in Kuwait and then spent the next day sitting at the terminal waiting on a flight. We sat on a C17 for an hour or so before they canceled that flight and back to the terminal to wait. I finally got back to Balad a bit sleep depraved but ready to get back in the swing of things.

It was good to see so many of you while I was home. You are all so special and your support means everything to me.

In His Mighty Grip,
Linda