Sand Storm

Dear All,

Busy fun days here for me! Though we have more staff now I am still as busy as ever. I am enjoying every minute of these last days here and trying not to miss a thing.

We had a bizarre sand storm last week. Different from any of the others we have had there was no wind. It was more like snow storm. The sky went from clear to brown to yellow to bright red. It was almost eerie. As you would walk outside you would get sand flakes on your clothes. That morning when I got up it was like footprints in the snow.

1200 Sand Storm outside my room...

1300 Sand storm outside my room








1400 Walking out from bunker.... Teresa and I ran some errands that afternoon and had the opportunity to go down into one of Hussein’s big bunkers that are on base. They are all over everywhere, some of which are used by different units but most left vacant. They are refurbishing this particular one for office space for a new unit coming in. It had it’s own air filtering system that would have made it nuclear war proof. All very interesting! From the outside they look like pyramids and they go down as deep as they are tall. I have always thought it would be cool for the USO to have one for a center. I can just see the whole side of it painted with the USO logo.

I have been packing and mailing stuff home as the day to leave is approaching fast. I am hoping Angela gets back from R&R before I leave. I can’t imagine not getting to say goodbye to her. She has been such a joy.

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

Going Postal!!!

Dear All,

I have so much I want to tell you but for right now I will share my heart about my post office experience today. I will write later to tell you about and send pictures of the most incredible sand storm and my Black Hawk ride. As I near the end of my time here, I don’t want to miss a thing and am exhausted but flying high on loving the guys and girls I love so much.

Today was my regular scheduled run to the Post Office to mail UTR. It is probably one of my most laborious tasks that I do. I go with 100+ packages. Each packages content has to be searched and inspected and then sealed up and signed. Once all are inspected we begin the task of weighing and paying. Each custom form has to be stamped on all six pages and then placed in a plastic holder and taped to the package. It is a long process and normally takes at least two hours. I have a standing Wednesday and Saturday morning appointment. They let me come in thirty minutes before they open to try and expedite the process. By the time I am out of there the line behind me is long and as I walk out I keep my head down. No eye contact. THEY ALL HAVE GUNS, YOU KNOW!!!!

Today it hit, as I place each package on the scale to be weighed and processed to go the reality of leaving here hit and the cherished memories of these troops and their families painfully weighed on my heart. Nakeed, Chloe, Jamison, Mia, McQuade, Quentin, Delasia, Sammi, and I could go on forever with the names of the children that these Untied Through Reading packages have been sent to. The stories their dads, moms, aunts and uncles have shared are forever in heart. This has truly been and amazing adventure and leaving is so hard. My heart is torn between being with my precious family and serving here with the troops I have grown to love so deeply. Their faces are forever etched in my heart. Day before yesterday this beautiful Marine, who was stranded here a couple days came in to read to his children. I took him in to get him all set up and as I did I ask how old his children are and he did not respond. I looked up to see this beautiful young Marine, father of five with tears streaming down his face. The only words he could get out were Madam, I just love my family so much.

Another dad yesterday at the SF camp was so excited to share that they were expecting a new baby and he had just found out it will be twins. You always hear about pregnant women glowing, well this young dad was glowing. So Proud!

I must tell you thank you for your support and for supporting this program. The thousands of books you have sent and or money you have sent to USO headquarters in honor of this program is making a huge difference. Our troops and their families are being blessed by you. Never doubt that you don’t have a voice here. I love to tell the troops of all you have done and watch them grin in humility and pride.

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

Pictures

Dear all,

I thought I would send you a couple pictures. This is not of my hair cut. I don’t have ones of that. This is Angela, myself and Teresa with some of our Navy and Army volunteers. They are wonderful and spend their off time at the center helping us. With out their help we would not and could not be very effective.



We have had one of our worst sand storms today. It was different to any other. The wind was not particularly blowing but the visibility was pretty much nothing. The center is always packed on days like this as so many get stranded here. It was fun and we were able to finally get everyone on the phones and computers.

This is one of our Air Force guys. I found some drawing tablet and colored pencils and he was drawing all sorts of pictures.





I have not told you but we have all new computers. A very special friend from home sent us all new computers and it has been such a huge blessing to us. Our previous ones had so many issues and it made it really hard. There are always Internet issues but prior to now it was a dual issue between the old computers and the Internet provider we have. The troops are so appreciative and our computers stay full from the time we open until closing. I was amazed our Internet worked as well as it did today with the nasty sand storm.


A veteran's group in Florida sent boxes and boxes of drink singles for the troops. It has been wonderful and greatly appreciated by our troops.

For those of you who do not know John Micah is at Fort Stewart in Georgia training and preparing to deploy to Iraq. I will be home in time to go out and see him and be there when he leaves. I can hardly bear the thought of him returning to this country. I stand again in that place of, I don’t know what the future holds but I do know who holds John Micah’s future. We will once again pray our son through this deployment.

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

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

My Military Hair Do

Dear All,

Life is good here. I got my military hair cut so I am good to go. It was not intentional that I got my military look but I knew when I heard the hair stylists get the buzzers out I was getting a little different do than I had intended. What can I say; it lightens my load, adds minutes to my day in prep time and is certainly cooler.

The Center is busy with troops relaxing, connecting with home and just seeking someone to talk to. We have this beautiful theater where they can watch movies but we find they would rather watch them in the lounge despite the distraction of troops in and out and us calling out names and constant talking. Where there are some who like the quiet get away of the dark theater room most seem to like the interaction of being with everyone. Of course, we are just certain they want to be by us and that is the reason they stay in the lounge. In the lounge I tell them they cannot watch severe violence or blood and guts because I cannot handle it. Only chick flicks……you can imagine how well that goes over. Those of you who know me, know that me and suspense is not a good combination. I think that is why the troops love to sneak the really suspenseful ones in there because they get a kick out of my reaction. I try so hard to let it roll off my back but it just does not happen.

Our volunteer network is rebuilding after our Fort Sill guys left and what amazing young men and women who volunteer their off time to help us out. They work 10, 12, 14 hour days and then still come give us time. We are so appreciative especially since we still do not have the staff that we had anticipated for so many months.

This morning I had a fun experience. We were able to go outside the gate but still inside the safety of the wire to give teddy bears and soccer balls to Iraqi children. There were only a few there but it was fun. We also had lotion for the Iraqi women and some treats to eat for those who wanted them. We will go earlier in the morning next time as many of the children had already left when we got there. It gave me a new appreciation for our troops. It was so unbelievably hot out there with all the IBU gear on. Our troops are there all day in that guarding us. It was fun seeing some of our regular troops that are in and out of the center out there. They were all smiles when they saw us coming. They loved showing us what they do.

We are required to wear reflector belts here at night for safety. I was out with some troops one night and told them I felt a bit like a beauty queen wearing my sash across my shoulder. I told them that instead of them singing “There she is Miss America”, they could sing “There she is Miss Cellaneous”. They all laughed and thought that was funny. Well three days later they showed up and had had embroidered for me a reflector belt that says Miss Cellaneous . What a sweet treasure. Don’t be surprised to see me wearing it out at night when I get home.

I took a day off yesterday and it was nice to relax, sleep in and even go to the pool. The pool was fun. You almost forget where you are. It is the most beautiful pool, big pool I have ever seen. It has all the different high dives and all around the edge of the fourteen foot deep pool is a small ledge that is af about four feet. You can stand there in the water and it is so very nice. When I first got there I had to laugh watching these two army kids, as fast as they could they were doing one legged Indians into the pool and jumping out and doing it again. I am not sure why but they were sure having fun and it thrilled me to pieces watching them. I try to stay to myself there….I mean here are all these darling guys and gals with their cute little tight bodies and here I am fifty plus with my not so tight body. I did talk myself into getting in the water and boy did that feel good.

Well I need to get out the door to the center to get things set up. I love you all dearly and will see you soon. Thank you so very much for all your support and encouragement.

In His Mighty Grip,
Linda

Good Times at the USO Center

Dear All,

We have had some significant changes here at the USO in Balad and the atmosphere and center are thriving even greater than ever. Our new director arrived last Sunday and already you can see the atmosphere at the center taking on a new feel. I have enjoyed watching our new director enjoy the troops and have a great time with. I know she will bring much to the center and life here.

We have a basket on the counter that says Operation Fresh Breath. It has all sorts of dental hygiene products in it for the troops to take. The soldier in the picture got a bunch of stuff donated for it. Amazing that it was all gone within less than a week. We can't keep enough toothpaste, toothbrushes and dental floss around.

Prior to her arrival a director from Kuwait came in and we had a great time. She opened the door to doing fun programs with the troops that we had not been able to do before. One night last week we did quiz night. We had twenty questions for the troops to answer and the three with the most answers right got prizes. We had pizza afterwards. Another night we took 25 pizzas over to the pool for the troops. We had our logo Frisbees to give out. Friday night we played BINGO in the center and that was a big hit. We had all sorts of fun giveaways for the winners. Saturday night we had a cook out and volunteer appreciation night for all those who have helped us so much. A unit from Fort Sill left out this week to go home for good and five or six of them had volunteered over 600 hours. They had become very special to us and it was hard to see them go. Wonderful knowing they are home with their families. I have heard from a couple of them and they sound great.

I had another all day United Through Reading at another part of the base and recorded 64 UTR’s. I always enjoy those days. We have had a record month recording 601 DVD’s. That represents around 1400 children that will have smiles on their faces because they got to see their mom or dad on DVD and have a story read to them. I am having a few issues with my cameras so we will soon begin to replace them one at a time. As of today we have filmed 3042 UTR’s since we have been here. The cameras have served us well but possibly could be getting a little tired.

The director from Kuwait was a great encouragement and has given us so many ideas of things we can do in the center with the troops that we did not know we could do. Angela got back from R&R and it is great to have her back and to hear all about her trip. She is such a sweetheart. There is nothing like working shoulder to shoulder in a war zone to knit two people together.

KLIF in Dallas, Texas did a snack drive for us and we have been receiving boxes of snacks. That has been so wonderful to have good stuff and different stuff out for the troops. They eat it as fast as we can put it out. I think it is more that they are in a home like environment that gives them the munchies. Thank you so much Dallas, Texas for your generosity. You are such an encouragement to out troops.

Well I am off to bed. I stay pretty tired as we still work very long hours. I have to work at getting myself to bed so I don’t wear myself out. I love you all and thank you so much for your support.

In His Mighty Grip,
Linda

The Temperture is Rising!

Dear All,

The time has flown and I extend by deep apologies for my lack of communicating. The past weeks have been my hardest and busiest so far. Loneliness and fatigue hit hard bringing my greatest discouragement. There was even a point that I wanted to throw in the towel and come home but a short conversation with a young soldier brought new strength and conviction. He was greatly discouraged and rightfully so after missing the birth of his first child and the death of his grandfather. He did not have the option of even thinking about throwing in the towel. I knew after talking to him I had to toughen up and focus on moving forward and not on the issues that were weighing me down.

The temperature continues to rise. During the day it is getting up around 112 - 116 degrees. When I turned off my lights last night to go to bed at 2300 it was down to 102 degrees. I have to say that I can not complain as I am inside the center 90% of the time so the little I go out the sun and heat feels wonderful. If I was out in it long and certainly if I was working out in it I would be whining all the way. It is just like I had always heard...it feels like someone is pointing a big hot hot blow dryer at you.

The center continues to thrive and part of what makes it so special is the support it has received from so many of you. Your snacks, children’s books and even prayer squares have been a huge help and greatly appreciated. We have just gone through a rotation change so the faces have changed and we had to say goodbye to many that were regulars in the center. It is always sad to say goodbye but always a thrill knowing they are going home to their families.

We have a great group of volunteers right now that are there every day all day long helping. They leave here for good in just a few days. They have already passed their responsibilities on to their replacements and are just waiting to leave. The timing could not be more perfect as both of my co workers are on R&R. Two directors from Kuwait came and that has been nice. One has returned to Kuwait and the other is still here. She has been a delight and given me all sorts of new ideas of things we can be doing in the center. That has been so fun and I look forward to continuing these fun interactive activities.

The United Through Reading Program continues to be my joy. We filmed 548 last month and will come close this month also. Due to our staff being gone I have had to cancel several of the remote UTR days that I do. That makes me sad as I know how these particular troops appreciate and depend on that time. The books have continued to arrive and I smile through and through when the troops walk in the UTR room and go WOW look at all the books. Your faces come to mind and I always tell them about you and your love for them. A couple of weeks ago a young soldier came in and asks if we had any way he could record a message to his grandmother. He shared that he had just received word that Hospice had come in and her days were few. We were thrilled to set him up in the UTR to record. He was able to tell his grandmother how special she was in his life and say his goodbyes. The blessing is she did receive it and get to see it before she stepped into glory. It was such a help to this young man to be able to do this.

One of our Air Force dads told us his little girl was so excited about her DVD she took it to school and showed her class and took it to Sunday school and to gymnastics and to her ballet class. She was proud to show it to everyone. Another Military mom told me that her daughter hugs the TV when her mom reads to her. She now hugs the TV every time she passes it and say “I love you, Mommy”. Thanks to all of you this program thrives.

Thank you all for being so patient with me as I move through this incredible journey. The joy of being here with and for these troops blesses me over and over again. The personal hurdles I have faced in recent weeks are nothing when compared to the joys deep in my heart from serving here in this place.

I love you all dearly and am so grateful for your support.
Strong in His Mighty Grip,
Linda