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| Hi everybody! It's the 20th of December, not quite the winter solstice yet but pretty close. The days are about as dark as they are going to get, but the good news is that after Friday, they are going to start getting lighter, and that's a pretty good picture of how the deployment feels right now. We had a pretty dark start to December with two deaths in the battalion, and a lot of us already have been fighting the blues. No doubt, we're missing home around Christmas time. But the days are going to be getting lighter. We can see hope on the horizon.
I think I've mentioned before the phrase "two-digit midget". For a soldier counting down days in a deployment, it means you have fewer than a hundred days left in your time away. I won't tell you exactly when it happened, but we are across that two-digit line and unless we get extended, we are expecting be home before Easter. That in itself is reason to celebrate, even if there were no other holiday on the calendar all this month. And you can tell when you talk with the guys; even if we're not quite there yet, we have something to look forward to, a reason to be hopeful. And in spite of mission our families, we still plan to celebrate Christmas because, frankly, it is still worth celebrating. For one thing, it's been a holiday for exiles from the very start -- Mary and Joseph were away from home when Jesus was born, and they spent the next several years of his life in exile in Egypt. For another thing, Christmas reminds us that God is with us, in the most profound way possible, and that's true no matter where we are. So we may not have our families around the tree, but we will have something to celebrate. I want to thank everyone who has sent cards and care packages to my soldiers during this holiday season. I keep a rough track of how much we distribute to soldiers, based on the customs declaration that goes on the outside of the care package box, and in late November, we crossed the $10,000 mark of packages that I have received and distributed. We've probably received another $5,000 in the last 3 weeks alone. That's just things that have gone to other guys here, and doesn't count all the donations that have gone to school supplies, medical supplies, and such things that we have brought out to local citizens, which would count for another $9500 more. Thanks also to everyone who has sent cards and care packages to me personally. Your signs of support continue to make me smile and give me strength. If Christmas is about a day when God became human to be one of us, many of you have put a human face on the love of God through your encouragement to me. Thanks again. Have a blessed and beautiful Christmas. God be good to you! |