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| Hi everybody! It's the 9th of July, and today I've had my last mission outside the wire. Appropriately enough, it was another humanitarian mission, sharing medical care and school supplies with the town of Al Kabani, just outside our base. It was a joint mission together with the unit that is taking over for us at Camp Al Taqaddum, a Marine unit this time, not an Army unit. I guess that makes sense for Marines to guard a Marine base. Especially after 16 months of the job being done by the National Guard, 16 months where the number of attacks on this base has dropped from several every week to none in the last 3 months. I think the National Guard has kept the Marines safe for long enough.
My replacement Navy chaplain has arrived as well, CH Mark Reschke, an LCMS guy who came out with me today on the mission. It's good to know that not only will our military mission continue, but the mission of Christ will continue when we leave as well. But the most important thing to me is that we are finally leaving! I can't say exactly when, but by this time next week, I should be in Ft. McCoy, WI. There to wait for God alone knows how long, probably 2+ weeks, but at least I'll be out of the desert and out of the war, and on my way home. Whatever home is, I guess. It's staggering to think that I haven't lived in Red Wing since early January of 2006. My life has been on hold, like I'm almost waking up from a long, bad dream to discover that everything has changed, not necessarily for the better or worse, but different. I look forward to it, but I confess to being anxious about some things that have changed in both the world around me and in myself. I'm not coming home as an alcoholic, angry, PTSD-ridden speed-freak, but I'm not the same person who left way back then, either. I've seen too much not to have changed. To all of you back in Red Wing, I hope you'll be patient with me when I finally get home and start trying to readjust with my family first and foremost. I look forward to seeing you all, gradually, starting sometime in August. Until then, this is CH (CPT) Steven W. Timm (aka Pastor Steve) signing off from Camp Al Taqaddum, Iraq, and on my way home. God be good to you! |