Hi everybody.  It's March 12th, and it's warming up here at TQ.  Highs are already in the 80s, and the rainy season is coming to an end.  Here we go for another Iraq summer.

It's only Monday, and it's already been a long week.  Nothing bad has happened, it's just that this is the week we were at one time expecting to turn over the mission to another unit and start heading back to home.  Now, we have only rumors as to when we will be leaving, and the only thing we are told is that it probably won't be until July or August.  So, we're all trying our best to cope with an expectation that was taken away back in January, but is over the next couple of weeks going to hit us pretty hard.

Otherwise, we're just trying to figure out how the whole "surge" affects us up in the Al Anbar province.  Most of the news and most of the big headlines come out of Baghdad.  Meanwhile, in my area between Fallujah and Ramadi, change seems to be moving pretty in the right direction, but very, very slowly.  The number of roadside bombs and rocket attacks on our base have gone down each of the last several months.  Maybe that's due to our vigilance, maybe due to the cool, wet weather, maybe a little from column A and a little from column B.  We'll see what happens now that it is warming up and drying up again.

I did have a chance to baptize another soldier recently, which helps me find meaning in my own mission, knowing that I get to help soldiers come to know Jesus a little better.  Not that the Lord needs my help, but I'm always grateful when he asks for it anyway.  Our little church building, Bearcat Chapel, is packing out close to 25-30 guys at each of our two services on Sunday, which is still pretty small compared to United Lutheran, but I'm enjoying the closeness and relationships of this Christian fellowship.  Of course, my "congregation" includes a lot more than just the guys who show up on Sunday morning, but they are the ones that I see more regularly so I get to know them the best.

That's it for now from Camp TQ.  Enjoy St. Patrick's Day this weekend, and have a sip of green beer (or even better, a sip of Guinness) for me!

God be good to you!

CH Steve Timm