When people hear I'm headed overseas for six months, they usually ask some variation on the question "why?" In some ways, it is a question that has a lot of answers. I don't think I could really endure six months away from my family motivated by a single reason, it takes a lot of reasons -- and good ones. Many of you know the deciding reason for me going. We should be able to afford a place outside of DC for a price that would allow us to live off of one income, so Jenn could stay at home with Nathan. It will be wonderful to have Jenn be able to be a stay at home mom, something she's probably better at than teaching (which is saying something).
When I deployed to Iraq for four months, I lost a good amount of weight. It helps when you have a gym nearby with little else to do for entertainment. I hope to lose weight again this time, and to stay active and healthy when I get back.
Spiritual growth is also something at the front of my mind. It is easy to fall into the habit of working a job everyday and forgetting the role God is playing everyday in sustaining you and providing for you. The title of my blog I think describes how I'd really like to live. I have heard people say that your faith is weak if you can't give God credit in the easy times and the challenging times. I wonder if it really means you should just seek out more challenges. Do you try to change your faith to accommodate your life, or change your life to grow your faith?
I also think the war in Afghanistan should be fought, and if (believing that) I am in a position to help, I should. The guys in the military don't always have the same choice. I will be going forward for the second time, for a total of ten months, while many in the military have done two or three one year tours. It certainly won't hurt me in my career, either.
I hope to use this blog to keep you informed about how I am doing in these areas and in general. Don't expect much information about what I'm doing, of course. I hope to keep my friends and family informed, but that doesn't mean I'm seeking to be very public. I hope that you'll respect these concerns by not linking to this blog from a publicly accessible site. Thank you to all those who are praying for me.
