Day 143

Hi everyone...I'm back. Thanks for your patience and prayers. Many reached out to check in on me and my answer to all was that I'm just in a rough patch right now and prayers would be appreciated. Anonymous or not, there are times where I don't want to share, don't want to write, and need to step away. I'm not saying it won't happen again but it was necessary...so thanks.

Today was Tin Man and Scarecrow's first day of school...but first, I woke up in the 4 o'clock hour..that's A.M., by the way which is in the 8 o'clock P.M. hour for you. One thing that I always, always do back home is pray bedside with my girls. If they happen to be at Grandma and Grandpa's for the night or somewhere else, that prayer normally happens via phone call. Well, with the start of school today and them heading to bed early since it was a school night, I thought it would be worth waking up to try and pray with them via Skype. Even if I can't make the video work, at least we would have audio and could have a 7,000 mile prayer. So, we did. They had just returned home from the Open House at school and after a quick shower, they took a seat in the living room, me laying in my bed in Afghanistan, and we prayed. Well, they prayed...we take turns and they wanted to go first. Isn't that cool? How many kids volunteer to pray? Mine do! Anyway, I closed my eyes and let them pray...first Tin Man then Scarecrow. Tin Man is now in 5th Grade and has grown up so much. Scarecrow is now in 3rd Grade and has a very unique talent which I've mentioned before...she can rip my heart out by just speaking to me. I don't know what it is...I miss her no more than Tin Man...but that voice...geez, I don't understand it. So, when I heard her praying...praying for the new school year...thanking God for what He has provided, then praying for my safety...I won't lie. Those tears were flowing...all over my pillow as I laid in the dark. I didn't let them hear my weakness and wished them a good night sleep and told them I'd call in the morning before it was time to board the school bus. I'm really not that emotional of a guy, but these last 3 days? Emotional is "one" word to describe those days. Having such a thin shell these days is certainly not normal for me...extremely rare back home. I don't shy away from it, though. To me, it's a reminder that the link still exists...that regardless of distance and time, my 3 girls are everything to me...and it is for them that I serve and for them that I get up everyday to make another "X" on the calendar. I really, really believe that I am nothing without all of them...they are an extension of me and me of them. We are a family and we will survive.

After a call home after they got up, they headed off to school and me, I opened up a few care packages from home. My youngest brother's wife made some homemade goodies, sent some kids' artwork, and Kashi cereal which was amazing timing as I ran out this morning.  A doctor who Dorothy works with also sent a care package...some running stuff, some Kashi cereal, too, and more art! I was really blessed by those two packages and everything about them was perfect. After gathering my stuff up, I caught a shuttle back to the other side of the base and grabbed some dinner, put it in my fridge, and laced up my shoes for a run. We actually got rain earlier today...enough to keep the dust down plus there was no wind tonight...perfect running conditions and I wasn't going to miss it. As I headed out, I first checked out a concrete wall that was hit last night by another rocket. I wanted to see it as it was the closest to my room since I got here. Our whole structure shook when it hit and we remained locked down for 51 minutes. See that flag on my blog? This rocket flew right by that flag...but you know what? Old Glory is flying tonight...she always flies. I had a great 10 mile run and then enjoyed the salad I brought back earlier along with some care package items.

So Day 143...it's a wrap. The last day of August is tomorrow and marks Day 1 of "Ead." It's the end of Ramadan and is the 3-5 day celebration part where everything stops for Afghans. Many Afghans drive trucks throughout the country with our gear and during Ead, they stop...totally stop for the entire time and then hop back in and continue after Ead. With Ramadan supposedly being so holy to Afghans, I'm surprised by the increased rocket attacks this month. In fact, as I have been typing this, we've been hit again. It wasn't as significant a boom as last night, but it didn't feel very far away. As always, I'll find out tomorrow. Hopefully, the "all clear" will be given soon.

It's been weird...to watch my girls go back to school. When I left, it was Spring and school was in session. Then, school ended, summer break started, summer happened, and now school is back in session and I missed it all. The good news? It's another landmark. So is September 1st.

Goodnight, everyone.