{Be Not Afraid}

"You shall cross the barren desert, but you shall not die of thirst.

You shall wander far in safety though you do not know the way.

You shall speak your words in foreign lands and all will understand."

Ugh, the first Sunday mass without David.  Needless to say, it was lonely.  I sat in the front so I would pay attention and on the end.  I sat before mass and prayed for David and his company and their safety on missions that are to come.  I did not notice many people there by themselves.  There were lots of couples and tons of families.  I wonder where all the single people are and where the people who have loved ones deployed are?  Do they go to a different mass or fall off when so heavy-hearted?

Halfway through mass the power went out and it became dark (there are only stained glass in our chapel) and the chapel was filled with candle light.  It reminded me of a story that Fr. Jose Bautista told me on a plane once.  He is a Catholic naval chaplain who has been deployed many times.  He told me of a Christmas mass in a tent in the middle of the desert, where all they had as light were a few headlamps.  He had to yell mass because of the wind and the sand hitting the sides of the tent.  There were Catholics and non-Catholics in attendance.  He ministered to everyone.  Fr. Jose said that when you are in a war zone, there is no time to discriminate and no time to turn anyone away from our Lord.  There were terrified young men and women needing to be filled and feel the warmth of God.  I can only hope that we, in American, can have that mentality.  And I hope that David can witness a great life-changing mass like that one on Christmas eve in the middle of war.  I would be jealous.

I didn't cry at mass today like I thought I would.  Thank goodness we didn't sing songs such as "Eagle's Wings" or even worse "Be Not Afraid".  (For those non cradle Catholics, feel free to look up the words to Be Not Afraid and tear up.  It truly can make one fall to their knees when thinking of a loved one who is deployed.)

**David Update**

This morning he and his Ssgt (Staff Sargent) Cremin had a tour of the base.  (I think it's approximately 1600 acres -- don't hold me to that!)  This had to have been a good time for David seeing as he has a huge man crush on his Ssgt.  Oh, man love.  David got to go to the British PX (a little shop), he said that was interesting but the line was short.  He also got to spend some time with his platoon, which he rarely does, so that was good for him, and them I hope.  He then met the Lt (Lieutenant) who he will be taking over for and learned a lot from him.  He is now asleep and must not have had time to call or e-mail me.  I believe that his time was well spent thinking about me and doing "Marine things" -- eating and working out.  

The above is a photo from 0600 AM our time.  As you can tell, he is in good spirits.  I think that he has a convoy coming up in a few days, but I (and the rest of us) are not allowed to know when they are leaving or where they are going until after it happens.  So he is preparing as necessary and getting focused on the mission ahead.

If you have questions or anything to say, please feel free to leave comments.

Honey, I hope that you are sleeping like a baby.  

I am here waiting for you and constantly thinking about you.  I can't wait for you to come home.

I love you David.