James Goes Back To Iraq

This morning the last of our family's big events this month came to an end. I'm talking about my son James' leave from the military. His time away from his duty in Iraq was over about 8AM this morning when his fiance and I said "goodbye" to him at the Nashville airport.

James squeezed a lot of things into the 10 days he was home. He spent a lot of time with his fiance and his friends. He got together with his high school buddies a couple of times. When one of his friends was involved in a extremely serious motorcycle accident; James gave support to his friend's family by going to spend time with them at the hospital an hour away.

He went to church each Sunday morning he was home and attended the Hallelujah Hoedown; a special event and chili supper held at our church each October. He even roasted a hot dog over the campfire for me that night.

He spend a couple of evenings with his mom and I; watching movies and playing the game "Scatagories" and carving jack-o-lanterns . He and his fiance went to look at a house they were interested in buying and they announced their wedding date: May 16, 2009

In my opinion the 3 most important things James did while he was home are these. He attended his brother's wedding; he went to see the movie "Fireproof"; and he gave us an opportunity to spend time with his fiance, Brandi.

Michael and Heather's wedding was the main reason James came home on leave when he did. He requested the time off even before he left for Iraq back in April. It was really important for him to be here for the biggest day in his brother's life and he was. The picture at the top of this post was taken at the wedding.

The movie, "Fireproof", currently in theaters is the 3rd film produced by the Sherwood Baptist Church in Georgia (see September 27 post for more about this wonderful film). Because of their plans to get married before the middle of next year we highly recommended that while he was home, James and his fiance go to see it. Although it took them several attempts they did see "Fireproof". Without going into detail let me just say that God's timing in regard to when they did go to see it made it a very effective tool in growing their relationship.

I'm ashamed to admit but until this visit home for James I really didn't know much about his fiance. I hadn't been very nice to her until now and I am very sorry for that. However, the amount of time she spent here at our house with James and visiting with my wife, my family and me gave me an opportunity to see her for the person she really is. I made an effort to develop the kind of friendship and rapport with her that I should have had all the time.

As I said she rode with me to take James back to the airport and on the way home it was just the two of us. I don't think I've ever had a more pleasant conversation while driving on I-65 than I did with Brandi. I don't know how she feels but over the last 2 weeks I've come to feel that she is already part of my family. I won't go on much more than that because I don't want to get over emotional or corny about it. I am just happy that we are now friends. I'm thankful to God that he has changed my heart and allowed me to show kindness and a caring spirit to Brandi.

So James' visit is over and by the time I post this on my blog he will be well on his way back to Baghdad. He will only be gone a little over 3 months this time. Still I would like to ask that you continue to pray for his safety and emotional state. This will be the first time he will be away from his family during the holidays. He'll probably be very lonely come December. Paula and I both appreciate your prayers as does James.