Saturday, July 30, 2011

A Good Night

Wow, what a good night. I just had a great talk with a Marine about the Lord. Obviously I will refrain from going into the details, but it all boiled down to stop trying to be strong. When we are weak, His strength is made perfect. So why do we try to beat everything when we can let go and allow the perfect power of God take control? ... a good thought.

People. I am sorry I am have not written lately. But things have been going very well. My job has gone from something that I love doing to something even greater. Along with my job, I have the opportunity to preach the Word of God twice a week. As I said in my past post... Wednesdays I am going through the books of Peter. We are only on 1 Peter 1 and we've only gotten to verse 4. Its been 3 weeks! Haha I love it. God has definitely been giving me good stuff to say that we need to hear... all in 4 verses. My Sunday sermons have been great as well. The first one was on Ezekiel 37, the valley of the dry bones and why hope is essential. Maybe one day I can tell you all about it. The last Sunday I went through the book of 1 Samuel looking at Israel's search for a leader and the principles a leader should have. We did a lot of looking at the faults of Saul and comparing them to David. Tomorrow will be on the Transfiguration. One of my favorite stories in scripture. I'm really looking forward to it. I actually need to write out my jumbled notes into one organized set of thoughts for tomorrow. I will do that before I go to bed.

TO THOSE OF YOU WHO SEND PACKAGES... READ THIS!! From now on, after you have packaged it up and addressed everything properly, take a marker and write "KAJAKI" on every side of the box. I've noticed this is something the mail clerks do when they send stuff to the wrong location. So when they see KAJAKI they will think they've already messed up once and make sure it gets to the correct place. Julia sent me a package on the 21st and I already got it today! Thats the fastest I've gotten anything. 9 DAYS! And she wrote KAJAKI everywhere.

I got to shoot something new a couple weeks ago. EXCALIBUR! Look it up if you'd like. Its basically a round that is GPS guided and can go up to 40k. This is the ultimate indirect fire for artillery. Its a good $100,000 a round too. So... thanks for the tax dollars... know that I used $200,000 of it within minutes. War IS expensive. We got to shoot it with one of our most powerful propellants as well so it gave the FOB a nice shake. This is why I love artillery. We make the ground shake. I have now shot everything I wanted to shoot in combat. Time to come home right?? Hahaha not quite. BUT only 4 more months to go. Hard to believe its been 3 months since I left Hawaii.

Hawaii. Oh how I miss that place. Just last night I looked up photos of it on Google images just to remind myself that I actually live there. Back when Julia and I were just little love birds in high school, we talked about running away to Hawaii together frequently. True story. I even gave her a sugar packet one time because it was made in Hawaii and told her one day we would live there together. She has the proof to this day. I LOVE IT. We will actually be living in Hawaii together. Dreams do come true. However silly they may seem. Just a fair warning... we also talk a lot about living in Nicaragua one day so watch out!

Alright peoples... I need to get going. I have an early morning ahead of me. I've got new pictures up on Facebook so be sure to check them out. Love you all, and you too Maj. Graham ;)

The other night... forgot to post

July 12-


This evening I snuck out of the COC early so I could get some studying done. And by early I mean 2000. 0600-2000 I think is sufficient for a day. I've spent the last two hours studying the word. And wow, it is nice. I have decided to go through the books of 1 and 2 Peter as a bible study on Wednesdays. Also, on Sunday I will do a more traditional type of service. Music and a topical discussion as opposed to going through verse by verse.


After tomorrow I need to start preparing sermons. I have some that I enjoy… One on leadership from samuel, one on John 9, one on the transfiguration Mark 9, another on the parable of the Sower. Thats only 4 weeks. I have 19 more to go!


This is going to be a challenge for me so I know it will be a learning experience for me. I am praying hard that I teach truth and truth alone. That I don't try too hard to water down any message and simply bring TRUTH. I also want God to show me the best way to teach these men, the best way to communicate to them. I am not worried about results. I am simply concerned with teaching truth and giving Him glory. I pray God gives me the opportunity to be His vessel in leading others to him.


Going to be a fun last 4 months!!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

July is among us!

I have never been more excited about the first of the months coming! Just means one month closer to Julia, Hawaii, Tallahassee and my wedding! Its a better feeling than the feeling you get in high school when the year is almost over.

The weather here is quite warm. Funny thing about it though is that I usually work out around 14 or 1500 which is the hottest part. Maybe because it makes me feel like I am working out harder because I sweat more. Pathetic, I know. I don't know if you all remember my pact to not drink soda while I am here BUT that has gone out the window. Its really hard to turn down the only cold drink offered to me once or twice a week. Our cooks keep them in the big refrigerators we have.

It stinks to be here when new things are happening back home. For example, Julia is 22, Caleb is walking, Riley is writing and the family vacation is in about a week!! I guess I get to experience my own new things. Maybe one of the best things about being out here is not having to listen to the news every day. I know what is going on first hand. I don't have to rely on a source begging for viewers. It's nice.

If you saw my Facebook status, you heard about my 4th of July. It was a great day. In the morning, we located an abandoned compound housing explosives so we blew that up. I went with our grunt attachment to run a range for the Afghan Uniformed Police (AUP) where I shot an AK. We also BZO'ed the SASR (.50 cal sniper rifle) and right before I got to shoot, it malfunctioned. Oh well, maybe next time. I learned some Pashtun so i could talk to the AUP some. Singaye, Judaye, Apayaye is like, hey, how are you, hows your family, hows life in our translation. But instead of answering it with "good" or whatnot, they just say it back. It goes back and forth until they get tired of it I guess. Also, Manana is thank you. I forget what Your Welcome is. I also tried to learn how to count to 10. I had them racing me. They would say it in English and I would say it in Pashtun. yao, duu, dre, ahh I can't remember. Anyway, after that, I came back to the FOB only to have a glorious meal in front of me. Steak, hot dogs, goat, mac n cheese and cake!

Well, looks like they might be needing me in the COC, so much for going to sleep! Love you guys, and thanks so much for the mail Julia, Mom, Chasons, Knipples, Enfingers, Andy, Mama Grandma and Papa, Mopsey, Aunt Sandra, Dick and others that I may have not received yet! I am certainly loved. And overly spoiled!