The day of his departure was a long day. He was set to leave that night around midnight, so we had the entire day before having to say goodbye. We used the day wisely accomplishing things around the house along with getting in the final dose of quality time together. We acted like the day was a regular, mundane day; but as night approached and the daylight turned dark nether of us said much. We knew what was coming. All too quickly the time came to load the car and we made the drive out to post. I had not cried until this point (I told Stan I would be strong for him) but once we were in the parking lot and the car turned off, I couldn't hold back the tears. He got out of the car, put on this gear, and we said our goodbyes. He told me not to worry, to take of myself, he loved me, and he would call as much as possible. All I could manage to say was I love you, and I handed him a letter I had written. And, that was it. Stan walked away ready to do his job he's been trained to do, and I drove away ready to do my job as his wife.
A couple hours later he called and said the plane was broken, and I had to pick him up. We did round #2 the next night. What an interesting 24 hours we had! It was a roller-coaster of emotions. All of this the past couple days reminded me again that life is tough, and we aren't promised an easy time; but we are promised if we call on the Lord, He will give us strength to endure the tough times. We both know He will be our source of strength.I'll try to keep everyone posted as I hear from him. He probably wont get to Kuwait until early Sunday morning with the 16 hour flight and the 7 hour time difference.
3 comments:
Kathryn - we knew at Oakwood that he was deploying this week. He has been prayed for publicly several times, and the two of you were in my private prayers a number of times during the day yesterday. And will continue to be! I thank Stan for his willingness to serve our country, and you for your strength in God to let him do what he needs to do.
You probably don't remember this from senior English all those years ago :-), but Stan's leaving reminds me of these words from a poem by Richard Lovelace from the Puritan era: “I could not love thee, deare, so much, loved I not honor more.”
God bless you, and know that you are remembered and respected back home.
Kathryn,
I started crying myself reading your post. Please know that Travis and I are praying for you and Stan daily. I draw so much encouragement from the way you are able to use this difficult situation to give Honor to God and trust Him though the hard days. Please keep posting as I LOVE keeping up with you and will be very anxious to know how Stan is doing. Also, I seem to have misplaced your address, would you mind sending it to me through email? lauramrada@yahoo.com
LOVE YOU!
The first couple of months are the hardest. It gets easier. I promise! Looking back on it, Michael's year in Afghanistan flew by... although it felt like it was dragging a lot of the time. Let me know if you need anything!
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