R/R 18 JULY 2008- Historic day! I will celebrate

11months away in Iraq- back for 18 days

Amazing day in our lives

Pete and Wendy -

Cynthia's parents and best friends



Joe and Jayne

Matthew's parents and best friends

2 Samuel 6: 21
I will celebrate before the LORD.

Couple serving in Iraq visits family members
http://www.reflector.com/local/content/news/stories/2008/07/21/IraqCouple.html

"The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth,and even for evermore.' (Psalm 121:8)

"Night and day i constantly remember you in my prayers" (2 Tim 1:3)


Your promise preserves my life...Psalm 119: 50


PS57: 10For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, And Your truth unto the clouds.

Psalm 46
1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble


Lamentations 3: 21-23
21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Colossians1: 3
We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

Psalm 55:22 Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be move

"future of hope for others, and delivers victory over our enemies"

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:10-12













Warrior Family Members,

On behalf of the Warrior Combat Team I want to extend a special greeting on our Nation’s birthday. I know that this is a special time for families to gather and enjoy all that the summer season has to offer and a time to reflect on our great Nation. As I look at the Warrior Team, I share a deep pride knowing that the Soldiers and their families are the true patriots that make our nation great. As a Warrior Family, we live by a set values that defines us as an Army and as a nation. It is these values that comforts us during times of loss and give us the strength to pick each other up, so that we may continue our mission here in Iraq, so that others may live in freedom. It is this strength that preserves our way of life, builds a future of hope for others, and delivers victory over our enemies.

Many of you are perhaps wondering when we will return from this deployment. I am happy to report with great confidence that we’ll be home by mid November. I can speak for the entire Warrior team and let you know that we are all looking forward to that special day when we can reunite with our families. That day will be here soon; however, as we come to the final quarter of this deployment, I want to reinforce the importance of remaining focused on our mission. We are about to go through some important transitions as we begin setting the conditions for our transfer of authority ceremony in early November. These changes require us all to be alert with no room for complacency. I am charging all leaders to reinforce the standards that have kept us safe these many months.

We are all looking forward to the day we return to Fort Drum. We understand that our way home is through our mission accomplishment and that we must stay focused until that day comes. Your love and support will help us all get to that special day.

Climb to Glory!
Colonel David Paschal

US Commander in Kirkuk lowers profile, raises popularity

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/100/story/43359.html

Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling, the commander of the 1st Armored Division, in charge of all four northern Iraq provinces, said Paschal's program for training the Iraqi army in medical treatment, logistics, supplies, ammunition and fuel "is the model I'm going to try to use throughout the (northern) sector."

Tons of Supplies, Thousands of Desert Miles

10thBSB-

http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20871&Itemid=110


Soldiers, of Task Force Warrior’s 10th BSB, have been responsible for re-supplying remote Forward Operating Bases, and Patrol Bases in an area approximately the size of Rhode Island in Kirkuk, Iraq, since September.

WE REMEMBER
John 15:13:13"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

Bodies of 2 missing soldiers found in Iraq
http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2008-07-10-missing-soldiers-found_N.htm?csp=34

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/07/ap_2missing_071108/

Downhere - A Better Way
From the album Wide Eyed and Mystified

I'm not alone, I really believe
You never go, You never leave
Here and now, You always stay
“I love you” could not be said a better way

It's everything You've promisedT
here's no greater love than this
From prophets until today
A man laying down His life for His friends
Your sacrifice has spoken, You gave everything
And “I love you” could not be said
A better way

I am forgiven, I clearly see
It's why You came to do all you did for me
Trading earth with heaven, You took my place
“I love you” could not be saidA better way

Because You redeem, I know what's to come
Everything I could lose here, You've already won
So You have my surrender, with passion obey
“I love you” could not be said
A better way

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl13F9mv3Ug&feature=related

Proverbs 1:33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety

http://wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/54474/HOLUTA10TH1

Morning 7/6/08 (CH Spurgeon)

Divine love is rendered conspicuous when it I shines in the midst of judgments. Fair is that lone star which smiles through the rifts of the thunder clouds; bright is the oasis which blooms in the wilderness of sand; so fair and so bright is love in the midst of wrath. When the Israelites provoked the Most High by their continued idolatry, He punished them by withholding both dew and rain, so that their land was visited by a sore famine; but while He did this, He took care that His own chosen ones should be secure. If all other brooks are dry, yet shall there be one reserved for Elijah; and when that fails, God shall still preserve for him a place of sustenance; nay, not only so, the Lord had not simply one "Elijah," but He had a remnant according to the election of grace, who were hidden by fifties in a cave, and though the whole land was subject to famine, yet these fifties in the cave were fed, and fed from Ahab's table too by His faithful, God-fearing steward, Obadiah. Let us from this draw the inference, that come what may, God's people are safe. Let convulsions shake the solid earth, let the skies themselves be rent in twain, yet amid the wreck of worlds the believer shall be as secure as in the calmest hour of rest. If God cannot save His people under heaven, He will save them in heaven. If the world becomes too hot to hold them, then heaven shall be the place of their reception and their safety. Be ye then confident, when ye hear of wars, and rumours of wars. Let no agitation distress you, but be quiet from fear of evil. Whatsoever cometh upon the earth, you, beneath the broad wings of Jehovah, shall be secure. Stay yourself upon His promise; rest in His faithfulness, and bid defiance to the blackest future, for there is nothing in it direful for you. Your sole concern should be to show forth to the world the blessedness of hearkening to the voice of wisdom

"First Brigade- Press on"

1stBCT 10th Mountain Division

- Thank you so much for serving our Nation on this day that we recall our blessing and freedom. Thank you for "standing firm" against all that threaten our freedom and the freedom of the Iraqi people and families. Thank you for being examples in humilty and serving and placing other's interests before your own.



Philippians 2:3-5
3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=57&chapter=2&verse=3&end_verse=5&version=31&context=context


Stonewall Jackson expressed this affection well for his troops of the 1Bct.

“In the Army of the Shenandoah, you were the First Brigade! In the Army of the Potomac you were the First Brigade! In the Second Corps of this Army, you are the First Brigade! You are the First Brigade in the affections of your general, and I hope by your future deeds and bearing you will be handed down the posterity as the First Brigade in this our Second War of Independence. Farewell!” (Thomas Stonewall Jackson)


Jackson was truly a modest man. He would blush like a school-girl at a compliment. He was easily confused in the presence of strangers, especially if they were ladies. It is well known that the noisy demonstrations which the troops always made when they saw him were painfully embarrassing to him. This was usually attributed to his innate modesty; but that was not the sole cause. It had its origin in a higher source. In the last interview I ever had with him, he said: "The manner in which the press, the army, and the people seem to lean upon certain persons is positively frightful. They are forgetting God in the instruments he has chosen. It fills me with alarm." What a lesson is here to flatterers!

"Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, tried to reassure his wife in the same manner, he wrote in 1682, "but all my times are in His hand...& no harm can come to me unless it is wisely & kindly ordered so." (though wounded six times, twice thought fatally, he survived them all and lived out his years to four score and six"

(For Cause and Comrades, page 65)

Gettysburg
Hold at All Costs - Iced Earth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsW3i9rY58k

We'll know what we're made of.
When up against all odds we hold our line
For the cause that we so love
We must hold at all cost
We'll know what we're made of
When our nation needs us
We'll stay the course, for the union we so love
We must hold at all costs!

Wave after wave, they are coming
Their power must be waning!
We're out of ammo, we can't fall back, no !
A desperate measure, a means to end

On their next wave we charge at them
There is no other option
Disconcert them, force submission, on my command, fix bayonets!

We'll know what we're made of
The burden lies with us
When up against al odds we hold our line
We can't fail
For the cause that we so love
We must hold at all costs
We'll know what we're made of
With courage in our hearts
When our nation needs us, We'll stay the course
We won't fail
For the union we so love
We must hold at all cost!!