Journey's End

Well, the deployment to Iraq has come to an end.  I successfully redeployed through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Deployment Center in Winchester, Va., yesterday and caught a 5 p.m. flight home.  I am back in St. Louis now.

Tom works a compressed work schedule, 10 hour days, Monday - Thursday so he is off today. We plan to go do some shopping later this morning.  The weather here is beautiful but I did have to close one of the windows in the bedroom last night because I got a bit chilled.  I had started to adjust a bit to temperatures in the 90s and low 100s.  

I will be taking two weeks off before returning to work at the St. Louis District, June 22. Maxwell, my stepson, is graduating from high school the 16th of June and Tom, my father-in-law Jack and I are traveling out to Pennsylvania for his graduation.  Not sure if Maxwell has decided what he'll do post-high school.  He seems to be considering a lot of different options.

I halfway unpacked last night when we got home but will do more later today.  It is strange to be surrounded by so much space and stuff after 7 months in my little room.  I had a really strange moment in the hotel room in Winchester when I went to sleep.  The room was fairly large and when I turned off the lights to go to bed it was pitch black I had just a slight feeling of anxiety of being in a strange place.  Imagine that!  After a deployment to Iraq, I get a little uneasy in a dark hotel room in Virginia.  

I know that life is going on in Iraq right now with all my friends and battle buddies.  I will truly miss all of them and the great mission I got to be a part of.  I will continue to pray for their safety and well being.  I know that from here in the U.S. Iraq seems like a really scary place and there are definitely still some very bad things that happen there but for me it was a truly wonderful experience and I did feel safe the entire time I was there.  It is by far the most rewarding work experience I've had so far in my Army Public Affairs career.

I'm fairly certain I shared this scripture back in December when the Lord first gave this promise to me.  I used to read and pray it before traveling outside of the "green" zone.  It is from Psalm 141: 8-10.  It states, "But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign Lord; in you I take refuge - do not give me over to death.  Keep me from the snares they have laid for me, from the traps set by evildoers.  Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by in safety."

I will continue to pray that promise over all our personnel (military and civilian) serving overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan.  I am so grateful I had a chance to serve alongside them for a second tour to Iraq.  I don't know what the Lord has in store for Tom and I next but I hope and pray that this is just the beginning of many journeys.  I was talking to my mom, Emilee, the other day and she was ecstatic that I was coming home.  I told her I'd give her a six month rest before going on my next adventure (smile).  Honestly I don't know what is next.  We'll just have to wait and see.  

So to close things out here is a picture of me at the Dulles International Airport yesterday after getting my baggage checked and just prior to going through security.  I am grateful for the Lord's covering that protected me while in Iraq.  Thank you for being a part of this journey, and thank you for the prayers and support these last 7 months.