Heads or Tails

Well the "invitation" for Mike to go to Afghanistan for 15 months came around--again. This time the probability was a little less in his favor considering there were only 2 candidates to choose from. It was between Mike and our friend Ericka--fellow Camp Pendleton Residency graduate. And since no one volunteered (duh), the future was decided by a coin toss... literally! There's no such thing as "winning" or "losing" when it comes to watching your friends go through the fire instead of you. But as a wise king once said:

To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven...
(see Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

After what seemed to Mike the longest airtime a quarter's ever had, Ericka was told that she would be deployed and that Mike would be the alternate. God has been merciful towards us once again. We are, however, coming to realize that if the deployment trend continues as it has been, we as a family need to be prepared for when (not if) Mike does finally get deployed.

It's not easy to be reminded that your husband is "Property of the U.S. Navy", but what a comfort to remember that the real Owner of all created things, all time and space, is the same God that gave Himself to save us from our sins and give us a life that could never compare to anything this world has to offer.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11