Navy Chaplain John G. Anderson has opened a coffee house at Camp Habbaniyah, Iraq.

People, this is my kind of ministry.

Update:
Another Chaplain Coffee House:
Chaplain brings gourmet coffee to Camp Schwab, Okinawa

Jeremiah and Sarah are watching Sesame Street’s Talk, Listen, Connect video for military kids with a deployed parent. Elmo’s daddy has to go away for a long time. But he gets to talk to Elmo via Webcam.

Jeremiah had no idea there was such an a thing as webcams. The tech guru that he is, somehow he never knew you could actually talk to see each other via the Internet. He thought it was just a pretend thing on Sesame Street. When I convinced him that such technology actually exists… and that we plan on using it… his eyes lit up. He jumped and spun and danced. Suddenly, life seemed so much better for my little man.

So. A little help here. What gear do I need to buy for Joel’s notebook and our PC? We don’t have a lot of money, but I want something good. Two webcams, skype phones… or a phone and a headset… Anybody have any advice? We’ve never used Skype before.

We’re in Ada this morning. I’m meeting with someone who will help me create and run a Family Readiness Group [FRG]for Joel’s soon deploying unit. I’ll also get to meet all of the soldiers that Joel will be serving with.

We’ll drive back to Springfield on Saturday. Joel gets to stay the whole weekend. Monday is his birthday. I’m not quite sure when I’ll actually do the homework due on Tuesday…

Mark and Brad have both recently written great posts concerning asking God for guidance. I thought I better share them with you.

Mark: What to do?
Chaplain Brad: Metric Tools and the Self Centered Life

I was going to save this video for November. But it seems to go with my recent post.

You can download this song for free at Roxie Dean’s MySpace profile.

I miss my husband. Every goodbye seems harder. November, his mobilization, grows painfully close. Soon he will live half a world away. Families shouldn’t live apart. This is not how it is supposed to be.

And yet, this is how it has always been. Throughout time, soldiers have hugged their children goodbye and marched off to war. We live in a broken world. A broken world where angry, hateful, greedy men send others to fight for land and power. A broken world where brave, selfless souls stand up and serve. They put their lives in danger not in spite of their families, but because of them. Defending freedom, home, and the very future of their loved ones.

Knowing that it has always been this way doesn’t ease the pain. It only compounds it. Now my heart doesn’t just ache because I will miss my husband, but it aches for all of the other loved ones who do. For all of the other family members throughout time who have pushed back tears and said goodbye.

Even for the Spartan wives who watched Leonidas and The Three Hundred march toward Thermopylae. “Come back with your shield — or on it.” They’d say. Showing how strong they were. Demanding heroism from their men. But, of course, they must have cried. They had to miss their husbands and sons. They must have hoped for a safe return.

But they lived in a broken world. A world where Persian kings sent countless men to fight and die trying to take Greece. A world where fearless hoplite soldiers sacrificed their lives to buy time. To buy freedom for their families… for the future.

That battle changed the world. Did that make it hurt any less. Did that comfort the ones left behind?

Will the battle that we fight today change anything? Will it be worth it? Does that make it hurt any less, does it comfort the ones left behind?

[Forgive me, I've waited for years to fit Ancient Greek military history into a post... Surely you want to hear about their ships of war... Right?]