No More Hong Kong

A small comment in a meeting on Wednesday led to a curious phone call that ended up giving much more information than we were seeking. The key director of recruitment and enrollment at SCAD Hong Kong put in her immediate resignation on Wednesday due to some family matters. She had only been working with SCAD for a few months, but she had to give 4 months notice at her previous job, so the plans for what she was going to do had been in motion for a long time. I met her when she visited Savannah during training, and she is incredibly sharp. However, she was also the key to the momentum that inspired my trip. Without the leadership in place, sending me over doesn't make much sense anymore, so at four o'clock today I got the call that the trip is off. I--or someone else--may go later in the year, but not soon. Crazy, no?

So now what? I had every hour between now and Monday carefully planned to allow time to get through my mountain of tasks and preparations. Now I don't really know what to do with myself!

As my good friend Christy Miller taught me (Katie and Melissa will understand): God is weird and we are tweaked. I feel like this whole experience has been a really sweet gesture from God. I really needed something to propel me and keep my mind off of these long months away from David, which has been accomplished. I needed to know that I was capable of doing all the things that come along with international travel alone--packing, planning, booking a trip, calling credit card companies, etc. I've now seen that I can manage it. On the other hand, over the last week or two it's become increasingly apparent how unorganized this trip was going to be. The travel arrangements were in place, but my day-to-day experience of being in Hong Kong was still, and would remain, a mystery until I was living it. Needless to say, I was struggling with not being able to control the entire situation. Now it seems so clear that this was God's plan all along. The trip has served its purpose for me, and it didn't matter that so many details were scattered. I'm certainly disappointed that I don't get to go. I love to travel, and it's been a long time since I've made a big trip, so I was thrilled to have this opportunity. But to be honest, my relief outweighs my disappointment.

It's been a particularly difficult few days. Whenever someone is killed near David, the Internet goes offline there to keep the information from leaking, so I am painfully aware when the fighting is bad. The last few days have been like that, and I expect that to be much more common now that it's spring--the peak fighting season. David and I have been blessed to have a fairly cushy deployment experience, as far as these things go, but it has been infinitely more difficult than I could have imagined. I think we will look back on it as a deeply rewarding experience, but the continued prayers and support will be greatly appreciated!

I just wanted to share the news that my trip is cancelled, and give a little update. It's been too long since there have been posts to this blog! I got a special request from David for more pictures of the kiddos. He misses everyone, and he has said many times how much he wishes he could have been around last weekend to extend his congratulations to everyone and meet those boys (and play with Vale).

Another Update from Afghanistan

Update from David:

It is starting to get colder and feel more like northern Afghanistan should, I guess. I'm still doing very well. We have received many care packages from people we don't know. In them there were many letters that people across the country wrote to deployed soldiers. I found one from a 3rd grade class at Mountain View Elementary School in Marietta and have started correspondence with those kids. I have a pen pal (I guess multiple pen pals)! It's pretty neat to see people close to home reaching out to those of us over here. I also have been receiving care packages and letters of my own, which I am very thankful for. I want to say a special thanks to the Bishops for their kind letter and my parent's Sunday school class for a care package. Thank you all for the continued thoughts and prayers for Claire and myself. It's hard to believe that I've already been gone for almost a month. Time seems to be going by pretty fast here so far. I hope everyone is doing well back at home and has a wonderful Christmas season! Merry Christmas.

And here are some pictures he sent for the blog:

These are the planes they fly (when weather permits). It sounds like they're going to be able to fly today. I imagine that the wings end just outside of the frame of the picture, but it's a lot more fun to imagine that they go on a lot farther.

Arrived in Afghanistan

Hello Everyone! I don't have any cool pictures to post yet (I need to eventually since the mountains here are beautiful and covered in snow - it's just real foggy and they're hard to see at times), but I wanted to let everyone know that I got over here safely. After many long hours of travelling, I eventually made it into Afghanistan and to my unit. It has been snowing and freezing cold out since pretty much my arrival to camp marmal. I think I'm finally getting accustomed to this time zone, which is 9 1/2 hours ahead of Eastern time. They have us living in tents, so I've got a bunk bed and about 10 square feet to myself cordoned off by a couple of hanging blankets. The food has been much better than I expected, and the German food in particular has been pretty good - a nice break from the run of the mill American food. They do serve a variety of different dishes, which is nice, and I was even able to celebrate Thanksgiving with all the trimmings.

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving back in the states. I wish I could have been there with everyone. Also, thank you for all of the prayers for Claire and myself. They are greatly appreciated.