Another e-mail from that guy in that place where everyone is shooting everyone else. NO, not Detroit. Iraq.
So I have been here for about a month and a half now. Things are going...hey they are going, isn't that good enough. Seriously, I am doing fine. I am really feeling as though I am earning my pay these days. I am working hard, taking very little time to do anything that is not work related. I do manage to set aside time for working out and reading. Well I normally would say something funny right about now, but I think you all are starting to expect that kind of thing from me, so I shall refrain. I don't want to establish any sort of discernable pattern. If you people are reading my e-mail, just so you can have a laugh, well then you can say goodnight to that, sister. I don't like all the pressure I am under to be entertainment for all you good-for-nothings. Think of something funny on your own, stop leaving all the funny up to me. Watch TV, there is funny stuff on TV. At least there was the last time I wat ched TV, which was in January. I just think it is awful they way you all expect things from me. Funny e-mails, HAH, I say. I will say it again, HAH. Now it is me laughing at all of you. It is hard enough just trying to send an e-mail that is grammatically correct, let alone funny. It is not easy having an English teacher as a mother. It takes me six hours to write one e-mail. First, I have to brainstorm, and then comes the rough draft, several edited and revised copies follow that step, until I finally hit the send button. What is the result of all my hard work? B+. All that work for a B+. It's is almost not worth the hassle. My mom is killing my G.P.A. I am never going to get into Stanford with a B+.
Anyway, I just wanted to say hi, to all of you, and let you know that I think of you often (especially that G.P.A. killing' Mom of mine). I am really doing well. I enjoy the work that I am doing over here. There is nothing like this place that I have ever experienced. It really drives home the point about how truly blessed every one of us is. Know it or not, everyone one on this list has been greatly blessed. There is so much to do in a place like this; it will take a long time to teach the Iraqis what democracy and freedom really mean. It will be a painstaking, difficult road, but it is one that must be traveled. I pray that all of you remember it took us (America ) a Civil War and a Civil Rights Struggle before us as a nation really began to see what it was all about. As I look down the road to the next 10-12 months the word "endurance" comes to mind. I will leave you all with this.
One of the great examples of endurance both physical and spiritual.
Gen 32:24
This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until dawn.
Gen 32:25
When the man saw that he couldn't win the match, he struck Jacob's hip and knocked it out of joint at the socket.
Gen 32:26
Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is dawn." But Jacob panted, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
I was really into grappling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu back on Ft. Benning, three minutes of fighting can feel like an eternity. Jacob wrestled from sun down to sun up, and had to be asked to let go. How worn out he must have been, how many times did he want to quit, how sore must his hands have been after holding on for 8-12 hours. He wouldn't let go. He kept fighting. Life is not easy, no matter where you are. Me over here, and all of you over there, we all deal with the same stuff. I am seeing the value of seeing through what you start. I am learning what it means to cling to and trust God, and in return he is giving me the strength I need so I can hold on even tighter and endure all that goes on over here (both internal and external).
Now you see why I only e-mail you like once a month. It will take you all a month just to read this stupid letter.
I love you all, and God bless.
Rob
