A sad day for me....

My husband is with the ga national guard out of macon. he is there this weekend doing his once a month drill. He called me at lunch time to inform me that he has come down with orders to Iraq, suppose to leave in June. He will have to go for training himself in Ft. Stewart then out in california before he actually leaves for the mideast. This unit is suppose to be non-deployable b/c they are a bunch of instructors. Well, they are needing some instructors for the new Iraqi Army. SInce my husband has extensive training in this area, he was one of the 1st chosen. He said that they could be gone for up to 2 years. I am so scared. I do not know what to do. I knew going into this marriage (married 5/04) that he was a military man and I have stood by all his decisions. I support him and all of our troops. i jsut dont want to be without my husband. Now going through everything else, I am not even sure if he will be here when I have the surgery. I am just in the beginning stages of all of this. Maybe I should just wait and hold off for now. I do not need to be thinking about myself during this time. I am so scared and worried, I do not know what to do. Thanks for letting me have a place to express myelf. Kim

Hi Kim! It sounds like you have a lot to think about. I wish I had some good advice or words of wisdom---but I don't. I can tell you I will pray for you and your family. If you have a lot of other family support and have the surgery while he's gone, he'll come home to a new woman--maybe you can think of it that way. I don't know what I'd do in your shoes--but whatever decision you make, I'm sure will work out for you. I'm hoping an angel will come sit with you today! Happy Camper

Kim, At one time in my life I had almost every male member of my immediate family in the military. My father was Navy, two brother in laws were in the Marines, another brother in law in the Air Force, and I married my husband who was in the Army.( He was out by the time I met him) I grew up with my father gone for extended periods of time, and watching my sisters go through so much when their husbands were gone. This will not be easy for you, and I feel that in order for you to make it through this tough time, you need to have some sort of support system around you. Most of all, I think that your husband would want you to continue your life, and go through with what you feel that you need to do. You are not being selfish by wanting to go ahead with your surgery, if anything you are honoring your husband by wanting make a serious change in your life that will make you a more healthier person. I know that you feel your world has been turned upside down right now, and in a way it has. When my father would go on deployment, my mother always put on the bravest face that she could, because she felt that the last thing that he needed to do, was to worry about her. You and your husband will be in my prayers... Cathy Martin

Dear Kim, (((((HUGS))))) My prayer for you and your hubby is Isaiah 43:2-3. "I pray that when you pass through the waters, He will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For He is the Lord our God!" I will pray for physical protection for your hubby, and heart protection for both of you. What does you DH want you to do about the surgery? Follow your heart! Love, Becky

He wants me to still go ahead with the surgery. He knows how important it is to me and for our entire family. he will have to go and do 3 months of training at Ft. Stewart, then 2 months out in California. That will put him right at leaving for Iraqi. Thank you so much for the prayers. Kim

Kim, I wish I knew what to say to make it all better and to keep him here, but I am at a loss for words. Just know that you are in my thoughts and prayers. If you need anything at all, you have all of us to stand beside you and with you. Hugs, Debra =^..^=

Kim, I'm not sending my husband, but I am sending my only son to Iraq this Wednesday, 1/12/05, for a year. He is going to Camp Lejune for 2-3 weeks of training to be a Pathologist (his mos is Ammo Tech, but he's in one of 3 mortuary units. Marines do all the mortuary for all the branches of the military) Anyway, he's had to put his last 6 classes at Seminary on hold now (he is nearly finished with double Masters degrees). If the Marines had their own chaplains, he'd be a in as a full time chaplain in a second. (He's even considered joining the Navy to become a Marine chaplain!!) I agree that if you feel this surgery is the right thing for you, then go ahead and do it. Do you have someone who can stay with you the first couple of weeks? I live just north of Atlanta, and I'd love to be a help to you if I can. Email me anytime. There's a cool website to put your military family members on to get them prayed for by people all over the nation. I have my son, my nephew (who just moved to Quantico, he's been assigned to President Bush's helicopter crew as a mechanic!!!), and my other nephew who is going into boot camp next month all on there. It's cool to see how many people have signed up to pray for them. There is an area to leave updates about them on the site also. It's at: www.presidentialprayerteam.org/ . Best wishes on everything. karen morris

Kimberly, i would be pertrified but i know that god is strong and has the power to bring you through this we all will pray you will be strong and everything will go ok. god blesss you and your family. i will keep you in my prayers. joyce