Our First Update.

Most of you know that Jay was scheduled to deploy for Iraq in January 19, 2009
He was just told Wednesday that his “new” deployment date will be February 13, 2009.
He will come home sometime in 2010 anywhere from next Feb. - April. Jay will be going to Fort Lewis, Washington for training and then straight to Iraq. Yesterday it was officially announced, and made it another step closer to our reality.
The news reported the following: 1,037 soldiers are members of the 34th Red Bull Infantry Division and are based in Rosemount, Inver Grove Heights, Faribault and Stillwater. Soldiers will provide the leadership, command, control and in-depth staff analysis for a 16,000-person multinational task force in Iraq. They will be in charge of eight of Iraq's eighteen provinces.

I have been reading and listening to a lot of pre-deployment information one of the things that they recommend is to RALLY your FAMILY and FRIENDS. I’m not the rallying type so here goes!!! The Lord has been faithful in revealing so many things to us these past few months. The good, bad and the ugly.. Yes, the ugly!

- During the last few months; one thing Jay and I have realized is how much we depend upon each other. For the most part it is a good thing. For us it was a wake up call with the fact that we depend on each other more than we do God. Yes, most of us know that God comes before your spouse. This is an area we need to grow in. Jay and I feel that this is the season that we will walk in… putting Christ before each other!

- Asking for help from family and friends is extremely difficult for me. Gut wrenching does not even describe it. To ask someone for help means you have to trust them. Trusting people is one area the Lord is healing me in. I am very independent so I do not have to risk being hurt by trusting others.

- The Lord is healing Jay in so many ways … I am not at liberty to share. I can say that he is excited about getting rid of the old to make room for the new… The man that God created him to be, before Satan stepped in with his lies. So many of you ask me how we are doing. Or ask if there is anything you can do to help just let you know. I do appreciate it very much. However there is one thing that I have learned and that is some people will ask those questions because it is simply a nice gesture. I know cuz I have done it myself! We need you to ask those questions if you really want to hear how we are doing or if you truly want to help us. One of my favorite quotes is “In a world of FAKES dare to be REAL"

Many of you have asked if we are going to have a going away party. We are NOT! First of all I emotionally cannot handle that type of thing and second if there are those of you that want to get together on a more personal level before Jay leaves just give us a call and we can set something up. We are thinking of getting Jay’s siblings and their spouses together. I will be sending something out soon.