A Daughter's Perspective.....

By Shelby- On October 4, 2008 my mom and dad told me and Avery the news of the deployment. In that moment many different emotions went through my mind. The first emotion was complete and total shock. I always knew the possibility of him becoming active duty but never thought that it would happen to my dad. The first weekend we knew, everything felt like a blur. I didn't know what to think or what to feel for those first few days. As we adjusted to the reality that our daddy was going to war the only thing I could to was pray and ask God to help us through it. As people found out the news, the encouragement they had for me and my family was AMAZING! I couldn't have asked for better friends and people in my life to help us through the situation. I want to say thank you to all the people who have been praying for me and my family and will be praying for my family in the months to come.

In the weeks leading up to dads departure day we all kept busy with school, work, and the holidays. We had an amazing Christmas and enjoyed spending time together as a family. As new years passed by the reality sunk in that we only had a week left with my dad. All I wanted was for dad to hurry up and leave so we could anticipate his return rather than his departure. As Sunday, January 11 rolled around, I couldn't believe dad was leaving today. We went to church that morning and Pastor Kelvin prayed for us, along with our homegroup. As we were leaving church a man stopped my parents and asked if he could speak to me. He said he had a word for me. The man told me that he sensed a spirit of fear all over me and he said that fear is not of the Lord. He gave me a passage from 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. The moment he told me I began to be at total peace with God. The most amazing thing was that I struggle SO much with having a spirit of fear and that man rebuked it in the name of Jesus Christ. We dropped dad off and said goodbye but in my soul it not goodbye forever it's goodbye for a little amount of time.

It's now been two weeks since daddy left and i have been doing great. Our lives have adjusted back into a normal routine with school, church, and friends and it's been going very well. Everyday I have talked to dad on the phone and it has made the separation so much easier. I miss my daddy very much but I know what he is doing is helping our great nation and the nation of Iraq. I thank my heavenly Father everyday for blessing me with the most amazing earthly father I could have ever wished for. Every kid has a hero and my daddy is one of mine!