2 of 4

So keep an eye out for news of the mighty F-15E Strike Eagle [fighter jet].

My sincerest thanks to each of you for such potent support, love, and encouragement in these days.

Good morning from the far country. In an attempt to be a responsible steward of your prayers and encouragement, I know I should have kept you all updated more frequently on the pace and contours of my deployed life. I know it sounds shopworn and trite, but would you believe it if I told you I've been busy? I saw that Fox News just reported that Coalition aircraft have flown 1,900 sorties (i.e., missions) in the past 24 hours, and that pace has been fairly consistent over the past week or so. In fact, I think my body would contend that I flew roughly 40% of those 1,900 sorties. In the past two weeks since Operation Iraqi Freedom began in earnest, I've amassed roughly 60 combat hours over Iraq, and at one point I think I had more combat hours than sleep.

Before going any further, I must thank you for the "shock and awe" prayer and encouragement campaign that you all have invoked [on my behalf]. The fruit of your prayers has been real, and I'll try to flesh out the particulars a little throughout this e-mail.

The pace of life here has been dizzying but not distressing. With 24-hour operations being flown, there is no set schedule, pattern, or rhythm to the passage of time. In fact, previously meaningful benchmarks like calling a certain 24-hour period of time "Tuesday," or seven collective days "this week," or even a temporary period of darkness "the night," are devoid of value here. I honestly have no idea what day of the week it is, nor do I have any recollection of what I did "two days ago," because there are no such things as days.

You sleep in your tent for a couple hours at a time, wake up, shuffle blind across the 300 yards of gravel and sand to the bathroom trailer, take a razor to your face, throw contacts in your uncooperative eyes, throw on the flight suit, and head to work. It could be 0500, it could be 1400, it could be 2200, it may be dark and cool, it might be "Damascus Road" bright and 110 degrees. You may have just eaten because the chow hall was open, or you may have only had a Twizzler or two in the past 12 hours. You plan, you fly (usually five- to six-hour missions), you land, try to eat, then you go back and sleep for a couple hours.

next page... |  2 of 4

	What did you think of this story?
	Please to give us your feedback.

Home  |  People of Faith  |  Stories of Hope  |  Today's Culture
Build Your Faith  |  Laughing Matters  |  Archives  |  Contact Us

				Try 3 Issues of Christianity Today Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address Subscribe to Christianity Today and get 3 free trial issues. No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. If you decide you want to keep Christianity Today coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive nine more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The three trial issues are yours to keep, regardless. Give Christianity Today as a gift Order a gift subscription!