Deeper Devotion...

Good Evening Everyone,

Well we just finished up our soccer teams final game with a 1-0 win. Mike Roscoe scored our teams only goal but it was enough.

Bryan wrote to me to let me know that he made it home safely. He apparently received expeditious consideration because a young man named Cpt. Biden was on his flight. Cpt. Biden is the son of our Vice President and is stationed over here with us. I am really excited for Bryan. He is now with his family and that is a joy that is hard to put into words.Our company is doing well.

We are getting a little giddy as the days tick away. I have to say that we have been blessed as we have had a safe tour.

I was listening to the news the other night and there was a discussion about the growth of the Muslim Faith. An additional discussion was had about the growth of the Mormon Church. I started to think about these facts as it pertained to our Christian Faith. I have been concerned over the years that our churches have been more concerned with growth in numbers and less concerned about individual Spiritual growth.

Now, I understand that no church is apathetic to Spiritual growth, however, the lack of the church's ability to hold its members accountable for their growth in faith makes it difficult to judge Christian devotion.I have always viewed church as a place where the body of Christ meets to not only worship our Lord, but to encourage eachother to Witness. I have lived in many places during my years in the military and have been to churches of all sizes and I have noticed that the larger the church the less connected the parishiner's are to the church. In fact, I believe, there are a certain population who simply like the idea of belonging to a church more as an identity than for Spiritual growth.

I was in a church as a child that had a program that when the church grew larger than 500 members than they started a new congregation. The idea was the after 500 members it becomes difficult to really know those who are coming and going in the church. Now, accountability is an individual responsibility but it is also the role of the church and its leaders to hold its members accountable. I often think that if we practiced our devotion to our jobs the way we practice our devotion to our church, than many of us would lose our jobs. We come in to church late, leave early, miss meeting on Wednesday nights and even look at Sunday School as an optional inconvenience. This type of devotion lends itself to a weakening of the body and makes our church vunerable to other ideas and beliefs.

I understand that this harsh critique, does not apply to everyone. In fact, there are some wonderfully devoted members who spend a great deal of their time and energy to building the Lord's ministry. So, please do not feel offended.

The reason that I bring this topic to the forefront is because, I believe that their are religions and people of other faiths that are extremely devoted to their beliefs and are becoming very successful at spreading their influence. The weaker in faith that we become the stronger other faiths will become.A church is only as strong as its weakest members and we need to make sure that our members are accountable to eachother and to our church. Individuals need to focus on developing a relationship with Christ and focusing on His purpose for us.

The Church needs to be unafraid to hold its members accountable. The church would do well to have a smaller, yet more devoted body, than a larger and a more watered down body. I believe that churches should stop focusing on building bigger buidings, going into huge debt. and giving an appearance of Godliness and devote their energies to building a strong, highly accountable, body. Churches need to hold each member accountable and each member needs to allow the Church to hold them accountable. It is as simple as that.

We are at a time where other religions and other ideological faiths are growing by the thousands. If we fail to hold firm to our faith and our beliefs then at some point we may have the right to worship Christ taken from us. Stand strong and put on the breastplate of righteousness and prepare for battle.

I hope you are all well and thank you so much for everyone who has supported us this year. The turnout and support of our unit through our blogs and through individual and group efforts has meant so much to us. We look forward to coming home and assimilating back into our community.

God Bless,

Jeff

Bryan's Leave...

Well, tomorrow morning at 5:45 a.m. I will be taking Bryan to the airport to head home for his leave. I dread him leaving as I am going to miss him terribly, but I am so excited that he is going home to see his family. So, say a prayer for him that his trip goes well. We have become such a family here that when one is gone we all feel the loss. Yes, we will all work harder and longer hours and get less sleep and endure more stress and carry a heavier load when he is gone... but hey, Bryan don't feel bad for us enjoy your leave. :0)

Our soccer team lost to the Ugandan team 2-1. But we really played well during the second period and Bryan scored our only goal. It is so awesome that we can have countries from all over the world come together and enjoy eachother's company over a game of soccer. I love the military for so many reasons but perhaps the most admirable aspect of the military is the harmony that exist among soldiers. It transcends race, gender, religious, or political differences. We are brothers and sisters and we are family. No where in the world does this sort of bond exist.Today, I had the honor of re-enlisting one of our soldiers.

Spc. Mallory Wilson asked me to adminster the Oath of Enlistment and I was honored to do so. She is one of our finest and most intelligent soldiers. I believe that her future in medicine is limitless. So, congratulations to her for her commitment.

Our vaccination clinic inoculated its 10,000 soldier this week. Out of those 10,000 soldiers over 18,000 vaccinations have been given. Sgt. Edwards who is my NCOIC of the clinic has managed the clinic with just her and Spc. Byland. What an amazing effort those two have put in.

Enemy attacks have been on the decline as the weather has been clear. They prefer to attack in bad weather because they are more difficult to detect in inclimate weather. So, this has been a blessing.

Today, an Iraqi citizen walked in to the clinic and he had his hand wrapped in a dirty rag. I had the medics take him back to a room and when I unwrapped his make-shift bandage he had a degloving injury to his little finger. In other words, the entire skin and underlying structures of the finger was circumferentially torn away and the only thing he had was the bones of the digit. I cleansed it and immediatly pressure dressed it and sent him to the ER. He was taken to surgery and the finger was amputated. I felt badly for the man as he is a man who relies on his hands to make a living and he is now going to be laid up for a while. In Iraq there is no workman's compensation, so this injury will have a huge impact on his ability to make a living.

Two days ago, we received word that one of our soldiers, Spc. Weik's, house burned down. His wife and four children were safe, however, they lost everything. So, we sent him home to deal with relocating his family. Please say a prayer for him and his family.I have been busy writing.

In addition to working on 'Hannah KaReese and the Lost Art in Denmark' (working title), I have been outlining a new peice of fiction titled, 'The Wind Blows Peaceful' I am so excited about this story and am working hard to finish it before we leave Iraq.

My wife purchased me the book, 'The Boy in Striped Pajama's' I believe I mentioned this in an earlier blog. The book is a unique account of two young boys in the mist of the horrors of the Holocaust. I read the book on my way back from leave. Anyway, Drew, Bryan, and myself had our weekly movie night in my room and we watched the movie. It is a touchingly beautiful, and tragically ironic adaptation. If you get some time, please rent this movie.

Well, I have things to do. I want to thank everyone for checking in. Again, please pray for Bryan and for Spc. Weik and his family. I believe that the Lord works through the prayers of the faithful. Your prayers are much appreciated.

God Bless you all,Jeff

Another Day...

Hello Everyone,

Well another day in the sand and everything has been back to the same routine for me. Last night our company's soccer team played a team from Britian. I bet you can guess how that turned out. We lost 3-0. Our next game is against the Ugandans. Mike and Bryan played really well. Mike played soccer for Butler and is really an excellent player.

Bryan will be going home of leave. Steph, you asked what you could do for Bryan when he gets home. Do me a favor and buy a bunch of Crispy Cream doughnuts, A large bag of Dorito chips, some chocolate and perhaps cook him something in real lard. We have spent the last 8 months working out and eating well and when I went home, I slacked off. I restarted my physical training program yesterday and tonight I did my normal work out and became so nauseated that I almost hurled. Bryan looked at me like I was an amatuer. So, try to soften him up when he's home so I can poke his belly and make fun of him when he returns.

The mood around the company has improved. I think people are feeling the end and we are ready to go home. We do have 12 people who have volunteered to stay another year with our replacement company. I referred them all for a mental health evaluation.

I have been working on my next book in the Hannah KaReese series. KaReese, Tara, Zoey, and the twins, along with others will find themselves in Denmark. Of course dangerous adventure is around every corner and events will arise that will push these friends to the brink of tolerance. I am excited and I hope you will enjoy my effort.

Karen gave me the book 'The Boy in the Striped Pajamas' I read it from cover to cover on the plane ride back here. I am not a fast reader, it's just that we were on the plane for 3 months. :0)

I Skyped Karen and Karis last night and Karis told me that she was picked to sing a solo in her school play. She also will have her art work put on the cover of the program. She was excited and I am just a proud and bragging dad. She also told me that a boy likes her and is writing her love notes. He even tried to put his arm around her while they were sitting on the stage and listening to the Director. The boy is also ten. Now, what kind of boy writes love letters to girls? When I was ten, I thought of nothing else but baseball and how to get out of doing my homework. So, as a dad, I am not sure what to do about this. Is there a Dad's of Daughter's Handbook anywhere? I think I need one. Up until now, things were relatively easy and straight forward but now... Anyway any advise would be appreciated. I think Karis maybe the first Protestant Nun. I think I will put her in home school and not allow her to leave the house until she is 25.

In all seriousness, I am so proud of Karis. She is the best daughter a parent could ever hope to raise. She is kind and considerate, honest and principled, hard working and compassionate. I can't help but to brag about her to everyone.

It is funny that all of the providers here are father's of daughters. Bryan has one daughter, Mike Roscoe has three daughters, Mike Jones has a daughter, Travis has a daughter and the new Doc, Drew has a daughter. So we frequently sit around and share stories. It is pretty clear that the older our girls get the less we know.

Anyway, things are going well. I miss everyone at home but am glad to be here with my friends. The comradery in this environment can never be duplicated in any other situation. We would sacrifice everything for our friends. I will miss this the most when our tour is over.

The Iraqi conference went well. The progress for a stable national health care system is slow but moving forward. They still do not have an emergency response system. So, no ambulances, no EMT's or Paramedics, and no means to transport patients to medical facilities. The responsibility of transport falls on the shoulders of the family of the person in need of care. Additionally, the treatment of mental health issues is inadequate. The perception of patients with mental health problems is that they are cursed. Patients with schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, dissociative disorders, etc... are ostracized and consequently these patients either go untreated or are locked away in one of the three mental institutions in Iraq.

Religious beliefs play an important role in medicine. Male patients are seen by male physicians and female patients are seen by female physicians especially when it comes to any exam that requires removal of clothing. When anyone in a family is ill, the father is the one who determines if his family member gets medical care not the mother. Christianity is still not tolerated in this new government. Actually, Christianity was more tolerated under Saddam, but now that power has been re-established with tribal leadership, Christians are not as tolerated, even in medicine.

So, Iraqi's have a long way to go before they will have a stable National Health Care System, but progress is being made.

Well, I just wanted to give a quick update. I hope you are all well and remember to be kind and forgiving to others. The measure that you provide others will also be provided to you. Kindness can lift a broken heart and invigorate a sad Spirit. So, make an effort to be kind even when kindness is not returned.

I love you guys and thank you for a nice leave.

Jeff

New Blog Up and Running...

Good Evening All.

I have started my new blog that I mentioned on my last posting. It is titled: 'In the Best Interest of the United States' The address is: http://usbestinterest.blogspot.com/

I hope you will follow along and join the discussion of upcoming topics.

God Bless you all.

Jeff

Return to the Mesopotamia...

Good Evening,

The internet is slow tonight so I will make it short. I made it back to Balad yesterday. Everything went well and only spent one night in Kuwait which was a relief as anymore than a night there is too long.

We had three new physicians arrive when I was gone which is wonderful for us. We are now provider heavy and we are praying that the Army doesn't figure it out otherwise they will start taking them from us to send them on some ridiculous mission to nowhere.

My time at home was wonderful. It was nice to see my family and to meet with friends. We are still looking at coming home for good in August but that is always a fluid situation as the Army could keep us longer if they have a need. I enjoyed getting out to work and saying hi to my co-workers. It was nice to see Lori and Vanessa. They are our office managers and really they are the one's who make our clinic function smoothly. Lori was worried that I would play a prank on her for April Fools Day, because I pranked her last year. But I told her that war has matured me and I don't do such childish things anymore. I am hoping that by now she has started to smell the lovely aroma of the open and full tuna fish can that I taped to the underside of her desk. :0) Good Times.

It was also nice to see the nurses. They are an awesome team and always help me when I have no clue as to what I am doing. I learned a long time ago to be nice to nurses as they can make things go well or go badly for me depending on their mood of the day. So, I try to keep them in a very good mood.

It was nice to get back with my family here. I couldn't ask for a nicer group of people to work with. They were ecstatic that I returned. In fact, I think the best comment I received when I returned was from Spc. Buchmeier. When I told him I was back, he said, "Oh, Sir, I didn't know you were gone." So they were very excited to see me. ;0)


Tomorrow, Travis and I will be going to an Iraqi conference that is being held here on Balad. I look forward to learning what has been going on in the Iraqi Health Care System.

I did find a little present that Andy left me when he left. A few days before I left for home, I kept finding a few flakes of oatmeal on my floor and on my bed. I would clean it up thinking maybe I spilled them out of the package when I made a bowl of oatmeal in my room. But this morning when I woke up I noticed that I had oatmeal on my socks. I wear socks to sleep. (Not that you need to know that it is just useless information that I throw out there to fill up space on my blog.) Anyway, I picked up my sleeping bag and turned it upside down and about a quart of dried oats poured out all over my bed. I hope that he is proud of himself. This is a man who went to medical school and yet he has stooped to such levels as this. I thankfully, have higher standards of conduct. I just hope he enjoys the super glue that I squirted into his toothpaste. That should keep him quiet for a while.

We had another sand storm yesterday. My room was so full of dust that I used an entire roll of paper towels and a bottle of Windex to clean my room.

Well, I will write more soon. I will need to do an update of all areas of my blog and get my medical minute, quote of the day, and scripture of the day up to date. Also, I am going to start another blog that will be independant of this blog and will deal with more political matters. I am a conservative but because of my military status I have been unable to speak of my views due to military restrictions. But I have given a great deal of thought as to the nature of this blog and will construct it in such a way that doesn't violate military protocols yet allows us to have discussion of current issues of the day. I will link the site with this one when I get it up and running and will continue with it once I return from home. At that time, I will end this blog and transition over to the new blog. So, I hope you will follow along.



I pray that you are all well and I thank you for your prayers and support.

God Bless,

Jeff

Back to the Desert...

Well, my leave is over and I will be flying back to Iraq tomorrow morning, Monday. As you can imagine I stayed pretty busy while here. Karis birthday was on the 6th so we had a swim party then a sleep over at our house with her and her friends. On the 9th we went over to Beef and Boards, which is a dinner theater in Indy, and we saw the play, 'Treasure Island.' It was suprisingly good. Karen and I have been season ticket holders for the Broadway series over the years and I must say that this little production was as well done as anything we've seen at the Assembly Hall.

I was unable to meet with Mary and Leslie as time didn't permit and we didn't have time the night we went to Indy for the play.

I did go out to work and say 'Hi' to everyone and to make sure that I still had a job when I return home.

Today we went to Easter Services at 'The Rock' They had a Passion type presentation and we wanted to see that. It was nice.

I did drink a humungous diet fountain soda. We don't have fountain sodas in Iraq so I really enjoyed that simple pleasure.

Tonight, I said goodbye to Karis. She will be spending the night at a friends house because Karen and I have to leave so early in the morning for the airport. She is doing so well with my deployment. She started getting a little bit of an attitude over the last few months with her mother but I straightened that out and now she is back on track.

Below is a photo of Karis that I took tonight before she went to Natalie's house. I am not sure where she gets her taste in clothing. It is so odd as Karen and I are very conservative people yet our daughter is a free spirited 60's type of child. I think she intentionally wears things to stick out. I thought maybe it was just a thing that she liked to do but all of her friends dress the same way. It baffles the imagination but there you have it. I guess wearing over the waist jeans, with an OP teeshirt, three IZOD's, and an Member's Only jacket probably seems weird to her. But I liked that ratted poofy hair that the girls had in the 80's and I also loved my hair parted down the middle and feathered back. Man, I miss those days. The Clash ROCKS!!! :0)

Anyway, I will write more when I get back to the vast wasteland of nothingness. I hope you are all well.

Yes, that is a striped purple shirt with a plaid skirt and red leggings.
Travis dresses this way when he's not on duty but he's a giant so we don't say anything to him out of sheer fear.

Travis and I cooking at the cookout we had right before I came home on leave. The salmonella poisoning that everyone got from the chicken had nothing to do with my cooking.

These are the tents we sleep in when we are in Kuwait. I took this at Ali Al Salem while going home on leave. It is a lovely place and I still have sand in places on my body that I cannot share with you on this family friendly blog.