I Never Like Leaving Home

Part of military life (especially since 2001) is leaving the ones that you love, but no matter how many times you do it, for training or deployment, it sucks!
I am currently at Camp Dwyer in southern Afghanistan and I will be here for the foreseeable future (OPSEC and all).  This deployment could not be any more different than my previous deployment.  In 2010 I spent time on USS Winston S. Churchill and USS Oscar Austin (part of the USS Harry S Truman Strike Group).  We sailed from Norfolk Va, to Portsmouth England, to off the horn of Africa, to Bahrain in the Persian Gulf, to Canes France on the way home, and then finally back into Norfolk.  All in all I was gone 7 months spending 19 days on land. 
This time I Flew from March Airbase (in SoCal) to Alaska to Afghanistan.  I took 3 1/2 weeks to get to our deployment position on my Navy deployment, this time it took 1 1/2 days.  There has been a little over a year between my deployments and things couldn't be more different.  I wear a different uniform now, which has caused alot of people to ask my wife "Is your husband in the Marines now?" (the answer is no as I am a US Navy chaplain serving with Marines).  I have been exposed to the idea of working out mid day in boots and uts (meaning in your uniform minus the blouse and cover.  I never did this once in my 2 years with the surface Navy).  Everyone here has their weapons (or multiple weapons) on them at all times.  They have them at chow, they have them in counseling sessions, they have them in church services, and out here there are rounds in those weapons.  It's hard to get used to the idea that that 18 year old, and that 18 year old, and that 18 year old all have 30 rounds in their M16.  Finally, here I leave my room in the morning and walk about a 1/4 of a mile to my office.  When it is time to each I leave my office and walk about 1/4 mile to the chow hall.  When I was on the ship I had to run on the aft missile deck for exercise with 57 laps equalling 1 mile.  It's a whole different world out here, but some things are still the same.
I still miss my little girl!  It's painful to hear about Bella having new experiences and using new words, while missing all of it.  It's hard to have the thoughts "when I get back I'm gonna do this, or this, or that"  only to remember "oh yeah that's a long way away." 
But as I type this I remember the words that I read earlier today in Philippians 4 to "rejoice in the Lord always and again I will say rejoice."  How I have been blessed by God to have the opportunity to minister to the young men and women of our military.  To show them the love of Christ and to be used by God to develop in them a love for Him and His glorious Word. 
My wife and I talk alot about the cost of being a Chaplain and we always come to the same conclusion; it's painful, and sometimes it sucks, but it's worth it.  What a great thing to be called to.
Thanks baby for being my wife and showing me what it means to have a heart that is dedicated to God and seeks to rejoice in Him.

Josh

Words.

Pestle.

What does that word mean?

Why do I love it so much now?

It's the word Bella just said.

Back-up a second.  Bella rarely uses words (spontaneously that is).  If I physically pull her towards me, put my face in front of her and proclaim loudly, "Bella, say... " she will typically say some version of the word I just uttered.  Typically, when repeating a word, it sounds like she's yelling at you:)  If you've ever heard her say "goodbye" it's quite funny how loud and forceful her "bu-bye's" are... I love them though.

When Bella wants something she will usually try to get it herself...get frustrated....and come to me and pull me to the item. Once she pulls me to the general "area" where the item is...she walks away (as though I can read her mind).  This month, she started pulling me to the item and then, when prompted, would say the word.  This week, she has said 3-4 spontaneous, meaningful words.  By spontaneous and meaningful, I mean she actually said a word without me forcing her to do so.... and it meant something... not just a random word.  Oh the sweet utterings of my child.  I have longed for them since I first laid eyes on her.  I have dreamed of the day that she would pull me in for a longing hug and explain, in detail, all the reasons she loves me.  Today though, the word Pestle...meant more to me than any of that.

She came up to me, locked her sweet blue eyes with mine and said it.  Pestle.  I looked at her and wanted desperately to be able to understand what she was saying.... she means something...  come on Annie, think hard.  If she says a meaningful word, I am to reward her immediately.  I franticly racked my brains, then looked at her and said, "what do you want?".... she said it again... and maintained eye contact the whole time.  I finally figured it out....

She wanted her favorite Pretzels.

My heart exploded with love for her sweet face and mouth... her sweet word.  Pestle.  I ran to get it from the cupboard and brought them to her with such excitement.  She was proud of herself and so was I!  Please remember to love every word that your child utters friends... they are miracles.

Bella & Cousin Hannah

Showing Support to the Troops: Care Packages

First: If you are interested in sending a care package to Josh or CLB5 (his unit), here are some helpful hints.  I will include their address below.  The unit LOVES getting letters from home.  Thank you letters can come from perfect strangers.  They also love hygiene products (body wash), candy, snacks...anything from the states! Please consider sending a package to this unit, what better way to support their efforts as they continue to fight for your freedom!

LT Earls, Joshua R
CLB-5, H&S 
Unit 42230
FPO  AP  96427-2230

Sending a care package from home is a way to show service men/women how much you love and miss them.  Last deployment, I sent numerous packages to Josh's ships and a couple of them never arrived.  In fact, it was so bad that some of the guys on his ship felt bad for him and mailed him a package from within the ship:(  That broke my heart. Well, this time around I'm hoping he stays put in Afghanistan!  Hopefully this first package arrives on time!

So, what do you send someone stationed overseas?  Hmmm....well, this is what I just sent Josh:

First, let me show you something sweet:

CLB-5 "Build-a-Bear" Day

Ok people, how awesome is this!  The family readiness coordinator Christine, set up a day for the families of the unit to build a bear that has a voice chip from the service man/woman in it.  They also had their own navy/marine uniforms to select from.  We chose to build a "monkey" because we decided daddy is a hairy monkey... sorry Josh :) This is Bella after the final product was complete...cute monkey huh?

Hygiene Products

Josh commented to me that besides notes and candy, one the most popular care package item has been hygiene products (body wash, shampoo, lotion, deodorant, ect).! Maybe it's because marines deal with sand storms like this one below?

This is a picture Josh took in Afghanistan recently.  No, that is not a mountain in the distance, that's sand....yikes.

Home-made Cookies / Favorite Candies

 What care package would be complete without home-made cookies and your loved one's favorite candies!? I put all of the cookies in plastic bags then placed them in a tightly shut tupperware with padding.  Will they arrive unharmed?  Probably not:(  A girl can try though!

Stuff That Makes You Think of Home

This one is an inside joke between Josh and I... we clearly love Churros.  When we go to theme parks, we get them as often as possible.... So, when I saw this, I just had to:)

Notes / Pictures

Nothing is better than a hand written letter from someone you love (or even from a stranger).  Email is nice, but knowing that someone sat down, touched the pen and paper....well, it makes it more special I think:)   Oh and pictures that are printed out are nice because they can be taped up for the service man/woman to see!

Anything From Your Kid (or someone else's)

 There's something special about getting hand-made art work/letters from sweet little ones.  Knowing they delighted in the process of making it and that they miss their daddy or uncle or loved one more than they could imagine :)

MISSING DADDY- We love Skype!

Until the package arrives, we'll have to tell daddy how much we love him like this.  Thank God for Skype:) Bella usually won't sit still to talk to her daddy, but on this occasion she had lots to say:)

MISS YOU CHAPS!