I'm alive and heading to camp...

Thought it might be about time that I step back into the world and let everyone know that I am actually alive. Not that most of you thought otherwise anyway, but now you can confirm it in your mind.

Things have definitely been interesting since returning from my deployment to Kosovo. I needed a few months to decompress and process all that went on. I think I'm about back to old self as I'm going to get while having been changed in some ways that will last forever.

There were good and bad moments like in most stages of our lives. I'm just doing my best to put the bad behind me and focus on the good. That's a lot easier to do with someone like Renae by your side who helps you to stay focused on what is important in life. Jesus Christ for one example.

My supervisor's training for my summer job at Camp Wanake is just about over. I'm pretty much here 24/7 now until around Mid-August. Still thinking of all of you as I have not forgot a single one of you even if I haven't kept in touch. Praying for you and May God's blessings rain down upon your life today and forever more.

Here is the camp's website just in case you'd like to check out where I'm working for the summer as I continue to recover and seek the Lord.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Whelp, I truly have not been trying to hide this fact. The subject has just not come up with most of you. I'm sure you would like to know though so I guess I'll tell...

There actually is someone out there that is willing to put up with me. So far at least. We will see how things continue, but right now she is willing to be called my girlfriend. Some of you may know her, some of you may not. But I've known her since I started going to Malone college in the fall of 2000. She is an absolutely amazing girl. I used to have a line and I still use it now and then, that "it will take an amazing woman of God to put up with me." She is an amazing woman of God so we will just have to see how things continue to develop in our new relationship together in Christ.

What's great about this relationship that is being formed, is that it all started in the right places. We met as friends in Christ and continued to become friends through the Malone Commuter Bible Study that a lot of us hung out and did many activities together. We joke now about all the friends from that group that have or are getting married. What was in the donuts and juice/milk we were drinking with that group? But it started there and has continued in a friendship. She graduated with a degree in Youth Ministry and a minor in Outdoor Ministry (I think it was a minor! Forgive me if I've got that wrong.) That's right down my alley if I ever finish out my 10-year plan for college. Our interests are highly compatible in the outdoor adventuring. In fact, I've got more to learn from her then I'll be able to share.

Her heart is in the right place. It's sold out for Christ and living for Him. If it wasn't for that, then there would be no way she could have the grace and love for me that she bears. No human could love me on their own, it takes an act of God. :)

Today, I'm thankful for her. I praise God for the way things have developed. I ask that He continues to lead both of our lives and that our focus always remains on Him. In Him we will know if there is something more to become of it. In Him we will abide and never be without His love. The only true love we ever need.

Happy Valentine's Day Renae Graham!

Here is a picture of her for those of you that don't know her:

Finally my thoughts and answer...

Sorry that it has taken me a little longer then I planned to share my thoughts and answer.

Please make sure you have read this posting, How do you answer this? along with all the comments before reading my response below.

Brian, I love you brother! You had the exact response of my own feelings hitting it all right on the nail! Here's the first part of what Brian said:

My response is this: those kids need their mom and dad. Period. This isn't anything against you, David, because I know you'll be the best dad ever when you (and a wife, whoever God has in store for you) have kids. When I was in Russia, I experienced something strange: the Russian women (college students) in our program wanted desperately to "snag" one of the American guys so we would take them home with us to America. That was just out of the question.

Like Brian said, Jeneta needs her mom and dad. That is not something I can ever replace. Yes I can give her fatherly love that she would experience in the love of God I have for her. But how would you deal with an 8 year old girl who cries because she is missing her mom and dad? Keep in mind she is an Albanian girl. That doesn't mean I can't love her, but she doesn't speak English yet! No matter how much she learns, there will always be some experiences she is having that she will never be able to fully explain and that I would never be able to fully understand. Some things that only Albanians would know due to their culture and language fluency. Jeneta needs the love of her mother and father just as we all need the love of our Heavenly Father.

Most of you will probably agree with the above comments. Let's move into another area that you may not all agree with that I feel very strongly about. Brian also brought it up and I'm going to take a little bit further spin into the area as well...

The second part of what Brian said:

The real question is this: what is the "good life"? What makes a life better? Is it the material things that we have here? Is it the opportunities we have? Sure, those things are good, but it's the love of Jesus makes my life good, no matter what I have or don't have. That is what I would want Jeneta to have.

What is best for Jeneta? I don't think that living in America just to have the good life of more material things is what is best for anyone. Yes life may be easier or you may be better off. Not as much of a struggle with poverty, hunger, cold, clothes. Jeneta has had on the same outfit for warmth on all of the 4 nights we have been there. But what do these material things do to the soul? I've seen many children in poverty that are much better off as people due to their situations. They appreciate the simpler and smaller things of life much more. Just having a ball that they made themselves is a wonder to them. They take care of it. Yes they still desire more material things. But due to the lack of them, they spend much more time with family and friends. Relationships are much stronger and more meaningful. And they treat guests with the most hospitality I have ever seen. More then most Americans due. A little funny isn't it? One American family has more then most poverish small villages due, but it's those families in that small village that will serve you their only goat that they used for milk to feed you and treat you right as their guest. Actually, it's not funny at all. It's downright sickening. I've learned more about hospitality from the children and families that live in poverty in other countries then I have from Americans. Yet these same people that I've learned it from, grow up thinking that America is a great place. They believe that there are much greater opportunities for them there. I'm not saying they are wrong. In fact many of them venture there and achieve a better standard of living and I don't mean by material things. I mean by health care, education, needs of food, water, and clothing/shelter. And most of them send money back to their families to help them achieve these basic things. For the first generation or two, these families that make it to America still have their family values and hospitality. Shortly though, America works on them and they become tainted by our greed and lack of quality relationships in life. America has become more tuned into technology then it has into the people that make the technology work. It's a sad state that we are in.

That's just the material side of things and how I see it relating to our attitudes and attributes in life. And like Brian said, with the love of God, it doesn't matter where we are. Abiding in Him brings all the joy that one needs.

So what is best for Jeneta? I will not deny that she would have a much better education, her basic needs have a better opportunity of being cared for here, and her chances for making it in life would be higher. But is it really the best thing for her family, values, and soul? That I do not believe America is the place to be to develop those attributes. And to me, those are the most important of them all.

Your homework assignment...

Your homework assignment, if you agree to take part in this joint story:

Make sure you read the posting, How do you answer this? and look at all the comments too. If you haven't left your thoughts yet please do so as we all can learn from each other. In a few more days I'll finally post how I feel about it and "my answer" if I was to give one.

Jeneta's Birthday

We were not able to make it out to Veseli's house until later then we wanted. Turns out Jeneta was pretty upset and they thought we were not going to make it at all. She wouldn't let the cake be cut because her American friends were not there yet. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story for the evening...

How do you answer this?

My Captain that I work for almost broke my heart tonight. Or maybe it was the children that were breaking my heart. You decide. How would you have answered? Keep in mind what is really best for the children, not just the emotions of your heart. Search your heart for what is best in God's eyes. I'll leave it open-ended for you to decide, but here is the story...

Tonight we went back to a friends house that we visited last week for the celebration of his new baby girl. Veseli is a bodyguard for one of the TMK Generals that we work with. The TMK is currently a civil disaster reaction force in Kosovo that my section is partially responsible for their supervision and training. Veseli is a great friendly guy and treated us to more hospitality then we deserved when we were there to celebrate a good thing for him! He has many children, 6 or 7 if I understand correctly. Last week we played with a few of them throughout the evening. Tonight, there were more then last week! Haha. Funny how the word spreads about soldiers and how much the kids want to be around them. The children range from the new two week old, a one and a half year old boy, a one and a half year old girl, a two year old boy, a 5 year old boy, a 6 year old girl, and then Jeneta who will be 8 years old tomorrow. Jeneta was one that we heavily played/talked with last week and I was interacting with her again.

Veseli was telling us how Jeneta has always told him that she wants to go and live in America for the "good life." Interesting how many people still believe in the dream of America and just want to get there for a better life. My captain was telling Veseli and Jeneta that next year for her birthday they should come visit him on his farm and he would have us soldiers (myself and our other sergeant) come there as well. Of course she is interested in it and my captain gave her one of his business cards to include his home email address and phone number on it. She treasured that. A little while later Jeneta is curled up under my arm and trying to learn to read the business card that my captain had given her. She is asking what everything says on it and I'm teaching her to say all of the words. Veseli and my captian were talking about how Veseli would really like for all of his kids to go to America and be raised there and taught in school there. The captain was explaining how it might be possible but they would definitely need to learn their English first so they would not be too much of a delay in getting them transitioned into school in America as well. They were talking for quite a bit and I hadn't realized how serious they were and all they must have been saying until my captain told me to come over there a minute because he seriously needed to talk to me about this. (I was only a seat away to begin with.) Jeneta slid down from the chair we are sitting on and I went and sat next to my captain. Jeneta knew what he was talking to me about because she came over and rested her elbows on my leg and propped her head up there and listened to everything the captain was saying to me. It would have been tough enough without her there, let alone her right there in front of me cuddled up. I'm being asked if I would be willing to move to Illinois and raise Veseli's children. Not all at once but a few at a time is how they would bring them over and I could take care of them. The captain was seriously proposing to me that he would purchase a trailer to put on his farm for me to live in with the kids. All I would have to worry about was some job that I could pay the utilities for the trailer and he would take care of the rest. My job would be to raise the kids and help integrate them into America. He even told me if I have a significant other that she could come along and together we could raise the kids. He asked what I thought about that? He told me that this isn't just a question to answer tonight, but something for me to think about as this would change the course of my life.

Here is Jeneta:



How would you answer that?

[Don't misunderstand me. I'm leaving this open ended not because I don't know my answer, but because this story doesn't need my answer. It's more something for you to question yourself. Please feel free to leave your thoughts in a comment. I'd love to hear your opinion of this matter and have it shared with others.]

[BTW, we are returning tomorrow to Veseli's house. You see from when we had been there last week and interacted with Jeneta, she asked her father Veseli if he would call the Americans and ask us to come to their house for her birthday. So tomorrow we head back again, as undeserving guests for a very special little girl's birthday.]

Kissed by a Girl

Ok. Ok. Before you get too excited or jump all over me please let me do a lot of explaining!

Most of you know that I've been saying for a long time that I want to wait and kiss my wife for the first time on wedding day. It's one of the extremes I talk about to help myself not fall into temptation early.

And...

Hopefully you are also wondering what the heck is up with my blog! It's gone and then it's back and I claim it will be to the glory of God and about His Love and then I post about being kissed by a girl?

Well, give me time, and you will see how this is exactly the love of God at work.

Let me start near the beginning...

Last Monday I went along with Captain Hodge and Sergeant Ferdinand to visit with an Imam, a Muslim leader. He lives in a town called Gornje Karacevo which is about the farthest away from Camp Bondsteel that you can get and still be in our sector. This town is right along the Adminstrative Boundary Line (ABL) with Serbia. In fact the main road to get there crosses over into Serbia and back into Kosovo due to the use of bad maps when they established the ABL. KFOR, the multi-national military forces here, actually had to build a gravel road bypass so that our military vehicles do not cross over into Serbia to get to the towns of Karacevo.

This Imam is a very young influential man in a town of about 1300 people. Boy is this Imam a talker. We spent three hours there and America has a lot to learn about hospitality. I hope to bring some of theier culture of hospitality back with me. As we were getting ready to leave his home, we stepped outside and begin to put our boots back on. There were 3 young children hanging around outside and of course I begin to interact with them. At first I was just doing my normal routine where I greet them in their own laungage and shake their hand. They think it's funny enough just hearing us speak to them in Albanian. Then I moved on pointing at things on their shirt and getting them to look down just to slide your finger up and bop them in the nose. Kids are pretty smart everywhere. They usually don't fall for it more then once per visit. There was one little boy about 2 years old and two girls about 2 and 3 years old. The boy was very outgoing and saluted and so I taught him how to properly salute and got him looking like a good soldier. Then something else came to mind that I hadn't done yet with the children in Kosovo before. Bear with me as I try to explain something techinal to do with your arms. Remember when you extend your arms with both palms facing outwards, clasped your hands together, then twisted your arms up and pulled your hands close into your chest? Unless you place your hands right to begin with you can't twist your arms inwards. Well, I did it real quick and off course the kids tried it and couldn't get it at first. Then I attempted to show them and help them get it right. The boy caught on quickly and smiled real big with a huge grin from ear to ear. Another older girl that was there had to help out one of the girls so she could figure it out. Then they both were smiling and we had to go, so I said my goodbyes. :(

But the story continues...

Today we went back to visit the Imam again. We had along some engineers and some TMK members to evaluate a project in the town that the Imam was wanting us to do. The Imam treated us to a very traditional meal and we spent a few hours talking with him, the municipality president, and other locals at the Imam's house. At one point early in the evening the same little girl that needed help to learn how to twist her arms tried to come into the room from outside but was shooshed away. Finally towards the end of the evening the little girl came from behind a curtain that lead to the rest of the house and saw me and waved. Of course I waved back and thankfully the TMK member next to me motioned and told her to come over. They greeted her and shook her hand and then she came down the line of us soldiers and shook and greeted each of us. The TMK member next to me then picked her up and sat her down next to him and wrapped his arm around her. After a little bit she looked over at me, put her two hands together, plams facing out, and twisted her arms up into her chest and smiled. I had to laugh. I pointed at her shirt and she looked down and fell for the classic old trick. So she did it back to me and of course I fell for it as well. You would think that I would know my own tricks! :) Then I pointed at the TMK member next to her and got him on the trick too. She looked up at me, pointed to the ceiling and I wondered what this trick would be but decided to play along and looked straight up at the ceiling. Next thing I know she wraps her arms around my neck pulls herself up into a hug and kiss me smack on the neck! I've just been kissed by a girl.

Everyone sitting around us laughed. I had to laugh and smile too as she definitely pulled one over on me. I praise God for this instance tonight. You see, what do you think really happened through all of the interaction between this girl and I? I know one thing for sure. I was kissed not just by a little girl tonight, I was kissed by God.

If it was my own love pouring out onto others as I play with the children through language barriers, it would get no where. My love would fail. But since it is God's love that is in me that I choose to pour out onto others through interacting with them, then His love is returned. This little girl may not have heard about the love of the God that I believe in, but I know that she has experienced it. For that I praise God. I thank Him for a little girl tonight that took His love and continued to pass it right on to someone else. I pray that some day she will understand the true meaning of God's Love in her life.

Here she is along with two of the gentlemen that treated us with much hospitality.



May you be kissed by God in your own life.