Camping, Seattle, & Other Stuff...

Dear Friends,

My days have been random...to say the least. I've gone camping, hung out in West Seattle, and a myriad of other activities. However, I barely remember any of them...the pace of life has not really slowed down much. The Washington Fall is pretty much here too...bringing foggy mornings, chilly nights, and the occasional beautiful day. It is a pretty crazy difference from the 130 degree heat I experienced only 3 weeks ago...a welcome difference for sure.

I've been able to make it out to Mars Hill Church a few times with Kate recently which is a treat. Pastor Mark Driscoll is a man with very little mercy for young men...and I appreciate his ruthless challenges to our temptation towards cowardice, laziness, and other sins. The Navs ministry is also pretty much outgrowing our space at Tuesday night Bible Studies. We're thinking about splitting into two separate studies soon, but we'll see when we actually make the jump. It is cool to see how different things actually are here now...it's a lot of new faces mixed among the old, familiar ones. Anyway, work also continues to be pretty slow. It is giving guys a ton of time to spend with their families...which is a welcome change after 12 months apart.

Okay...so I'll write again soon! Bye!

Welcomed Home...

Dear Friends,

It is good to be back...although a part of me feels as though much of my brain was left in Kuwait. I was welcomed home last Saturday by Kate and a bunch of my friends here in WA. Life right now is very "free" and easy-going, but I'm just trying to ease back into life here in the states...realizing that a year away can require a small transition period. Luckily the Army has a great system in place designed to give us exactly that...a down period after deployment designed to maximize time with family. This last week has been a lot of briefings, attempts to get settled, and plenty of time with good friends. Kate was able to go to her friend Ali's wedding in Maryland this week, and I was lucky enough to be able to go to Cushman Lake for some amazing Labor Day Weekend camping. The best part was probably jumping off a huge rock into the lake ...enjoying the cool water and the amazing scenery. It was really surreal...it was exactly what I needed...time spent out in God's creation with some brothers.

I apologize if I haven't been able to call some of you back. I've received a ton of phone calls this past week (warranted considering how long I was gone and awesome to feel loved too), but I haven't had a lot of down time yet. My hope is that these next two weeks will be a lot easier since I'm over the initial hump of getting back in the swing of things. I'll try to return all your calls soon...I look forward to catching up. Bye!