cherry cokes & car bombs
December 30th, 2006 @ 3:18 pm
whenever i would hear reports of car bombings or iraqi violence, it always blended into to background - somewhere in between the weather report and traffic. i have friends with family over there, and my dad is a vet, but somehow it has just become something that never really stood out to me when i watched the news.
until i found out my friend nathan was in baghdad.
i’ve known nathan about half my life. he was always our waiter at IHOP on family-night fridays when my parents would take my brother and me out to eat. i really didn’t mind, and found him pretty cute. plus he would make me the best cherry cokes ever. i started my freshman year in high school and realized nathan also went to my school. we started hanging out, and after i moved to dallas my junior year, i’d go back to abilene and we’d always spend time together. about the same time i graduated, he moved to seattle, but we still kept in touch, writing letters (this was before email was as convenient as it is now)…i still have some of his letters…filled with awesome prayers and songs he’d write.
as life would have it, nathan moved to dallas and we ended up working at the same company four years later. we reconnected and hung out, but as our dot-com imploded, we lost touch again, and i moved to kansas.
occasionally i’d google his name to see whatever happened to my friend. i tried to find him to let him know i was getting married. no luck.
until just a few months ago when he found my blog online and left a comment.
i emailed him - so happy that a life-long friend was back in the picture. he had gotten married too, and although he’s not in the military, he works for the government in baghdad.
now each and every time “those” kind of reports come on the news, my pulse quickens a little bit and i get anxious wondering if my friend for the last 14 years is alright. i pray for his wife, who has got to be missing him something awful.
i just found out he gets to come back to the states for a few days in january, after two years of being gone. if you think about it, please pray for his safety there with the recent events and execution. that he’d have a safe trip home, and quality time with his wife.
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Crystal Renaud said,
December 30, 2006 at 3:21 pm
i recently felt a great sense of peace after i found out that all of my friends were home from iraq - for the time being that is.
i will be praying for nathan. he’s a hero.
bryonm said,
December 30, 2006 at 5:55 pm
great post. i’ll be praying…
Skyler Goodman said,
December 30, 2006 at 8:13 pm
Thanks for this post…It is a great reminder to be praying for all the people who find themselves in difficult situations. I will be praying for Nathan!
WES said,
December 30, 2006 at 9:41 pm
I have friend who is a missionary in Iraq… he sent this email to me today and I am including an edited (for his security) portion of it for you all…
I know that most people would agree that in military terms there is no such thing as ‘friendly fire’. But here in [my Iraqui city] this morning, as people woke up and heard the news about the execution of Saddam, there was lots of ‘friendly fire’. No we did not go out on the roof and watch, like many people did, we stayed under the porch area and took video from a safe place. I mostly captured sound and the view of the mountains. I do not know what this means for the future of Iraq. Pray that people will come to know the Prince of Peace.
Today is the beginning of celebration for the Hajj feast, but many are rejoicing more over the death of Saddam. Today and the next 2 days, many people will buy a sheep, point its head toward Mecca, and cut the sheep’s throat, and give some of the meat to poor and neighbors. They will do this in hopes that there sins will be taken away.
You see, it was not Saddam who was the real oppressor. The real oppressor is the one who blinds their eyes and minds to the truth. They know that when one person is murdered, they do not go and avenge by killing a sheep or cow, they go after another person to avenge the blood of another person.
Pray that today, people will see that the animals they kill will not avenge their sins, only the Lamb of God did this when He died and arose again.
Pray for us as we go to people’s houses to wish them a happy holiday. This is very important in this culture to go and visit. Pray that we will have the vocabulary and wisdom to share with our friends as we ask them questions.
Please pray for the other “SOLDIERS” who are fighting a war against the forces of hell…
Jordan said,
December 30, 2006 at 11:35 pm
How cool. You’re getting a friend back in two ways… back into your life, and back from a very dangerous place. I have a friend who died in Iraq… and one that’s come back safe. I’m so glad that the one is in Heaven now, and the other is back in big D with his wife.
Crystal Renaud said,
January 1, 2007 at 4:12 am
WES - amen. thanks for sharing.
Tony said,
January 3, 2007 at 2:20 pm
We had some good friends over for Christmas… one is a captain USMC.
We got to talking about the war, etc… one of his responsibilities is to notify family members when someone over there from his company is killed.
He’s had to go to a house, knock on the door, and tell someone that their husband is not coming back.
That’s about as real as it gets…
Great topic - thanks for posting, Anne.
Tony said,
January 3, 2007 at 2:20 pm
Captain in the USMC, I should’ve said.