Needin' some prayers

          I am asking that all my prayer warrior friends start praying. My dad is leading a medical mission team in Nicaragua. They have been hitting roadblock after roadblock. First of all, some of the members of the team missed their flight due to an earlier flight being late. Secondly, the Nicaraguan government was not satisfied with some of the paperwork that my dad had sent down beforehand. It had to be redone and sent back (thanks to my Momma and another elder in our church). After that, the government is wanting to inspect all of the vitamins and want to know specific ingredients in some of the lice shampoos and other medications that they are taking. Some of the crates did not arrive. Now, the crates have arrived, but the airlines is refusing to release them to the delegate in Managua until MORE paperwork is completed. Even after, or if, the crates are released, the government is going to inspect the contents before the team is able to get the crates. The work permit to set up the clinic in Waspam was denied, then the truck carrying their supplies was stopped at a roadblock (literally, this time) outside of the city and was not able to deliever the supplies to the team. So, right now, there is not much that they are able to do. This is my dad's 9th time to plan and coordinate this trip, and he has NEVER had this much resistance.
        For those of you who do not know, Nicaragua elected Daniel Ortega as their president a few years ago. Daniel Ortega was the leader of the Communist Party in Nicaragua back in the 80's. He managed to win re-election based on the premise that he was reformed and wanting to actually serve the people of Nicaragua. This is when the mission group started having increasingly more trouble when dealing with the government.
       We should all be extremely thankful that we live in the United States of America.

The Start of our Journey....

So, after much prayer and consideration, Chris has decided to join the army. He swore in and signed his contract this past Friday (June 25th, 2010). I fully support his decision and am looking forward to the adventure that is ahead of our family. I know that this is a hard decision to understand. I consider us very blessed that we have had such an outpouring of support from the majority of people. I am proud of Chris and the decision that he has made. So many people have adopted the "let someone else go and do it" attitude, and I am proud that Chris has stepped up to the plate.
He has chosen to be a combat engineer. Basically, he will be blowing stuff up, clearing routes, etc. This has been the hardest part of the entire process to swallow for me. I am extremely worried about him and what he will be doing on a day-to-day basis, but I am also excited that he might have the opportunity to do a job that he loves. He is set to leave for basic training on November 10th. He has informed his recruiter that he wishes to leave earlier, if possible. After his 10 week basic, he will have 6 weeks of AIT (advanced individual training). All of this will take place at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missiouri. After all of his training is complete, the kids and I will join him at our first duty station. We should find out about halfway through AIT where that will be.
We are asking that everyone pray for us and our family as we start our adventure. And, due to the lack of some people to tactfully express their opinions, we are asking that anyone that disagrees kindly refrain from discussing this issue behind our backs. I am not trying to be mean or rude, but we are in agreement that this will benefit our family and it is a "done deal" for us.
I am planning on keeping up this blog for several different reasons. First of all, we will be leaving this area in a few months, and I want everyone to be able to remain involved in our lives. This blog may very well be a very important part of our ability to remain tapped into our hometown and those that are important to us. Secondly, I want anyone that is interested in joining the military (especially those with a family), to read this and hopefully gain a better perspective on what entails joining the military. Everything on this site will be from my perspective as a wife and mother of two small children (for those who do not know, Hattie just turned 3 and Samuel is 7 months old). God bless...