Deployment

Deploy (as per dictionary.com): 1. Military . to spread out (troops) so as to form an extended front or line. 2. to arrange in a position of readiness, or to move strategically or appropriately: to deploy a battery of new missiles.

I realize this many times each week while I work here that I have it pretty good, all things considered.  When I say "all things considered," this is what I have in mind, what I am thankful for considering those I take care of and work with:

- This is my first deployment, and probably my only deployment while on active duty in the United States Navy.  There are Army folks here who have been deployed 3-4 times...and they've only been in the Army for 4-6 years and are sometimes less than 25 years old.
- I am deployed to Kuwait, appropriately called "Camp Cupcake" in comparison to the hospitals and destinations closer to the front lines.  I am safe and the threats here are almost all "potential" and not actual, ear-deafening, duck-and-cover threats.
- While leaving a husband and puppy behind (of which I am always sad about), I am not leaving children behind and, as yet, have an extremely intact family back home which I don't have to worry about...except for those carrying pregnancies and giving birth while I'm out here!
- While cafeteria food isn't for the gourmet chef's palate, it beats MRE's by far.

What I am trying to say, essentially, is that I am thankful and in awe.  While it is always difficult to be away from my husband, away from home, and somewhat alone here in the dessert, I am surrounded by folks who have much more strife, many more worries, and much less time back home.  Please pray for our soldiers, sailors, and marines as they deploy around the world.  Pray for their well-being, for their health, for their wives, husbands, and children (and parents too, of course).  They sacrifice all of that, whether with courage and patriotism or not, for the defense of our country and the Constitution.  And sometimes they grow weary of it, just like everyone else experiences "burnout" in their regular jobs.  Pray for strength for them (and us) to carry out their missions well, and to look to the Lord for perseverance.