Sunday, July 16, 2006

H-3 (Not sure, I think it stands for holiday, meaning 3rd Sunday)

There is nothing on his training schedule for today. I read in the "Keeping Faith" book, (Frank Schaeffer) that they will drill some but will have a longer relax time today. I am selfish and hope he writes a long letter home. I desperately need to know how the Gas Chamber went. The letters we received on Friday were very soul shattering.

I was successful in making a few family members feel guilty so they would write Tim this weekend. I truly believe if they ever found themselves in a similar situation, Tim would be the first to act on their behalf. Yes, I understand that Tim chose this. That doesn't make it any easier. It is a very intense, stressful and demanding camp. You should support each other during these times. That is what family is all about. I cannot understand how people can have no sympathy for someone who is training to defend the very freedom most people never utilize to the max. Take voting for instance, not even 50% of Americans vote regularly. Hello, crawl out from under your Survivor and American Idol "rock". This world is becoming more and more dangerous. Do you think it is less dangerous now than in the 1950's. Did you know we went from an average of 200,000 yearly recruits to the Marines in the 1940's to around 20,000 a year NOW?

Listening to the TV scares me witless. There is impending dangers in Korea, Iran, Lebanon and Israel, not to mention the battle going on in Iraq. Americans are not there to run roughshod over the Iraqi people, but to help rebuild their country into a country that is self-sufficient with a ruler that is not a murdering dictator. Every human should have the freedom Americans have and that most take for granted. It is NOT a "Bush" thing. It is a freedom thing. A freedom where girls have the same rights to education that boys do. DON'T start. I am NOT a feminist. But, I do know no one should be denied an education, clean water and freedom from tyranny.

We are headed for church. I will probably write more this afternoon.

2:27 pm. I cannot express how much I get support in this trial from fellow church people. Total strangers are praying for Tim on a regular basis. People everywhere come up and ask about him. Some people even have his name written in their Bibles. It is both reassuring and humbling to realize how a single person can affect the lives of so many others. Tim is doing something so noble, so selfless and so vitally important that it just amazes me that my son, my son is one special person. Out of the billions of people in the USA, my son is one of only 20,000 people to step up this year. WOW! Isn't that awesome?

Just keep praying, praying, praying.