Prayer for my son in Iraq

Hi, everyone:
I promised myself I wouldn't worry myself sick over my oldest son, who is stationed in Baghdad, but I find this is more difficult than I'd imagined. Each time I hear there is another casualty, the emotions are overwhelming. Donnie has been in the Army for almost 14 years and has been stationed throughout the world, including Bosnia (twice) and Korea, but Iraq is absolutely the worst. He is with the 18th Airborne and is expected to be in Iraq through the remainder of this year (if they don't extend his tour). So I'd appreciate any and all prayers sent his way...
God bless,
Trish

Trish,
Donnie in my prayers along with you and your family. I'll add him to my daily.Prayers go out to all our soldiers in Iraq.
God Bless
Andria

Trish: I'll be praying for you and yours.I know it's difficult. My cousin left for his second mission to Baghdad a few days ago.

Trish,
I definately have put you on my prayer list. I have a neice and her fiance in Iraq and worry about them all the time.

May God bless and protect all our troops across the world.

Angel

Oh Trish...you certainly have all of our prayers. I will add you and your sweet son to mine, and I know all the boomers will too, even if they don't post it here. Its what they do. You can be guaranteed you are surrounded with our love, and especially Donnie!

JJ

He is in our prayers.. My nephew was over there for a year and a half and is home now.. Thank God..
God Bless our Soldiers...

I'm happy to add Donnie to my list of soldiers. I'll also pray for you and the rest of your family.

Two of the soldiers I've been praying for are home safely.

Hello, Trish. I know how you are feeling. My brother was there from the very beginning when the shock and awe was going on, the aircrafts falling or being shot down. God, I prayed so many long and hard hours. Everytime I heard of a casualty, I thought of him.

He is a captain and have been in the service for over 20yrs. Then, there's my uncle that's stationed in Germany. His company was the ones that had to do the dirtiest work going underground and secret missions that left his entire family wondering. It's been a year and we have not heard from him yet. That the usual in his particular case.

My brother was there for a year and a half and is back home now. He is stationed in El Paso where they were held captive, some died and Shoshuna and Jessica and a few others survived but are still healing. THe beautiful part is that they are able to heal.

With all of these praying women here, including myself, your dear son will be back home with you too.

Try to look at different programs and make sure that you do relaxing things. I know it's hard to do that but do it anyway.

Stay in His Arms,

Sugaree

Hi, everyone:
Thank you so much for all the outpouring of support. You gals are terrific!
Sugaree, thanks for all the info on your loved ones. I will definitely keep your family in my prayers, esp the uncle whom you have not heard from.
JJ, gal, you know I love ya. You certainly get around, don't you? You pop up everywhere. Can't wait to meet you at Book 'Em.
Let's hope this ends soon and the Iraqis are able to defend and police their own country, so our loved ones can all come home safe and sound.
Have a wonderful evening, everyone, and God bless,
Trish

I have a friend, Sergeant in the Army, just came back from 8 months in Iraq. It's educational for me to get the view directly from someone who served, as opposed to various political slants from the news media. He's supposed to send me some links to soldiers' blogs but hasn't emailed them yet.

I pray for the safe return of all our troops.

Trish I've had your son on my personal prayer list as long as I've known he was there....he'll stay there until he's home safe and sound. I know everyone will be glad to have all our soldiers back on our home soil. Here's hoping that is soon and that the Iraqis can handle keeping their country heading down a course to a better future.

Meredith, is he willing to talk about it? So many aren't.

I'm getting an education listening to my dear friend whose son was killed in Iraq. Apparently there were other close calls prior to being killed by an insurgent. Listening to her has brought the war in my front door.

May God continue to bless all those who are serving.

Trish - of course - I've added him to my prayer list. I'm reading a book right now by Lt. Carey Cash, Chaplain, titled "A Table in the Presence" which is his first-hand account of moving into Baghdad and the soldiers and so on. It is one of the best books I've read - I was not aware of how much spiritual support is available for our soldiers right there in the midst of everything - God is there. I pray you can also take comfort in knowing that, that along with the prayers from here, he is coverered in prayer right where he stands.

Di

My friend is a poet (that's how I know him) and all his recent poems have been about the war.

And he is ANGRY.

Angry about how the liberals in this country depict the troops as bloodless killers.

Angry about how the conservatives in this country give more lip service than actual support to the troops, by sending them into dangerous situations without adequate weapons. As he put it, "The 40 million dollars that Bush supporters gave for the inauguration? I look at that as 4,000 desperately needed units of body armor, which we did not have."

Angry at all the civilians who, upon hearing he just got back from active service in Iraq, cluelessly say "I know what you went through."

And so on.

Thanks everyone, for the emails, the prayers, and the support. I heard from Donnie (finally!). He is living in a trailer in Baghdad, and he has running water and heat. That is more than a lot of them have there. I was relieved to hear that he isn't living in a tent, or sleeping on the sidewalks, like many of them are. I have a feeling, though, that he isn't telling me the whole story; not surprising since he knows his mom is going to worry herself sick!
I'm heartened to know that there is a lot of spiritual support for the troops. Any time you have to see what they see, and endure what they endure, you need good, solid support, and an unshakable faith in God and what is right. I know Donnie will come out of this emotionally okay... Just keep him in your prayers, please.

PM_ Donnie is in my heart throught this terrible time. As you are.

I can't wait for all of our boys and girls to come home.

Until then, you are in my prayers. Can't imagine the fear you must squash everyday. May God give you strength and insight during this time.

Lynn

Still praying.

There's a special on Tuesday night that shares an inside picture of our soldiers lives in Iraq. I hope I can remember to watch it.

Meredith, I'll be praying for your friend.

Living through war is one thing...surviving after war is another.

Trish, My heart is open to you and your brave son Donnie. I have added him to my nightly prayers and asked my Churchs prayer group to include him in the daily circle. I was away from my church for awhile but have returned. A few bad apples will not spoil the fruit for me, long story not important here. God bless your son and you.

Many, many thanks to all of you who are praying for Donnie and for our other service men and women. I read an interesting letter to "Dear Abby" this weekend about military spouses also. It is very difficult for the families, too; the mothers who must now assume both the role of mother and father for an entire year or more while their spouse is halfway around the world; the fathers who must do so much mothering while their wives are in harm's way... It takes a very special, unselfish person to join the military and fight for our country. I hope you all will continue to pray not just for my son but for all those in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, working and fighting to preserve America's dream. God bless you all,

pmterrell, have you read Bee Pedersen's book, Women Write The War?

Your post reminded me of her book. It's a collection of stories written by women. Reading her book finally gave me a better understanding of what it's like to have a loved one serve our country. There are so many poeple in need of prayer due to this war. When praying we need to remember the loved ones at home too.

Hi, Dotsie,

No, I haven't read it. Thanks for the info; it sounds like a book I need to read. My husband was in every conflict from Viet Name to Desert Storm; now my son has been in every conflict since then. I didn't worry about my son when he was in Bosnia or Korea, but this war in Iraq is so different. We're moving to NC, which will put us closer to my daughter-in-law and grandchildren at Fort Bragg. I hope to help reduce the stress they must feel since Donnie is gone for this entire year...

That's funny; my spell-check changed "Nam" to "Name"... I need to watch that.

Welcome to NC! I wondered when your posts said Lumberton, but your site said VA. Now I know.

Hi, Unique,
Yes, I have one foot in VA and another in NC. My husband moved to Lumberton last July. I have been trying to sell our house in Chesterfield, VA so I can join him. It has been a real roller coaster. I'd rather take a beating than sell a house...

Hi pmterrell: I'm including your son in my prayers as well as all our troops. They need our prayers every day.

Blessings!