Hello all,

I am requesting your prayers for my friend Charlotte and her family and I thank you in advance!

I heard some bad news yesterday and thought the story behind it might be of interest to you.

Charlotte was so excited earlier this week about the approaching days. Her 22 year old son John (who was born and raised in nearby, graduated from the local high school and grew up in the same home that his mom grew up in.) was scheduled to be coming home today from Iraq. He went to Iraq in August, 2005 and it's been a long year for John's family. Charlotte received word that he was in Kuwait earlier this week and would be home soon.

John's parent's, Charlotte and David and his two sisters Annie and Ricci have waited patiently for the year to pass spending many hours praying for his safe return. It's been a tough time to go through, but love and faith got them through the year!

As my son's mom, I feel so blessed to have my son safe in my home, I can't imagine how hard it must be to have your beloved son in a country at war. I count my blessings and pray for John.

In addition to his family here, John met the love of his life, Kaylee while in basic training. While in Iraq, Kaylee gave birth to their very tiny premature baby Lily. Kaylee and Lily are back in Alaska now, but before Lily's birth, Kaylee came to stay with John's family so that they could help her through the tough time and not have to be alone. That's the kind of family John comes from. Kaylee needed family, and John's family opened their arms, hearts and home and welcomed her to their family.

Since moving back to Alaska with baby Lily, Kaylee has been working really hard planning a wedding to celebrate their love, their future and all that they have endured. The wedding was planned for early September... giving time for John to have quiet time to spend time with Lily and Kaylee and to readjust to life after Iraq. Kaylee had booked the room for the wedding and the reception, sent out the invitations etc, etc .... and despite the feelings of exhaustion due to 1) planning the wedding on her own 2) being a first time mom and 3) having her man so far away... she kept pushing on because she could actually see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Yesterday afternoon, Charlotte received the news that John would not be coming home this week (backed up by news reports on CNN). The decision was made to extend the tour of his brigade by 120 days. The plane that they were planning to board in Kuwait that would take them all to Ireland and then to Alaska was cancelled. Instead, 3500 service men and women were told that they were going back to the war for 120 more days. In addition, not only were they returning to Iraq, but they were now going to Baghdad because of all the turmoil, a far more dangerous city than where they had been.

3500 men and women who had done their best to help the situation in Iraq, had served their country well, and were on their way home to the love and support of families like John's family, families who were on top of the world knowing their worries were over.

In the blink of an eye, the knowing turned to fear. These families had worried and prayed for nearly a year and felt so fortunate to be among the lucky parents and family members who could welcome their sons or daughters home and know they were blessed to get to see them again. Now that sense of fortune is back on hold and their prayers continue.

In some circumstances, 120 days is not a long period of time... but for these families who have spent a part of each day in prayer, another 120 days now seems like an eternity.

John's family and the many families all over our country need our support and our prayers.

I went to a seminar with Charlotte last night and she is having a really tough time with the news. She has stayed strong throughout the time he has been away knowing that the light at the end of the tunnel would shine today. She felt like if she (and he) could just make it to this week, all would be okay. How tough it must be to have to re-convince yourself that you can be strong for another 4 months when you didn't know if you could make it thru to this week! Thank God that Charlotte and her family's faith in God is strong. They will make it through and he'll be home soon!

Please keep Charlotte, David, John, Kaylee, Lily, Annie and Ricci in your prayers!

thank you and God bless you!
Donna