Red Friday: An Update from Afghanistan (A Prayer Request)

Now that's a sight for sore eyes right there.

It's Red Shirt Friday and every Friday my blog wears a red ribbon, turns red, or we ourselves wear red while my brother-in-law, Zach, is away fighting in Afghanistan. He and my sister Anna have a little girl, my goddaughter Maddie, and they have another little girl on the way.

Zach does get to use the phone and videophone to call home but he can never say when. The guys wait in line sometimes for 2 hours to call home. Anna's phone is glued to her.

I pray for all of them every day, for his safe return and for their strength while he is away. It is tough on them. For the first couple weeks he was away, little Maddie had night terrors. She would wake up screaming and tear up her room. She is only 2 1/2 but boy does she love her daddy. You can see it in her eyes, even when she looks at the giant cardboard cutout of him.


She's telling him what she's drawing. She looks like an angel.

That is a Flat Daddy of Zach, by the way; a life-sized cardboard cutout of him. Anna got it after Zach's first deployment, before Maddie was born, but boy has it been helpful.

My sister works and holds down the fort quite well while he's away but honestly I don't know how she does it. She's got the strength of a battalion of men. Talk about wearing a cape.

The update from Afghanistan makes me scared and prayerful. This is from Anna this week:

Pass this on to family and friends. Ask that everyone say their prayers. The 3/4 Marines are taking many casualties and are constantly under pressure from local Taliban. Our good friend was injured, MEDEVAC'd and is now recovering, and many, many of Zach's other friends are sustaining life altering injuries..Zach is doing OK. Sends his love. Nothing new, just misses being home and his family.

The troops and their families need our prayers (or kind thoughts-- whatever it is you have in your heart) for strength and healing.

There is a reporter embedded with Zach's company. John Cantlie has been blogging about it for two weeks on his blog, Fast Features.

I can't read it.

It scares me too much and makes my imagination go wild and as soon as I open it I start crying. I will read it when Zach comes home safely or maybe I will make myself read it before then. But do, please, feel free to click on it and read about Zach's company and what's happening over there.

(By the way, no, they are not coming home early. Everyone is coming home when they were scheduled in November hopefully, not "early" as reported. The Marines, anyway. I'm not sure about anyone else.)

Finally, I didn't get to post on the 4th of July and I feel bad about that (was hugging the bowl after catching some awful bug from the kids but these things happen).

But I want to wish everyone a very belated Happy 4th of July!

Thank you to all of our servicemen and women past, present and future for the freedom we enjoy as Americans today. Including you, Zach, and all of the men and women you fight alongside of every day. You are in our hearts and in our minds.

I love you bro. Stay strong, little root.