Write this down: Your Soldier wants fly catchers in his/her care package.

Why? Because we are in a country with lots of flies.

I caught over 50 on one strip of fly catching tape today.  That was one day of fly hunting–I did well.  I put up two more strips and there were about 5-10 on each almost two hours later.  There’s alot of flies.

To be honest, the fly problem is not bad when it is 120 degrees out.  Even the flies no better than to go out in the heat.

But right now, when the High is 73 and the low is around 50?  Great fly weather.

So, yes, buy fly catchers.  The Army does supply us some–but they are never around when we need them.  Send a box, that you can probably get in the hardware section at Wal-Mart.

They will be glad you did!!!

In the past, I have not needed to listen to podcasts.  Either, I had a radio to listen to…or iTunes was blocked by the Army.  Now, I have internet and know radio to listen to.  I thought this would be a great time to start downloading some podcasts.

Which do you recommend?

I know I don’t like short ones. I mean, what’s the point?  By the time I set the iPod down the program is over.  I need something a little bit longer.

I know I don’t want news or commentary.  I hear enough news.  I don’t think I want that much more.

I do like alternative news stories, like “All Things Considered”.  It is not mainline enough to be interesting.  I also like CBS Sunday Morning for the same reason.

So what do you recommend?

What are you listening to?

It is just the nature of the beast.  A friend of mine, who is a little too concerned about his physical appearance, always orders Subway.  He even wanted us to get Subway on a fun night.

This makes no sense.

If I want something healthy, I go to the DFAC for free.

If I want a salad on a bun, I go to the DFAC for free.

If I am going to pay for fun food—it better be bad for me.  Otherwise, there’s no point.  Fast food in Iraq, is a way to break the routine.  It is an opportunity to take a break from the normal, run of the mill, Ground Hog Day food source.

It should be junk.

Otherwise, there is no point.

My wife and I have studied many books together and have gone to several marriage retreats and classes. 

We have a great marriage.

We still need help.

Deployments are hard on everyone.  Being away from your spouse for 12-15 months is a hard separation, but you can return to a stronger method if you take the opportunity to work on this as a goal.  While you are separated, you can think though what you have done wrong in the past.  While you are separated you can learn new techniques of communications that can help in your marriage.

Monica and I are currently working througgh the book Love Talk– a communication book.  It gives us a little to talk about before I return home.  Here, we can talk about our communication issues while we are separated.  One thing I have learned about communication is that we do communication better when I’m downrange.  Why? Because I am forced to listen.  When you only talk on the phone or on the computer–there is always a talk and listen formula.   I still have to be intentional–I can’t interrupt her.  But, because we are far apart it is important that I listen.

Take time to read a book together during this deployment.

As I was reviewing the PowerPoint Slides, I looked at the song sheet the band was singing off of.

They were singing the correct version as I verified online.  I also know most of it by heart.

But to be sure, I checked Holy, Holy, Holy on Wikipededia. Holy, Holy Holy

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy!
all the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.

Holy, holy, holy!
though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name,
in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in Three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

This is the problem.  When I put the slides together, Thursday or Friday, I just googled a site and cut and pasted the words on put them on the slide.  I remember thinking to myself–”I don’t remember anything about Angels in that hymn. But, maybe that’s some obscure verse.”

Wrong!  This is what was written from Digital Hymnal where I downloaded the lyrics from.

Holy, holy, holy! Angels adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Thousands and ten thousands worship low before Thee,
Which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.

Whoever wrote those lyrics changed the second verse. No big deal?  Very big deal.

First of all this is one of the finest hymns of church history–don’t mess with it!

Second, their version screws up the theology of the hymn!  This verse is not about Angels throwing their Golden Crowns–they don’t have any!!  It is about Saints throwing theirs down.  Big Difference.

And, oh by the way it is:

“Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,”

Not

“Thousands and ten thousands worship low before Thee,”

Another big difference.  Angels fall–not worship low.

Splitting hairs?  At first glance it is but it is defense against heresy.  Somebody,tried to take this song and Angelfy it.  This is a by product of contemporary, choose the theology of the day concept.  It doesn’t work.

To make a great hymn heresy is detestable.

As I mentioned on this week’s “Stuff Soldiers Like”, most of the time, there isn’t a sink around.

That is except for the Chow Hall.

Here at Stryker, we have a very nice DFAC (Dinning Facility).  Most of the FOB (Forward Operating Bases) do.  And, in these, DFACs there are hand washing stations.  Before we are allowed into the DFAC, everyone must wash their hands.

Well, our hand washing stations are High Tech.  They have motion sensors on them.

Most people have no problem.  I get a little spastic with them.  Do you think I’m afraid of them?  I can never get them to work right.

I did find one sink that likes me.

This one will probably be the one that goes down for repair tomorrow for the next two months.

Now many of my readers will ask who is Everclear.  Well, I had to ask the same question.  The answer I got from everybody was–oh, you’ll know them once you hear them.  I heard them, and I still don’t know what they sing.  Not to be critical, I just have never heard of them.

They were a basic rock band.  They had some good tunes.  I thought it was quite enjoyable.  I like these concerts when the USO sends them over.  They are a big moral boost.

We had to laugh when there was a helicopter flyby–probably not planned by anyone else besides the pilots.  I turned to one of my friends and said; “I’ll bet they thought that was kinda cool to get a flyby.” And he turned to me and said; “the band was probably the one that were motivated the most!”  It is interesting how we take the helicopters for granted sometimes–they are pretty cool, but if you are not used to them–they are REALY cool.  (Gives you that war zone feel.)

Ok, I gotta add this story–who knows maybe they will see it.  The lead singer did say “go ahead and make jokes.”

The lead singer began to sing “Brown Eyed Girl”–actually the only song I recognized.

He dedicated it to his daughters.

He forgot the words.

Ouch!

One thing that many people take for granted, but I find it sometimes as a must is hand sanitizer.

I touch many hands throughout my day.  People with colds.  People with stomach viruses.  People with just everyday germs.  There are a limited number of latrine trailers and even more limited amounts of sinks with paper towels.

This is were hand sanitizers come into play.  Because of my job, I am always walking around.  I see more people than the average Soldier, so I keep a small bottle in my front pocket, so I always have clean hands.  Some Soldiers keep a bottle on their desk–it simply depends on their job.

I encourage you to help your Soldier out, send him/her something that they may never think of asking for–a bottle of hand sanitizer.  It works and it may keep them a little more healthy.

While the post is specifically about Social Networking on the computer, it also speaks to building any kind of community.

She writes:

A community doesn’t start with millions. It starts with one. If you serve the one, the one will tell one, who will tell two, who will tell six, and so on and so on. If you don’t serve the one… and each one after… bye bye, community.

I think this especially true in the church.

For years we have been talking about discipleship and evangelism and missions–but we neglect the nature of what the Early Church demonstrated and that is community.  One of the things that can be learned from Social Media is that it is all about Relationships.

She continues:

Social media is about the social as well as the community. This means that you have to service the individual’s needs for them to come together as a whole.

Building community is vital to our world.  Building community is vital to the future of the church.

One of the biggest reasons that I hear of as to why people leave the church relates to this issue right here.  Many times people “get offended” by a certain event in the church.  But, if the community had already invovled the person, would they have been offended?  We get offended when we feel as if we are the outsiders.  When we are a part of the community, we tend to support a decision whether or not we disagree. But we take into account the relationships and the trust we have built.

Building community starts with building a community with one other person.  This community with one person one day will become two, and four, and eight, and sixteen.

We talk about church growth–my degree is in Church Growth–to not build a relationship with each person is the biggest mistake that a church or chapel can make.  If we can not bring every member into this community (or at least make the honest attempt to) the the church is too big.  Because it has outgrown it’s ability to reach the needs of the people inside its own walls.

The challenge therefore is to build community–at every stage of the process.  It is possible, but it takes hard work.

Now, I did get up to visit a unit in the middle of the night, which is really fun to do–because they don’t expect it.  But, when I went back to bed it got colder and colder.  I think the coldest it got was 45-48 degrees.  This may not sound that cold–but when it is 75-80 during the day, that’s about a 30-40 drop.

Time to bring the long sleeve PT shirts out!!