(pic to come shortly)
The war in Iraq never quite hit me too deeply until now.
In my pc repair class there is this young guy named Greg. At first, he just seemed like a regular young guy with lots of character. the teacher picked on him in a fun way, and he just brought a lot of entertainment to the class...in an amusing way. i first took him for a linux geek, which actually is not a bad thing. it's highly admired, in my eyes. i wanted to know about him, not romantically, but just, as a person, he seemed really interesting. i waited and waited before class, a small chunk of our class sat outside waiting and would talk before the doors opened to our room. it would never be too deep, but i just kept listening and waiting and once in a while would step in and try to spread a little love. then, one day, Greg brought up that he might be drafted again to go to Iraq after he had already served. when i looked at him, he had a serious look that i couldn't ignore and commanded an ear. i acknowledged his comment and he shared stories from Iraq that pretty much broke my heart. the look in his eyes were unexplainable. i don't know him very well, but my heart went out to him in this circumstance. how devastating.
today, in class, he gave me a look as i was walking back to my chair during lab time, but i wasn't sure that he had something to say, so i kept walking...but he commanded my attention and went to the heart of his concern. he told me he had just received the call to report for active duty this friday. how could anything else be anymore important than to hear this young man's heart and see the look of dread and unexplanable emotions when i looked into his eyes.
we all have our flaws, and Greg has his issues, but...what a precious life. i will definitely be praying for this young man. the feelings of helplessness could overwhelm me and make me very sad, but that's why i'm so grateful for prayer...b/c prayer accomplishes what is impossible for us to do. God, keep Your hand on Greg's life and reveal Your love to Him in this time of chaos. Bring Your peace to fill his heart, mind, body and soul. What a precious life, what a precious young man.