Aaaaand He's Off!

Today, shortly after the sun rose behind low, gray clouds; I said good bye to my best friend.  (This sentence actually brings forth giggles because it sounds so much worse than it actually is.)  He is off to Northern Iraq.  His mission: secure our future for the next half year.  I won't get to see his remarkably handsome face for 29 days (a leap year month).  I can already tell that this month will be harder than his last month-long trip last summer.  As I buried my face in his pillow, I realized just how much I'll worry about him.  There's just no getting over the fact that Iraq is no South Africa.  He could encounter any number of dangers over there...


But this is when I learn what it means to truly trust in the Lord.  He knows what He's doing, we have trusted Him this far and Nathan wouldn't be any safer if I was there to watch his every move.  That is the lot of those left behind.  We always think that things would be better if we could just be there.  That we could make a difference.  The truth is that I am irrelevant to his safety.  It's probably better that I'm not with him; he doesn't need to worry about me.  I have many people watching over me, besides a big, loving God.  A God that is watching over Nathan too, so why am I worrying?!  I guess there is no logic to it, just emotion.  Buckets full of emotion.  It doesn't help that the weather is rather gloomy as well; gray clouds cover the sky, lending a pseudo-justification to my low spirits.  Add to that my cold I've been battling for a week and it is not shaping up to be a good day.

But pseudo-justification is no justification at all; and as if to reinforce this, the sun is coming out from behind those gloomy gray clouds as I write.  So, moving on to details!

Nathan and our friend M.B. will get to go paragliding and tour the 7,000(ish) year old citadel in Erbil (pronounced are-bil).  They will do some filming the first week and then it is meetings, meetings, meetings! Nathan bought a suit for the occasion and he looks pretty dang fine! :) I love him so much and am so proud of him! (If you couldn't tell already).  Hopefully be the end they will sign contracts for some change (caaaching!), come back home safe and sound, get all packed up, and we will all move over there in the next few months.  But before any of that happens, I must endure his absence from my daily life.  I will defiantly have a furry friend sharing my bed for the next few weeks!  Please keep both Nathan and I in your prayers, we could use 'em!

 Oh and P.S.

You can follow Nathan on his Twitter account: @nategerhardt1
and also on his website Five15crux