Bittersweet

So Friday morning I was enjoying my first morning at home with THREE kids, watching my cute boy make waking-up faces, when my mom came downstairs to hang out on my bed with me. The house was quietly a-buzz and I was feeling so relieved and thankful that James was with us, that mom was there, etc...

The phone rang and it was my brother, Matt, calling to tell me congratulations and to say good bye to mom.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"I am sitting on a bus at Fort McCoy, getting ready to fly to Ireland and then good ol' Tikrit..."

We continued to chat and then I passed the phone to my mom (who of course began to cry). I thought about how long we had been waiting for and dreading this very moment, and how weird it was that I was having this peaceful, joyful moment in my little Montana home and he was facing this...deployment.
For real.

I felt strangely at peace with Matt's situation, though, too, after all the crying about it earlier this year (especially when his own baby boy was born in February). Like I said in an earlier post, I just sing the prayer, Bring Him Home, to myself. I know he'll be okay.

That moment reminded me again how the things I treasure most in life and the most joyful moments always come at a price...someone else's Great Sacrifice. So once again, thank you. Thanks to Heavenly Father for all of it, and especially today, to the soldiers, their families, and others who make these quiet, peaceful moments full of love and home and family a given. Thank you, Matt.

You're in our prayers and always will be.