Day Six

Day Six

20 August 2006

Today was Sunday. I had a nice morning. I laid in bed listening to some worship music, made some coffee and then went down to medical triage where we have church. It was pretty full this morning. The sermon was about weathering storms in life. Trials, sorrows, disappointment are bound to come in this world, so how are we going to weather them? Chaplain Hendricks made three points: we need to obey God, we need to build a firm foundation on the Lord, and we need to realize that God is with us in every storm. It was a good sermon and I am very excited about how our fellowship with everyone who was there is going to grow during this deployment. After a wonderful big brunch of potatoes, and omelet, not-so-good orange juice (Kaalan would die on this ship with the orange juice being the way that it is), and strawberry shortcake, I went up to the Flag Bridge to study the ever-changing shades of blue and grey of the sky and water and started a new book that my mom bought me called To Walk and Not Faint: A month of devotionals on Isaiah 40. I am very excited to go through it. I think that I will try to read a chapter twice a week to make it last through part of my deployment. That will give me time to contemplate the verses that it talks about. The first chapter was great! It expounded on Isaiah 40:1. Comfort my people, says the Lord. The author, Marva Dawn, states: "There is comfort to be given, declares the Lord, and God wants to give the comfort of his truth, the entire truth concerning both our condition in relation to him and his gracious remedies for our brokenness. She reminds us that each individual person matters to him and that his is an everlasting solace. It is this solace we can pass onto others, because he desires comfort for those who are hurt and broken. So, I just pray that my eyes can be opened to those who need comfort and will freely take that comfort I have already felt during this time away from home.

The other highlight from today is that while I was running on the flight deck, breathing in some fresh air and feeling the sun on my skin, we were sailing toward a grey wall of clouds. As we neared them, two ends of a rainbow appeared, its middle lost to the huge white thundercloud above it. It was very beautiful. I think with that thought, I will try to go to sleep. I still am having a hard time falling asleep because of the time changes. I think I left my ambien at home because I finally broke down and decided I needed a little help tonight but could not find them (You would have been proud, my reaching for some help through chemistry, eh Sharon? Ha!). Perhaps tomorrow I will also try to figure out a way to make my bed a bit more comfortable. Good night!