Quotes

I received my second stack of "David letters" on Thursday, and I thought I'd share some of his wisdom...

"I really think this basic training is not so much preparing me for the Navy as it is a spiritual preparation. I am learning to lean not on my own understanding, but instead just give glory to God in everything that I do." -Oct 15

And this is a short poem he wrote in the middle of one letter:

"Our roots reach deep,
no storm nor drought,
nor wind nor hail,
can loose what God planted."

He also talked about how so many guys there are homesick for a place that doesn't exist- they don't have great homes to return to. He talks a lot about how thankful he is for the support we have, and he says that while he knows that he has people praying for him, he knows that for a lot of these guys, he's the only one praying for them. So he asks that we think about the other guys in his division and lift them up as well as we pray for David's strength and health.

These letters are SO much fun- I get them every Thursday (a week's worth all bundled into one or two envelopes!)

Communication

Talk about a good weekend. I received my first stack of letters from David on Friday. I got about 10! He had been stock-piling until mail day (they can only send mail once a week). AND- I got a phone call from him yesterday! We got to talk for about 30 minutes, which was huge. He is doing well, but definitely misses home.

He talked about how he likes a lot of the guys in his division and how his good friends Nathan somehow ended up in his class. He said he’s goofy looking with his new haircut- he even drew me a picture. They aren’t doing physical training as much as he would like, but he hears it will pick up this week. He says the days go by slow by the weeks go by fast. And he says the food is pretty good. ☺

He is graduating on Wednesday November 26- the day before Thanksgiving. I’ll be able to go up to Chicago that week and stay until Sunday. Then he has to return to base for eight more weeks of training (ugh!) BUT- he’ll have liberties on the weekend and on nights, so he can call and I can visit. We are also pretty sure he can come home for Christmas.

His address changed back to the original one (no clue why)- so check below for the new correct address if you need it. David says the letters mean everything to him!

He asks that we pray for no injuries or sickness, as that will delay the process. I’ll keep you updated!

Sunshine

Here are a few things I'll be sending David to make him smile- a photo board of my brother and Samson and cards from the kids I nanny for. Love it.

His Address!

We have his address!!
I know he'd love some letters. Here are some warnings though:
-only send letters and photos- no gifts, food, etc.
-no decorations on the envelope at all!!
-don't expect much in return- my friend told me her husband only had Sundays to write.

Address the envelope like this:

S/R Murray, David T
Division 802 Ship 10
3425 Sailor Drive
Great Lakes, IL 60088

Thanks! All of your encouragement has meant so much to me- I can't wait until he gets to feel it too :) Love you all.

David's Going Away Party

Note Card Magic

I got my last phone call from David around 10:30 last night from Chicago- he definitely sounded sad, and after talking to him a few times throughout the day yesterday, I know that he is definitely feeling a little lonely and anxious. He told me that most of the guys there seem to have those cold feet feelings, so he knows it's totally normal to feel this way.

He said that he's memorizing Psalm 1, and that it talks about being like a tree who bears fruit in season and who doesn't wither in winter- he pointed out that he's not required to "bear fruit" always, and that sometimes, in the hard times, he's just supposed to "not wither".

Last night I found a stack of note cards I had started writing months ago with verses and quotes, hoping to send one every now and again to him with letters. The note card on top was this:

He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
-Psalm 1:3

Amazing, right? Kitti told me that she had been praying for us to see that God was there, and how obvious could that be?

So I encourage you all to pray the following things for David:
-that processing week would be fast! (It could last one-ten days, so we hear)
-that he'll meet some great friends SOON
-that he'll be encouraged
-that we'll get his address soon! letters will mean the world to him
-that he'll feel protected and loved

Family

Here are some photos from David's last day in Georgia!

Eight Weeks

I just walked in from saying goodbye to David.

I can’t tell you how weird it is to know that I won’t see him again for eight-nine more weeks. And while we know that in the military world eight weeks is nothing, in the Callie-David world, eight weeks seems next to impossible.

We’ve had an amazing weekend of seeing good friends and spending time with family. And here is what I am learning from all of this so far:

-We have been blessed with such an amazing group of people who love us. David said he was having thoughts of “Why would I ever take a job that would make me leave these people?!”, but it’s amazing to know that “these people” will pray for us, visit us, call us, write… We love you guys.

-I don’t think I could handle a minute of this without God. I think I’d be sitting here crying and miserable if I didn’t know that there was a God who was bigger than eight weeks and who would comfort us, protect David, and get us through this.

-David is the most amazing man ever. We were talking to some family friends the other day, and they were telling us how they’d been married over thirty years and that they dated since high school. The husband said, in all seriousness, “We’re one of the greatest love stories of all time”. How great is that?! So David and I decided to go ahead and claim that too. And I think it’s true.

-We take our marriage for granted. I want to challenge all of you to really spend some time appreciating hugging and cuddling and watching TV together- everything.

We’ve decided that when David arrives in Chicago today (when he gets to make his last phone call), we’ll talk on the phone and then hang up and be happy. We can be sad until then, but after the phone call, we’re going to look to the positives of the next eight weeks.

Now I’m off to read the letter he left for me… ahhhh….