My civilian friend learned a lot in her time out here. In fact, her time out here was so poignant that she cried for much of her final day here and told folks that she would miss this experience! Albeit, life inside the wire can sometimes feel a bit like summer camp, but she didn't stay inside the wire. So her joy and nostalgia was not due to an avoidance of hard things, but learned through them.
I asked her to start sending me some of her thoughts summing up her time out here once she had a chance to gather them. Here is a bit of what she sent me:
"
God has been so kind to me. I was prepared for isolation and just time
alone with God on this deployment. But
His plan was to pursue me rather than the reverse. He provided godly friends and wise, skilled
chaplains to teach me truth and help me more fully embrace the gospel. He provided a difficult coworker to teach me
to love the unlovely like He does. He revealed my heart and state before Him
and His great love to such a sinner as I.
He challenged me to know His love as a gift totally undeserved and never
diminishing for a second. I know that He
came to Afghanistan with me. Not caring
for me as a part of a mass of people, but as an individual, dearly loved."
I appreciate that her first remark was one of gratitude toward God. And I love her honesty in her low expectations for the Lord's work, and her account of how He blasted those expectations out of the water. There is something of the truth here that with greater hardship comes greater intimacy with the Lord and His people.
After talking about the relationships that God put in her life, she doesn't gloss over one particular hardship--loving a difficult coworker. But look at the conviction that such a relationship bred in her own hear regarding her great sin and her great Savior.
God did indeed accompany her to Afghanistan, as He promises: "When you pass through the water, I will be with you and the waves will not overcome you...For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. (Is. 43:2-3)
