I started reading a book this afternoon called "Behind the Blue-Star Banner- A memoir from the home front" . It is about a woman who's husband is in the U.S. Army, and a year and a half into their marriage he is called to do a year long deployment in Iraq. When he leaves she is just 11 weeks pregnant.

I was surprised to see how much I could relate to what this woman was going through. Until now, I have had a hard time wording how I felt. I thought I would share a few excerpts from the book.


"Before deployment, I'd always been a life embracer- the type to seize the day and make the most of it, the kind to count the moments and make them last. But for the first time in my life, I found myself wasting those minutes and wishing for 9p.m. so I could crawl into bed and sleep my heartache away."

"I became a chronic time checker- glancing at the clock every five minutes to see how much time had passed so it could hurry up and be tomorrow. I found myself taking three, four, or even FIVE showers a day to pass the time and keep myself occupied."

"As long as I wasn't sitting at home alone, I didn't have to confront the fact that my husband wasn't there with me."


" God had blessed us with a child. In the middle of this lonely time, God has blessed me with company- permanent company- and company who would be a piece of Matt for me every single day that I physically couldn't have him in my life."


all of these excerpts were from the first 30 pages of the book. I'm sure as I get further into the book there will be many more.