The World According To Chris Brewer

EDITORIAL NOTE: You may notice my last post is missing. I deleted it after an issue was brought to my attention….so for those of you that were wondering, the “I Don’t Know Why…” post is history.

Yesterday I received an unusually large amount of bad news.

First off, my mom called yesterday to tell me that my younger brother, Jason, just about split his head open–I don’t know if he fell or hit it really hard–in Army boot camp and might have to come home because he can’t complete his training with all the days missed. Poor guy–he had entered the split option program, which is where you can go through boot camp when the summer before your senior year in high school, and go train for your job after you graduate. He wanted so bad to be a civil engineer in the Army Reserves and he’ll have to wait until next summer to do it. Keep him in your prayers as he recovers from both the injury and the possibility of having to go back home, completing six weeks of training all for nothing.

Secondly, Mom also told me my friend Aaron Bear, who is a Marine deployed to Iraq, was with his platoon on convoy duty while they were hit by an improvised explosive device. What I was told is that he lost six fellow Marines, and seventeen others are severely injured. Aaron is a good friend of mine from the Church of God of Prophecy in Washington state, and it’s kinda funny–we used to be fierce enemies for years until we settled our differences and he became one of my better friends throughout my high school years. It is tough to hear about him going through something like this…pray for him and his buddies over there in Iraq that they come home safe and God continues to keep His hand on them.

Finally, I was notified by the our shop’s chief that I will be deploying to Baghdad, Iraq for six months, beginning this November. I don’t know any further details (and if I did I’m not sure I could share them), but that news on top of the afore mentioned is like someone taking a house of cards I have just built and not just removing a card so they all fall, but instead slamming their fist down on top of it and ruining the cards in the process. Here’s the thing: I have complete peace about my personal safety. I don’t fear getting injured or even possibly dying (which I know won’t happen). I’m only concerned I won’t be able to keep a constant line of communication with my family and friends for half a year. I am confident in one thing–if it is God’s will that I go, then He is going to see me through everything that happens, because God isn’t going to give me more than I can handle.

Keep me in your prayers. The next year is going to be a defining time in my life.