Working at the car wash...

Dad would be proud. I actually washed my car tonight. I think it must be a guy thing to be so obsessed about having a clean car. On my list of things to do, it isn't very high. But every time I looked at my dirty car I felt guilty. Plus, I knew that one of these days Dad was going to ask if I had washed it and I did not want to have to admit that I had not. So it's done. Although I must say it was a very unpleasant experience...

Since I live in an apartment, I have to take my car to a car wash. But the pressure washers don't get all the buggies off of the car. So I took a bucket and sponge out in the parking lot to get the bugs off before I took it to the car wash. This lady walks by and begins to question my method. Excuse me...but I really don't think it is any of your business how I wash my vehicle. Keep moving - thank you.

Then I actually make it to the car wash. It is a dangerous place. They should really post some warning signs. To start with, the wind kept kicking up and spraying soapy water in my face. Then, the hose kept whipping around and whacking me in the face. I was lucky to get out of there without getting a black eye. No one would have ever believed how I got it.

But my car is clean. For now anyway.

This morning I am thinking about freedom. The word is deceptive because freedom is "free" at all. It comes at a high price.

My brother-in-law Nick leaves for Iraq this morning. His unit will be gone a year. Until this moment the war in Iraq was something far removed. It was something journalists covered on television and President Bush spoke about in speeches. It was a war I supported because of my sense of patriotism and pride for our troops. Because I value freedom. It was a war that I supported in theory. I now support it with my family.

I will probably follow the news more carefully in the weeks and months to come. And I'll pray for safety for Nick and the rest of the soldiers. I feel certain that when I now hear that when a soldier has been injured or killed my heart will still, and my first thought will be, "God, please don't let it be Nick." I am reminded of a passage in Psalms 139 that is central to our services this weekend:

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, you eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

All of Nick's days were ordained by God before one of them ever happened. I have to work to remember that. Trust is hard when the rubber hits the road.

I am so proud of you, Nick. God be with you.