New Year

Usually with a new year people including myself are thinking about how the next year will be different. Maybe you had a great year...you're probably still thinking about how the next one will be better. Maybe it was just ok or even bad....you're almost for sure wanting a better year.

I've certainly been blessed with a wonderful wife, children, family, friends and church. For the most part our family has been in good health.

I am honestly disappointed with my growth over the past year. I don't feel I'm where I should be spiritually. I feel like I could be a much better husband and father.

It all pretty much comes down to this...if I want to have a better year....it's mostly up to me. Now I obviously can't control other peoples health, life or death, or the decisions they make. But, I do play a large roll in what kind of person I become. I decide whether or not I sit down and read or study the Bible today. I decide how much time and effort I put into anything I do.

What will you do differently in 2009? How will you be better on January 1st, 2009 or December 31st, 2009? It's a slow process. One day at a time. Baby steps etc....

Have a great new year! May each day be better than the last and remember it's (mostly) up to YOU!

Merry Christmas!

Jimmy V's 1993 ESPY Speech

This is one of the best speeches I've ever heard. I go back to it every year around this time. It usually brings me to tears so make sure you have some tissue ready. Jimmy Valvano gave this speech on March 4th, 1993. He passed away on April 28th, 1993. To learn more go to The V Foundation for Cancer Research.

Christmas program at Grand

Will and Zach's cousin Meredith singing during the Christmas program at GAB Church. Her mommy and daddy sang too but they were further away and aren't nearly as cute. Sorry Michael and Jennifer. They all did a great job!

Gingerbread House

Will and I spent part of our Saturday morning decorating this gingerbread house. You probably won't see us on the Food Network any time soon but we had a good time.

Will's class singing "All I Want for Christmas"

To Live is Christ - Ed Saucier

Portion of Ed's message at Community Bible Church from earlier this year. I'm sorry for the poor video quality.

A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
Sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..

To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... An American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum, Iraq

Send a note to our Hero's.

Holiday Mail for Heros
PO Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

Must be postmarked by 12/10

When doing your Christmas cards this year, take one card and send it to this address.

A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue,NW
Washington, D.C. 20307-5001