more news from the front

My niece Carrie sent a letter a few days ago. The following is an excerpt from that letter.

"...As for Robert, he is doing pretty good, but he still needs prayer support. He has been having problems with one of his knees, and he's been in a lot of pain for about the past month. He has no idea what's wrong with it. It just started swelling up and hurting one day, and it's been like that ever since. He went to medical about it, and they said he needed an MRI but they don't have the equipment for that over there. So they just gave him some pain relievers and said he'd have to wait until he got home to do anything about it. I think that's pretty horrible since he's got about 5 weeks left, but there's nothing we can do. He also broke out in a heat rash a few weeks ago, and it only seems to be getting worse. He went to medical about that, too, and they didn't do much for it either. As I'm sure you all know, a heat rash starts to sting and burn in hot weather along with the normal itching. The temperature in Iraq has been around 138 degrees lately, so he's been pretty miserable. Please continue to keep him in your prayers. Other than that, he has been doing really well. He's still the top person in his job at work, and he's still doing the job of a Staff Sergeant. God has taken care of him this whole time. He hasn't had to leave the base once, and that is such an answer to prayer. We are still waiting for him to be promoted to Corporal, especially since he's doing a job several steps above his rank. He was actually up for promotion not long ago, but he had to run another PFT (Physical Fitness Test) first. They have to run a certain number of them a year. They always take a Pre-PFT one week and then take the official one a week later. He got an incredibly high score on the Pre-PFT, but his knee got much worse before the real PFT and he wasn't allowed to run it. Still, we know that God is in control of his promotion, too, so we're just staying focused on Him. That's all the news for now. I'll keep you all posted about when he's actually coming home when I know more. Like I said before, I'd like to be able to see at least some of you before I leave, so give me a call if you have time. Robert and I love you all very much, and we thank you for all of your prayers and support."

As you lift up our servicemen and women, pray also for the families they leave behind.