It started in the morning of April 1st. The moment I dreaded for months and only could have imagined from scenes in movies where a couple said their goodbyes as the the soldier boarded the bus. The morning started off well with Sarah holding up strong and providing reassurance as the time got closer. A few things occurred that morning which i feel must be noted. Sarah and I realized that the previous day we dropped off a hat and another piece of equipment for sewing, but never picked them up. I needed both of these items for my uniform, otherwise I would be the mark of scrutiny throughout my deployment. I hastily called the shop to see what time they opened. A women answered saying that they didn't open till 10, the time I needed to pick up my weapon and head over to board the bus. Fortunately, the woman wanted to get an early start on the day and she was willing to open up early so we could pick up our things.
To our dismay, she couldn't find the items that we dropped off. While Sarah assisted the woman looking for our stuff I called my mom and dad to say "see you later." The call was fine until I actually had to end the call and I choked up. My heart sank as I said goodbye and the words just wouldn't come out. Finally after a good 30 seconds, I managed to get the words out and end the call. I ran inside and Sarah managed to find one of the things, but we still couldn't find my hat. The lady finally agreed to just give us a new one and do the sewing right away. After that catastrophe we discovered the weapon draw was moved up an hour so Sarah and I went back to the house and quickly grabbed our things and I got my weapon.
The place I grabbed my weapon from was located about a mile and a half down the road from where I actually needed to meet for the bus. That sounds simple enough, but in the army, we cannot take weapons in private vehicles, hence a mile and a half walk while Sarah slowly drove next to me. Once we got there we had about an hour left before we needed to board the bus and starbucks sounded amazing, but we couldn't drive. Fortunately for us Sarah's mom was in town and made the drive so we could have one last cake pop before I left.
The time finally came and I had to leave, and it was probably one of the hardest moments I've ever had to face. I had to walk away from the woman who just a couple months ago walked toward me down a long aisle to be my wife. This wasn't goodbye though as Mindy had pointed out, It was "see you later." As hard as it was to continue walking away, I am constantly reminded of Matt's words at community group, "it sucks, but it's also a great opportunity for God to use you." These words have resounded in my head a multitude of times since he said them. I'm so excited to see not only what God does in my life through this time, but also what he does for Sarah. I know we will be stronger and develop some great relationship through this deployment.

Some side notes:

Sat on an airplane for about 13 hours total and arrived in Manas

Ate lots of great snacks provided by my amazing wife!

Participated in a couple trainings, and ate with friends......not a whole lot going on right now.

Miss you all, and thanks for reading.

To our community Group:
You guys are all great and I thank God daily for the group that he has brought Sarah and I too. You all are such a strong encouragement and motivation in our lives. I know I don't personally give much feedback on most nights, but please know that your words pierce my heart and I'm so blessed to be a part of your community. Thank you for looking after Sarah while I'm away, and I absolutely cannot wait to get back into the swing of things with you all. My prayers are with you especially as Mars Hill prepares a new church in the city of Tacoma. I'm so excited to see all he has planned for us in this community!