It is Martin Luther King, Jr Day here stateside and the entire city of Sacramento is a wasteland. It is never more apparent that this city is a government center than on a national Holiday that has yet to be embraced by the private sector. What I mean is that while those of us who work to bring money into corporate coffers toil, the public sector sits idly at home and enjoys a day of rest. The freeways are at full speed with nary a slowdown at the time that normally they have ground to a halt and traffic inches its way along toward downtown. Today, the freeways were devoid of traffic and congestion. I slept in an extra half hour as Darla and the boys are off today and the house was a little extra quiet. I knew that traffic would be light and actually left the house at 7:15 instead of 6:45 and made it to the office close to my regular arrival time.

Well, reality begins to settle in as the time for Jennifer's deployment has been set and draws near. She will leave this Sunday for Fort Bliss in Texas, where she will learn the details of her mission. She will then take a military plane to Kuwait on January 31st, where she and her group will meet up with other soldiers being deployed in Iraq and will convoy into hostile territory. Sad to say, but a similar convoy was attacked just this past week and two soldiers were killed and four others wounded. This is the real deal. I talked to Jennifer last week and asked her how she was doing with her deployment imminent. She said, "Dad, can you be both excited and scared at the same time?" I told her, that yes, I'd been married twice. Jokes aside, I sent an e-mail to family and friends last week and announced a call to prayer. I asked that you pray for Jennifer's physical and emotional safety and to remember her parents as well in your prayers. Jennifer's tour is expected to run from January 31st to April 22nd and she will be working on the communications infrastructure in Iraq.

Again, this is your chance to call and wish Jennifer Godspeed. PLEASE call her on her cell any night or weekend. Her number is 310-927-6311. Remember, she and the rest of the military are in Iraq because the fight for freedom is still going on. It may appear to bleeding heart liberals that we are fighting for Iraq's freedom, but in reality, we are fighting for our basic human rights and freedom in this country and for all freedom loving countries in the world. Call her and tell her that she is in your prayers and that you love her. She leaves for Iraq on January 31st.

I have trouble prattling on about mundane things like golf and high school basketball in light of the real danger that Jennifer will be facing in the coming months so I'll leave this at that. Please ask God to take Jennifer into his loving embrace while she is in Iraq. There is only one who loves Jennifer more than I do and I'm so happy that He is a loving God. Be well.