Some Random Topics

#1. Some of you have asked for an update on what we'd love to have in a care package, and I am your humble servant. :)

- Tootsie Pops
- Tootsie Rolls
- Kit Kats, Hershey Bars, Reece Cups (It's down to the low 100s, so stuff doesn't melt as fast. :)
- Rice Krispie Treats
- Brownies
- Energy Bars
- Peanuts
- Kleenexes
- Tylenol
- iTunes Cards

Again, thank you to all that have sent wonderful care packages. I hope you all don't mind, but I take great joy and sharing the goodies and treasures you send with the soldiers I work with and work around. Share the love!



#2. My wife Angela sent me a copy of The Shack to read. I highly recommend reading this book.

http://theshackbook.com/

I had no idea what to expect, though I did know this was a book about faith. Wow! I have not been taken on a roller coaster like that from a book in a long long time. The last time I remember being emotionally impacted like this was readying Where the Red Fern Grows as a kid and then A Time to Kill by John Grisham in college. I went from shock to terror to anger to fear and then I was pulled up by my emotional boot straps into this amazing sense of love and reconciliation.

William Young grabbed a hold of me using one of my greatest fears and took me on a ride with my faith that I'll never forget. I could barely read last 3-4 chapters from the tears flowing down my face.

Those of you that know me well know that I'm a intellectual believer. I like to understand things and reason through the "hows" and the "whys". I like to think things through. I like to talk things out. I've grown in my faith over the last few years, because I've had opportunities to do this and I've seen the results. I believe. I believe because I want to and I love how faith makes me feel. This book fits people like me perfectly. It really makes you think. It makes you look inside yourself and helps rationalize why faith and love are important...and useful.


I'd highly recommend picking up a copy of The Shaft or ordering the audiobook. (It's available on iTunes. I looked.) Check it out and feel free to share any thoughts on it here. I'd love to hear what other think.


#3. My deployment reading list. I had a lot more opportunities to read prior to getting to Kuwait. The daily 12 hour shifts have really curtailed by reading time, but I've continued to work through a couple of books. Here's what I've read since I mobilized in March.

Title : Author : Notes

The American Lion
Jon Meacham
Biography of Andrew Jackson

A Man After God's Heart
Thomas Nelson
A great book for Dads!

What Would Google Do?
Jeff Jarvis
Comparison of Business Practices

No Ordinary Time
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Biography of FDR and Eleanor

Mongoose Theatre
R.W. Meredith R
etired NCO and One of My Instructors

The Rum Diary
Hunter S. Thompson
Story of a Reporter in Puerto Rico

The Traveler's Gift
Andy Andrews
Positive Thinking / Self Help

The Cambridge History of Warfare
Geoffrey Parker
Reading for ILE

D-Day: 24 Hrs That Changed the World
Time
Coffee Table Book

Dark Wraith of Shannara
Terry Brooks
Fantasy

The Shack
William Young
Fiction: Story About Faith