Faith and a trip to Baghdad

Our dear friends Fred and Laura work at the Massanetta Springs Conference Center. This Presbyterian Conference Center has been an important part of my children's faith journey. All three boys attended the middle school conferences, worked at the middle school conferences and Joshua has led workshops as a adult. When Seth and Eli left for their deployment, Fred and Laura asked them to think about the scripture lesson that would be used for this summer's conference. Eli wrote to Fred not long ago, and Fred shared his email. I know Eli won't mind me sharing part of it with you:

I have read the bible verse several times and have been doing a lot of thinking about it. I think there are several things in the verse that you could work with, but I think the main theme is faith. The pharisees lack of it and the paralyzed man and his friends abundance of it. I think in this world where so often you hear, "seeing is believing" that faith is a very hard thing to come to terms with. In my spiritual journey I have questioned many things, but the main one has been my faith. I sometimes ask myself, "how do I know that God exists?" I have really learned though over the years that I find God in the intangible things in my life and that I dont have to physically see to believe. I see God when I see people going out of their way to be kind and help other people out, I see God in my relationships with other people and the love that is so prevalent in my life. I see God in all the blessings I have, which have become more visible to me over my years.

Faith is still something I struggle with all the time. When I was travelling to Baghdad I was terrified at first. However, I kept praying and I would say, "Dear Lord, help me let go of this fear I am holding on to, help me have faith in you and your plan for me, help me have confidence that you will watch over me and protect me. Give me faith so that I may not be scared any longer. Help me realize that no matter where I am, you are always with me." I said that prayer over and over again during my 9 hours into Baghdad, and then again as I returned to Al Asad. Everytime I leave the wire I say that prayer, and it has amazingly reduced my anxiety levels and my stress. That is another way I can see God, in the calming and reassuring factor that prayer has on me.