He's arrived...

As I type this, Chase should be arriving in Parris Island, SC at boot camp. If you are reading this, please take just a moment and pray for him. He has confessed to me and Steve that he is nervous. He's a Believer, so I know he knows the power of prayer. Pray for God's peace to surround him right now and give him strength to get through these next few days (which will be some of the hardest he's ever had).

Friday night, we had his going away dinner. What a great group of friends and family. Such a nice time although it was hard getting any time with him since the other family and friends were there.
Sunday we spent an hour or so with him at the hotel where he was to stay overnight to get ready for processing today. I got a couple good pictures of us and I said goodbye for what I thought would be the last time (again).He was supposed to get sworn in again today at 10:15am even though he'd already been sworn in once. I didn't intend to go to the processing center for this, but I couldn't sleep last night for thinking of Chase and the minute my eyes opened this morning, I knew I would go. We stayed with him for 2 hours while they processed and then re-processed his paperwork just to find out that he really doesn't have to be sworn in again. So, from there, I said goodbye for what really was the last time for a while.

He was able to text me off and on once they got on the road, which was about 2pm (instead of the 12 noon time they were supposed to leave). He admitted he was nervous and I told him I'd be praying for him. Steve and I both checked in with him periodically throughout the evening. After some time on my face in prayer (my Bible Study girls understand this), I texted him to see where they were. At the time they were about 90 minutes from arrival. I asked him how he was feeling and he said he was calming down! THE POWER OF PRAYER! I was not able to text him back because his phone was dying and he wanted enough bars to text us and his mom when they arrived. At 10:05 we got a text from a strange number...it was Chase saying they were 10 minutes out and his phone was dead, so his friend let him use his. He was almost there and he loved us and that he would write when he could. Dear heavens, my sweet little, blonde 6 year old boy is now being thrust into a world where he has never been. I just pray that God will give him strength to persevere. I know he can do this. He just has to believe in himself.

So, all that to say, please pray for Chase when you think of it. I know he will appreciate it and so would Steve and I.