tamara b

Jimmy the Marine
We went to church with Ryan's folks that Sunday following Christmas. A few college "kids" were leading worship. At the end, the leader prayed and in his prayer said something about Jimmy. I thought it kinda odd that Jimmy was mentioned with no details and it was right before the start of the sermon. Then he proceeded to sing the song "letters from war" to his friend Jimmy. Have you heard that song? I pasted them below in case you haven't heard it played before. I could see Jimmy sitting near the front in his dress Marine uniform. Let’s just say that I'm thankful I had not put on mascara that morning. Then after the song, the pastor had Jimmy (who would soon be leaving for Iraq) and his family come up and they prayed for him and asked that it be a reminder to us to be praying for our servicemen. I was so choked up but it was so neat. I could just picture my buddy Ben Farmer standing up there and our church doing the same thing. Ben was scheduled to leave January 9th for his third trip to Iraq. So, be praying for him and others and take a peek at the lyrics below:

Artist: Mark Schultz
Song Title: Letters from war

She runs to the mailbox
On that bright summers day
Found a letter from her son
In a war far away

He spoke of the weather
And good friends that he'd made
Said I'd been thinking 'bout dad
And the life that he had
Thats why I'm here today
And that the end he said
You are what I'm fighting for
It was the first of the letters from war

She started writing
(Chorus)
Your good and your brave
What a father that you'll be someday
Bring him home
Bring him safe

She wrote everynight as she prayed

Late in December
A day she'll not forget
Oh her tears stained the paper
With every word that she read

It said I was up on a hill
I was out there alone
When the shots all rang out
And bombs were exploding
And thats when I saw him
He came back to me
And though he was captured
A man set me free
And that man was your son

He asked me to write to you
I told him I would oh I swore
It was the last of the letters from war

And she prayed he was living
Kept on believing
and wrote every night just to say

(Chorus)

Then two years later
Autumn leaves all around
A car pulled in the driveway
And she fell to the ground
And out stepped a captain
Where her boy used to stand

Said mom I'm following orders
From all of your letters
And I've come home again
He ran into hold her
And dropped all his bags on the floor
Holding all of her letters from war

Bring him home
Bring him home
Bring him home