On the downward slope

It's been a couple weeks since I've written so I thought I'd take a minute and put some things down...

As my deployment begins to wind down, I can say with a level of certainty that this is exactly what I needed. It'd be pretty foolish for me to say that I won't have any worries once I get back, but at least I'll have a better understanding of how to deal with them.  My goal, almost six months ago, was to start living a life more in-tune with how Christ wants us to live. And, while I still make mistakes, I've noticed that throughout each day I'm becoming more cognizant of this and it's helping me make better decisions overall. This would not have been possible without some remarkable people I've met here.

However, not everything has been as awesome.

I've had some really fantastic days here. But, then again, there have been some really crappy days here as well. I think I purposely didn't write about these just so I wouldn't make waves, but the more I think about it ...the bad days are just as much a part of the deployment as the good days are and it doesn't do any good to just write about one over the other. I would never call people out by name on something like this, but it's been noticed, not only by me, but by so many others that there is a general lack of professionalism and self-discipline. Call em' generational gaps ...possibly, but it's nothing too difficult to fix. I've noticed there's a lack of practicing what we preach. A do as I say, not as I do attitude. That's about as far as I'll go on that.

On a lighter note though I got to do some sightseeing a while back. Historical tours, Russian Orthodox churches and shopping. I remember I took a world history course in college that focused on the Silk Trade Route which traders used to get from the Middle East to  Mongolia and vice versa. I remember the painfully-long boring lectures and death-by-PowerPoint presentations. But, I never imagined that within just a year I'd be there, seeing first hand what I read. It's really amazing to read about something in a history book and then experience it.