God and my Marine brother

My struggle with faith was when my brother was sent to Iraq. It was hard for me to have faith that God would protect him and keep him safe. It was difficult for me to talk about him in school because no one else in my class had a close relative fighting in Iraq.

I like to think of the positives, like his favorite things. These kept me from thinking of the negatives, like what the news says about people dying in Iraq every day.

Thing that reminded me of him and helped me stay positive were when I listened to some of his favorite music, or looked in a special box I kept. The box contained a patch from his uniform, a locket he gave me with the Marine emblem and one of his model cars.

I started believing God was there for him when he called for the first time and when we got our first letter from him. It was cool to be able to tell him about special events that were occurring back home. Thankfully, my brother came home safely and has not had to go back to Iraq.

Most Americans don't realize the effects of a war that's not fought on their homeland until they are personally involved. It has become too normal for us to hear about soldiers being killed in Iraq; we don't think much of it anymore.

Until you know someone who's there, until you feel the pride and the sadness of having someone risk their life for our country, you don't know the sacrifices soldiers make.

Having my brother go to Iraq has definitely changed my life and affected my belief in God forever.

(11/15/07) [[In-content Ad]]